The Browns at the bye are where they’ve been way too often — out of the playoff picture and in disarray.

This year, they’ve taken the level of dysfunction to a new high — or is it low?

They have no head of football operations, no general manager, no clear-cut starting quarterback.

They do have seven losses in eight games, an impending fan protest on “Monday Night Football” designed to embarrass the organization into change, two young quarterbacks who’ve played so poorly they were both benched in the first half of the season, a 31st-ranked offense and a 32nd-ranked defense.

The embarrassment has been shared on the field and within team headquarters.

The game-day product is so inept, the Browns are irrelevant across the league on Sundays. They only re-enter the national discussion when off-the-field events draw attention to the dysfunction.

General manager George Kokinis was stripped of his duties and escorted from the building last Monday. The next day, two frustrated fans — one who donned a giant dog bone hat — met with owner Randy Lerner to air their grievances and offer suggestions for improving the team.

Lerner is at another crossroads. The fans are restless, the first television blackouts since 1995 are coming, the economy hasn’t recovered and the anticipated improvement in coach Eric Mangini’s first year never arrived.

“I still believe in Eric, and we’re trying to give him the resources he needs to be successful,” Lerner told The Plain Dealer in an e-mail.

Lerner’s top priority is finding an experienced executive to oversee the football operations and make the proper hires. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported former Packers and Seahawks coach and executive Mike Holmgren is at the top of Lerner’s list. Former Browns general manager Ernie Accorsi, Atlanta president Rich McKay and former Packers GM Ron Wolf are also in the discussion. If the eventual choice doesn’t approve of Mangini, the coach could be gone after one year.

Lerner’s already shown Mangini no longer has the run of the place. Director of team operations Erin O’Brien and Kokinis were Mangini selections and have been bounced after just months on the job.

Mangini could be the next to go if things don’t radically improve in the next eight weeks. Lerner would swallow a reported $3.9 million a year through 2012. That would be on top of the $20 million he owed Savage and Crennel when they were fired and the $4 million Kokinis would get if the Browns can’t prove he was fired “for cause.”

A one-and-done for Mangini could be a fitting end to another shipwreck of a season.

First eight games, by the numbers

• 0: TDs scored by running backs and receivers.
• 0: Correct replay challenges, in four tries, by coach Eric Mangini.
• 1: Win by Browns.
• 2: Completions by Derek Anderson in the win.
• 5: Offensive TDs scored.
• 6: Points scored in the lone win.
• 7: Losses by Browns.
• 8: Games left for Mangini to save his job.
• 12: Turnovers created by Browns — four interceptions and eight fumbles.
• 23: Turnovers by Browns — 13 interceptions and 10 fumbles.
• 24.8: Percentage of third downs converted by Browns.
• 36.2: Passer rating of Derek Anderson, lowest in the NFL.
• 39.9: Percentage of third downs converted by opponents.
• 61-9: Combined score of last two losses.
• 62.1: Passer rating of Brady Quinn.
• 78: Points scored in first eight games.
• 209: Points allowed in first eight games.
• 221.1: Yards gained, per game, by Browns.
• 409.1: Yards gained, per game, by opponents.

Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.

LORAIN — Albert Radawiec knows he’s in for a lot of ribbing.

But he’ll gladly take it all, considering the alternative.

Radawiec, 81, of Avon, was saved from drowning in the Black River on Saturday when Lorain police officer Mike Hendershot jumped into the water to save him after Radawiec fell in while on a fishing trip.

The weather looked so fine on Saturday morning that Radawiec decided to go to one of his favorite fishing spots, the concrete pier at the mouth of the Black River. He set up his fishing spot with his bait bucket and aluminum folding chair and began fishing. But when the walleyes and steelheads weren’t biting from the deep water, he decided to go back to his car and get a bobber. As he turned to go to his car, a gust of wind started blowing his chair away.

“Like a dummy, I ran to grab it,” Radawiec said. “I lost my balance and took a nose dive.”

Radawiec knew he was in trouble. He’d fallen down deep into the water and struggled against his clothes, already weighted with water, to reach the surface.

The water, according to the Coast Guard, which assisted in Radawiec’s rescue, was around 50 degrees. Cold water is more dangerous than cold air, because the body loses heat up to 25 times faster, and hands, arms and legs become numb quickly, the Coast Guard said.

He yelled for help until two fishermen nearby heard him. According to Lorain police reports, the fishermen threw him a bait-bucket line and dragged him close to the pier. But he was too weak from the cold water to climb the nearby ladder.

“I was really cold, and ready to go under,” Radawiec said.

At that point, Hendershot arrived and climbed down the ladder to assist Radawiec. According to the police report, he went in the water alongside Radawiec and held him up until the Coast Guard rescue boat arrived.

With Lorain police officer Christopher Pittak assisting, Hendershot got into a personal flotation device while still holding Radawiec, then attached a flotation ring to Radawiec. Hendershot then swam Radawiec about 15 feet to the Coast Guard rescue boat, where Radawiec was hauled in and brought to the Hot Waters municipal boat launch, where an ambulance was waiting.

Radawiec, whose body temperature dropped to a dangerous 92 degrees while in the water (hypothermia is defined as when body temperature falls below 95 degrees), was taken to Community Regional Medical Center in Lorain, where he was treated and released.

He said Sunday night that he felt fine, except he felt bad about losing his wallet in the river. But, he said, one of the officers told him that Lorain police are doing some diving training there this week and maybe they’ll retrieve it.

“They can keep the money — I’d just like my license and paperwork back,” he said.

Hendershot was unavailable for comment Sunday.

Radawiec knew word would be getting out when he saw a bunch of people gathered to watch the rescue, and recognized many of them as fellow fishermen.

“I’m gonna get chewed out,” he said. But he’s learned his lesson.

“Next time, the chair can go in the drink for all I care,” he said.

Contact Melissa Hebert at 329-7129 or mhebert@chroniclet.com.

ELYRIA — The Elyria Health Department received a large shipment of H1N1 flu vaccine and will be distributing thousands of free doses beginning today.

The vaccine will be distributed 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today in empty storefronts in the wing near Macy’s at Midway Mall, said Elyria Health Commissioner Kathryn Boylan.

The Health Department has 100 doses of pre-filled syringes for children 6 months to 35 months old, 1,940 doses of the nasal mist and 1,700 doses of the shot form. And while it has an abundance of H1N1 vaccine, what it doesn’t have is a lot of the seasonal flu vaccine — that will be available today until the limited supply runs out.

The emphasis, Boylan said, is on H1N1.

“We really want to get the kids, pregnant women and the caregivers of anyone 6 months and younger,” Boylan said.

As with all clinics, they are subject to change or cancellation due to the vaccine supply. The phone number for the Health Department is (440) 323-7595, and updates are available at the Web site www.elyriahealth.com.

The initial priority groups for H1N1 are pregnant women, people who live with or care for infants younger than
6 months, workers in health care and emergency services who provide direct patient care; young people up to 24 years old and people ages 25 to 64 with chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.

Examples of those with chronic illnesses needing the vaccine are those with chronic asthma, multiple sclerosis or muscular dystrophy, Boylan said.

“This particular virus is going way deep into the lungs,” she said.

The elderly are not among the target groups for the initial available vaccines because that population has been relatively free of H1NI, Boylan said.

The Health Department is not charging a fee for administering the H1N1 vaccine provided free from the federal government, Boylan said.

However, there is a $15 charge for the seasonal flu vaccine, which was purchased by the Health Department, Boylan said. Medicare and Medicaid will be accepted for the seasonal flu vaccine which should be in good supply by the time it hits this area, she said.

“Today there’s really no seasonal flu circulating,” Boylan said.

Since Oct. 15, the health department has held six H1N1 flu clinics: four open to the public, one for students at Lorain County Community College and one for people who work in emergency medical services.

Other flu clinics

• 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at Elyria City Hall (the seasonal flu vaccine will not be available).
• 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Open Door School Cafeteria, 8287 West Ridge Road.
• 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at Second Baptist Church, 427 16th St.
• 3 to 6 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Elyria City Schools Administration Building, 42101 Griswold Road.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

BEREA — Browns coach Eric Mangini made a brief statement today about the ousting Monday of first-year general manager George Kokinis, then refused to answer specific questions about the situation.

“For a variety of reasons, it didn’t work out,” Mangini said. “You never go into any situation with the intention of it not working out. That’s true in this case.

“The organization felt the move gave us the best chance to move forward.”

He wouldn’t say who, if anyone, will replace Kokinis. And he wouldn’t say if former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar, who was at Browns headquarters with owner Randy Lerner late Monday night, would assume a larger role. Kosar recently took on a more formal consultant’s role with the team.

“In terms of this topic, there’s nothing else I’m going to add,” Mangini said.

When asked if there were legal reasons for avoiding the questions, he said there are a “variety of reasons.”

ESPN.com reported Lerner pressed Kokinis to resign and he refused. Citing a team source, Lerner is seeking a dismissal “for cause” so he won’t have to pay Kokinis the rest of his contract.

Lerner, who met Tuesday morning with a pair of fans planning a protest, had not been made available to the media as of Tuesday afternoon.

Cleveland.com, The Plain Dealer’s Web site, reported that former Browns and Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi wouldn’t be the next GM despite rumors to the contrary.

“I am not taking any GM job anywhere. Period,” Accorsi told Cleveland.com. “I am not taking any full-time job.”

Accorsi is a family friend and consulted Lerner on the hirings of Mangini and Kokinis.

Read Wednesday’s Chronicle for more on the Browns.

Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.