SPORTS

Andrew Hawkins: Bengals good, but losing Hue hurts

Paul Dehner Jr.
pdehnerjr@enquirer.com
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins (16) is excited about his new head coach and thinks his absence will hurt his former team.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Andrew Hawkins spent his first three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before signing a lucrative four-year contract with the Cleveland Browns in 2013. He knows a thing or two about AFC North football.

He also knows a thing or two about his new head coach Hue Jackson, who moves on from Bengals offensive coordinator to take over for Mike Pettine.

Assessing an important offseason for the shape of both teams in Ohio, he sees potential for the last-place Browns and first-place Bengals to pull closer to each other.

“I think the Bengals are still the Bengals,” Hawkins said. “They have a lot of talent over there. I think losing Hue hurts them. I think if they lose some of these free agents it’s going to hurt them, obviously, but they have lost free agents and maintained.”

A few of those free agents are still close friends with Hawkins, in particular former receiving teammates Marvin Jones and Mo Sanu. Though teams can’t enter discussions with potential free agents until two days prior to the start of the league year on March 9, Hawkins could start his sales pitch on Radio Row this weekend.

“I love the guys in that locker room, they are great players,” said Hawkins, who missed half of last season due to concussions. “We’d be privileged to get any of those guys like the Bengals would be privileged to sign them back. Hopefully, the opportunity presents itself where we could snag a couple of those guys to try to help us turn things around in Cleveland.”

Hawkins sat down with Jackson not long after the new coach’s hire and briefly discussed his future role with the Browns. He caught 63 passes for 824 yards in 2014 with Cleveland.

The team took a step back last year to finish 3-13. With Jackson on board, he maintains hope the comeback to relevancy can start immediately. Finding a coach who knows the division only adds to the impact.

“I know we got good players in the locker room,” Hawkins said. “We got a lot of young players but they need direction. We are hoping Hue can provide some of that direction.”