Today is one of those rare days when football does not exactly dominate the day.
The lone contest of note is the 126th meeting between Army and Navy. The game was relevant in the 1940s and 1950s, but now resides in a space, along with events like The Masters in golf or the U.S. Open in tennis, where people pay attention because they feel as if they are supposed to be invested.
And the Heisman Trophy will be presented to the best player, or most likely the best quarterback, tonight in New York City,
with Indiana’s Fernado Mendoza and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia the favorites to lift the 45-pound trophy.
Other than that, it is a good day to get hustling on Christmas shopping (no one should want to be that cliché of someone waiting until Christmas Eve to shop), holiday baking, and biding time until next weekend, which the College Football Playoffs and the annual slate of Saturday NFL games fill the day.
Let’s kick things off with the latest news and notes about the Cleveland Browns, and the NFL, in today’s edition of the Saturday Dawg Chow.
Dawgs By Nature:
- Browns vs. Bears: Week 15 Need to Know (Thomas Moore) – Cleveland is off to chilly Chicago looking for their first road win over the Bears since 1969. Here is everything to know about the game.
- One of the Browns’ top 2026 NFL Draft targets just officially declared (Matthew Wilson) – Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane has officially declared for the 2026 NFL Draft.
- Browns’ Shedeur Sanders draws dazzling review from QB coach (Matthew Wilson) – Cleveland QB coach Bill Musgrave gave a glowing review of Shedeur Sanders on Friday.
- Browns rule out 7 for Week 15 vs Bears, another 5 questionable (Jared Mueller) – Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders won’t have a lot of his teammates, or his offensive line, for the Week 15 game against the Chicago Bears.
- Browns Tommy Rees being pursued by another college, could have NFL options (Jared Mueller) – The Cleveland Browns could see offensive coordinator Tommy Rees once again interview for a head coaching job as Michigan rumors fly.
- Browns 2025 NFL draft class: How they can join the historic best ever (Jared Mueller) – When the 2025 NFL draft ended, the Cleveland Browns seven-person draft class earned good grades from many, including ESPN’s Mel Kiper’s top grade and praise. Perhaps drafting two quarterbacks wasn’t the best use of resources, but the Browns draft class has already been better than historical odds for draft picks.
- Browns Kevin Stefanski, Shedeur Sanders could benefit each other (Curtiss Brown) – The Cleveland Browns could build up Shedeur Sanders by keeping head coach Kevin Stefanski, as it would benefit both of them.
Cleveland Browns:
- 5 Questions with Dawgs by Nature: Can the Bears start a new winning streak? (Windy City Gridiron) – The point spread says the Chicago Bears will easily handle the Cleveland Browns, but in reality, will it be that easy?
- Here’s how Browns QB Shedeur Sanders is making progress (ESPN) – Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw an incompletion against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and it signaled growth.
- Myles Garrett is ‘the best defensive player’ Browns DL coach has seen (Beacon Journal) – Browns defensive coach Jacques Cesaire has been around the proverbial block in the NFL. A portion Cesaire’s playing career was spent playing alongside Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips with the San Diego Chargers. His coaching career has included the likes of Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram, Ed Oliver Will Anderson and Jonathan Greenard. And now, it includes Myles Garrett, who stands in a singular place in the mind of Cesaire.
- ‘Hungry Dawg’ to starting center: Luke Wypler gets his shot after Ethan Pocic injury (cleveland.com) – It didn’t take long for Browns center Ethan Pocic to start passing along knowledge to backup Luke Wypler after Pocic ruptured his Achilles against the Titans on Sunday.
NFL:
- This Colts season needs a hero. They’re turning to a grandpa. (The Ringer) – The Philip Rivers comeback experiment is unlike anything in NFL history.
- Joe Burrow sour on Bengals? Ja’Marr Chase hasn’t seen a change (ESPN) – When Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase saw the clip, he didn’t know whether it was real. It was a snippet of his longtime teammate and starting quarterback Joe Burrow delivering an introspective point about how he feels about football at the moment. The quote, and sentiment, made the rounds as soon as it left Burrow’s mouth: If he’s not having fun playing football, then what exactly is the point?
- Steelers LB T.J. Watt needed surgery to stabilize, repair partially collapsed lung (Yahoo Sports) – Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt underwent surgery to stabilize and repair a partially collapsed lung, according to his brother J.J. Watt. T.J. was undergoing a dry needling treatment session at the team’s practice facility on Wednesday when he began to feel discomfort and was sent to a local hospital for testing.
