Here’s the Brandon Browner blog post Sean Payton asked for

“Go write a blog about it” is an unusual response for a NFL head coach to offer to a question, but when Saints’ head coach Sean Payton decides to commission art, who are we to dissent? Payton offered that reaction Sunday to a question about the play of cornerback and defensive captain Brandon Browner, and Katherine Terrell of the New Orleans Times-Picayune obliged Payton with a piece detailing just how bad Browner’s showing was in Sunday’s loss to Carolina. Terrell noted that Browner gave up two touchdowns and committed three penalties on the day, giving him a career-high total of 22 on the season. That not only leads the league, but is more than some entire defenses this season:

https://twitter.com/kadekoo/status/673858002202529792

It wasn’t just the basic stats that vilified Browner, either, as Pro Football Focus’ play-charting analysts were also unimpressed:

From @PFF: CB Brandon Browner earned a team-worst -4.9 grade vs. CAR after allowing a pair of touchdowns and committing three penalties.

— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) December 7, 2015

In addition to that, the TV cameras showed Browner arguing with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen on the sidelines after allowing a Ted Ginn Jr. touchdown in the third quarter, and he also argued with safety Jairus Byrd after that play.  Byrd later said “I don’t want to get into the exact details, but … communication was a big thing, and we’ve got to get everyone on the same page.” However, Payton was much more supportive of Browner when asked about his play:

“Go write a blog about it,” Saints coach Sean Payton snipped when asked about Browner’s play. “Browner played well. These guys played hard. It’s gonna be a competitive game, and Dennis and he have a great relationship the same way. So, next question.”

Browner did have three defensive tackles and two pass breakups on the day, but his play was still far from good. It’s interesting that Payton was more publicly supportive of Browner here than he was earlier in the year when the cornerback misplayed a screen pass in a Nov. 15 game against Washington,  as Pro Football Talk’s Darin Gantt details:

While running back Matt Jones was taking a screen pass 78 yards, Browner appeared to have an angle on the ball, but peeled back to deliver a hit on guard Spencer Long instead. Jones scored when no other Saint touched him either.

“Obviously when you’re playing a screen pass, you want to get to the ball,” Payton said, via Christopher Dabe of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “And those are some of the mistakes we’re discussing. . . .

“You’ve got to get to the ball. You’ve got to play the ball. Every once in a while there are certain battles, . . . you don’t want to fight a battle if it doesn’t involve getting to the football.”

The play was strange in how abrupt a turn Browner took in order to de-cleat a lineman rather than try to tackle Jones. NBC’s Rodney Harrison noted it on “Football Night in America,” saying: “I’m watching and I’m like, go make the tackle. He comes back and he peels back and hits a lineman. This is why this is the worst defense in the league. That’s just a selfish play.”

Among other adjectives, including dirty and foolish.

It’s been a strange career for Browner overall. He signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon State in 2005, but missed that whole season with a fractured forearm and was waived in July 2006. He went to the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders later that year and had a great career with them through 2010, winning the 2008 Grey Cup and earning CFL league all-star nods in the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons. That led to him signing with the Seattle Seahawks ahead of the 2011 campaign and becoming both a key part of their vaunted “Legion Of Boom” secondary and a case in point in the NFL’s movement towards bigger corners (Browner is listed as 6’4”, 221 pounds).

Things only got odder from there, though. While Browner had a great 2011, he was suspended for four games in 2012 under the NFL’s drug policy for using a banned prescription drug (believed to be Adderall) without a waiver. He was terrific when he did play in 2012, though, and earned a Pro Bowl nod as an injury replacement. He then had a solid 2013 campaign, but picked up another drug policy suspension in December and missed the Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory as a result.

Weirdly enough, it turned out that Browner had been placed in an advanced stage of the drug policy thanks to “missing” NFL tests while in the CFL (and not being notified of them), and the NFL eventually lowered his suspension to four games. He signed a three-year deal with the Patriots, played with them after the suspension ended,  and played in their Super Bowl win over Seattle, but they elected not to pick up a team option on him this offseason, leading him to head to New Orleans.

Given his play this year, that may have been a wise move from New England. Browner is just 31, but has a lot of football mileage on him, and his quickness perhaps has deteriorated a bit. He was never the fleetest corner in the first place, but seemed to have more speed than he does now, which perhaps is leading to some of his penalty surge. Other elements of it may be that the league is cracking down on physical play from defensive backs, which was always a key part of Browner’s game; he doesn’t seem to have adapted the way others have. He’s also had some notable blowups at the media.

Despite all that, though, Payton still seems to be supporting Browner, at least for now. The “go write a blog about it” is also interesting in general; perhaps that’s a recognition that coaches’ responses and comments really don’t matter as much in an age of more analytical commentary, where there’s less pure regurgitation of what the coach or player happens to say and more discussion of what happened on the field from an Xs and Os perspective. Regardless, Payton seems to still be in Browner’s camp for now. But hey, if he’s going to invite bloggers to write critical posts, who are we to pass that up?