Browns' Mike Pettine denies rift between coaching staff and front office

Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine is denying reports of his power struggle with general manager Ray Farmer's front office.

"When you look at the roster moves we've made, from the beginning here, though this past draft and even adding Terrelle Pryor here, right up to some of the things we're doing now around camp, we're singing from the same hymnal virtually on every decision,'' Pettine said on Monday, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

"To say we agree on everything would not be accurate, but to say there's a rift or a power struggle or a tug of war, that would be completely inaccurate."

It's been widely speculated that recently fired director of player engagement Jamil Northcutt was essentially a mouthpiece for Farmer within the coaching staff, advising Pettine on decisions beyond the scope of his designated role.

Northcutt received texts from Farmer during games last season, leading the league to suspend Farmer and fine the team.

For Pettine, though, reports of the conflict with management and the Browns' overall dysfunction as a franchise can be chalked up to one thing: a slow news day.

"I think it was that late summer slow news day,'' Pettine kidded about the report. "The unfortunate thing is this; when you don't win, when you have the history, or not so recent history of the Browns, to me there's not much credibility there. You can take an individual event (the Northcutt departure) and extrapolate that out so it has a negative connotation to it. That was the disappointing part of that. The truth is Ray and I work very well together. Do we bat 1.000 on our decisions when it comes to personnel? We don't, but it's pretty close to it.''