The Ben Tate era for the Cleveland Browns has gotten off to a rather rocky start, with Tate being sidelined for the majority of this young season, his first in Cleveland. In Tate’s absence, young backs Isaiah Crowell and Terrence West have impressed a bit and some speculated that, upon his return, Tate may be relegated to a back up role to one of the young guns.
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However, those thoughts were shot down rather quickly by Browns’ running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery, according to NBC sports.
“That’s what we brought Tate here for, to be the starter,” said Wilbert. “He’s the No. 1 running back in this offense. Right now, you can say we miss him. We miss his experience. We miss his leadership with the group. Speaking from that standpoint, we’ll be open arms and welcome to have Ben back into the fold.”
Looks like we can disregard all of those thoughts about the young backs taking over the majority of carries once Tate returns.
The Browns will surely look to lean on Tate after that strong endorsement from Montgomery, and if he can stay healthy (that’s a huge if), then Tate will be the featured back in Cleveland for the foreseeable future.
Tate last saw the field in Pittsburgh against the Steelers for the opener, where he rushed for 41 yards on just six carries.
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