Dansby: Browns players 'shut down' during 2015 season

Cleveland's championship drought may have come to an end thanks to LeBron James and the Cavaliers, but there's another team in the area that has some work to do in chasing down a title of its own.

Not only did the Browns miss the playoffs for a 13th consecutive season in 2015, but the 3-13 finish marks the club's worst record since 1999.

Veteran linebacker Karlos Dansby, who signed with the Cincinnati Bengals after being released by the Browns this offseason, says it was a challenge to keep teammates playing through the difficult year.

"Because at a certain point, guys had just shut down," Dansby told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday. "Guys shut down, the organization just wasn't clicking. The coaches and the front office, there was just a lot of mess going on, a lot of things going on, a lot of distractions."

Ownership predictably cleaned house shortly after the disastrous season reached its conclusion. A new-look front office has since come aboard with a unique, analytics-driven approach, and the team managed to land one of the NFL's most sought-after head coaching candidates in Hue Jackson.

While the Browns will hope that a new direction can yield results sooner rather than later, finally carrying out a proper rebuild is likely the main goal. Establishing some continuity, for example, is imperative in ridding the organization of the dysfunction it's struggled with in years past.

Cleveland is one of just four teams still yet to have played in a Super Bowl, along with the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans.

- With h/t to FOX Sports