PACKERS RETURN TO LAMBEAU TO FACE THE BROWNS

The Green Bay Packers will take on the Browns this Friday in the preseason home opener at Lambeau Field.

• While the Packers and Browns have only met 18 times in the regular season, with Green Bay holding a 11-7 advantage, Friday will mark the 25th time the two teams have met during the preseason, with Cleveland winning 14 of the previous 24 games.
• The 25 games against the Browns will match Pittsburgh and Washington for the second-most games against an opponent in the preseason, trailing only the 30 games Green Bay has played against the N.Y. Giants.
• The last overall meeting between the two clubs was during the 2013 regular season, a 31-13 Packers victory at Lambeau Field. They last met during the preseason in 2012, a 35-10 Browns win in Green Bay.
• The Packers will stay in Green Bay for their next game, facing the Oakland Raiders in the Bishop's Charities Game on Thursday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m.

***This is an abbreviated version of the Dope Sheet. Read the full version here (PDF)***

MIDWEST SHRINE GAME

One of the NFL's longest team traditions, the Upper Midwest Shrine Game kicks off its 67th installment Friday night. It will be sixth time the Packers have faced the Browns (1983, 1987, 2009, 2010, 2012) in the game.

• Each season, the Packers donate a percentage of the gate to the Shriners' Hospitals for Children. The Shriners' facilities provide specialized medical services, helping children with birth defects and other injuries, at absolutely no cost. To date, the series has raised more than $3.5 million for the Midwest Shrine's burn centers and hospitals for crippled children.
• The series has called three separate stadiums home: Milwaukee's State Fair Park (1950-51), Milwaukee County Stadium (1952-82, 1984-94) and Lambeau Field (1983, 1995-present).
• In his first season leading the Packers, Vince Lombardi made an agreement with George Halas to play in the Shrine game annually. Green Bay and Chicago played each preseason at County Stadium from 1959-73.
• The Packers annually designate the Shrine game as the first 'Gold package' game for season-ticket holders primarily from the Milwaukee area. The team created the three-game package after moving all of its home games to Green Bay in 1995. Also in the 'Gold package' this season are the contests against the New York Giants (Oct. 9) and the Indianapolis Colts (Nov. 6).

WITH THE CALL

Preseason games are televised over the 16-station Packers TV Network throughout the state of Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, northeastern Minnesota, the Quad Cities, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo in Iowa, Omaha in Nebraska, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau in Alaska and Honolulu in Hawaii.

• The top-notch broadcast team includes CBS's Kevin Harlan (play-by-play) alongside fellow CBS broadcaster Rich Gannon (analyst), with Lance Allan of WTMJ-TV serving as the sideline reporter. Allan will also host an informative half-hour pregame show featuring former Packers tackle Mark Tauscher
• Due to the Olympics, this week's game will air on WMLW-TV in Milwaukee instead of WTMJ-TV and on WACY-TV in Green Bay instead of WGBA-TV. In addition the game will be televised over WKOW/ABC, Madison, Wis.; WAOW/ABC, Wausau/Rhinelander, Wis.; WXOW/ABC, La Crosse, Wis.; WQOW/ABC, Eau Claire, Wis.; WLUC/NBC, Escanaba/Marquette, Mich.; KQDS-TV/FOX, Duluth/Superior, Minn.; WHBF-TV/CBS, Davenport, Iowa (Quad Cities); KWWL-TV/NBC, Cedar Rapids/Waterloo, Iowa; KCWI-TV/CW, Des Moines, Iowa; KMTV-TV/CBS, Omaha, Neb.; KYUR/ABC, Anchorage, Alaska; KATN/ABC, Fairbanks, Alaska; KJUD/ABC, Juneau, Alaska; and KFVE-TV in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since November 1929, heads up the Packers Radio Network that is made up of 50 stations in five states. Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren(analyst) call the action. McCarren first joined the team's broadcasts in 1995 and enters his 22nd season calling Packers games. After originally being paired together in 1999, McCarren and Larrivee enter their 18th season of broadcasts together.

THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:

Packers vs. Browns:

All-time, Preseason: 10-14

All-time, Regular season: 11-7-0

All-time, Postseason:  1-0

Streaks:  The Packers have won the last two regular-season meetings and four of the last five.

Last meeting, regular season: Oct. 20, 2013; Packers won, 31-13, Lambeau Field

COACHES CAPSULES

Mike McCarthy: 112-62-1, .643 (incl. 8-7 postseason); 11th NFL season

Hue Jackson: 8-8-0, .500; second NFL season

Head to Head: McCarthy 1-0

vs. Opponent: McCarthy 2-0 vs. Browns; Jackson 0-1 vs. Packers

MIKE McCARTHY...Is in his 11th year as the Packers' 14th head coach.

• Joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl title with a win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
• Led the Packers to their seventh consecutive playoff appearance last season, joining New England as the only two NFL teams to do so over that span. Has also led the team to eight playoff appearances in the last nine years (2007, 2009-15).
• Guided the Packers to top-10 finishes in scoring in eight straight seasons (2007-14), joining the Patriots as the only other team to accomplish the feat over that time; Packers finished first overall in scoring in 2014.
• His .653 winning percentage during the regular season (94-55-1) ranks No. 2 among active NFL head coaches (min. 50 games).
• Was named Packers head coach on Jan. 12, 2006, his first head-coaching job after 13 years as an NFL assistant.

HUE JACKSON...Is in his first year as the Browns' 16th head coach.

• As offensive coordinator he coached Bengals QB Andy Dalton to a passer rating of 106.3 in 2015, good for tops in the AFC and No. 2 in the NFL.
• Guided the Raiders offense to top-10 rankings in consecutive seasons as offensive coordinator in 2010 and head coach in 2011.
• Coached the Raiders to an 8-8 record in 2011, the team's second consecutive non-losing season.
• Coordinated the only offense in 2015 that produced a 3,000-yard passer (Dalton) and two 700-yard rushers (Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill).
• Was the final head coach hired by Raiders Hall of Fame Owner Al Davis before his death in 2011.

THE PACKERS-BROWNS SERIES

• Since Cleveland moved to the AFC in the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, the Packers have a 7-3 regular-season record against the Browns, which includes an average margin of victory of 16.1 points.
• Cleveland won the first three contests of the series, outscoring Green Bay 92 to 17, including a 27-point shutout of the Packers in the first-ever matchup between the two teams.
• In the 1965 season, the Browns and Packers met in the NFL Championship at Lambeau Field, where Green Bay won its ninth NFL title in the final year before the Super Bowl era.
• The Packers have scored at least 10 points in all but four contests against the Browns and haven't scored less than 24 since 1992.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS

Packers LBs Jayrone Elliott and Jake Ryan are both from Cleveland...Elliott also attended Toledo...Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers was born in Cambridge, Ohio, attended high school in Buffalo, Ohio, and coached defensive backs at Ohio State from 1982-83...Green Bay special teams coordinator Ron Zook grew up in Loudonville, Ohio, and coached defensive backs at Ohio State from 1988-90...Green Bay defensive line coach Mike Trgovac was born in Youngstown, Ohio, and went to high school in Austintown, Ohio...Green Bay DB Micah Hyde is from Fostoria, Ohio...Green Bay CB Quinten Rollins is from Wilmington, Ohio, and played football and basketball at Miami (Ohio)...Green Bay C Corey Linsley, a native of Boardman, Ohio, blocked for Browns WR Terrelle Pryor at Ohio State in 2010 when Pryor was the Buckeyes' starting QB...Packers G Matt Rotheram is from Olmsted, Ohio...Green Bay TE Casey Pierce, a native of Parma, Ohio, went to Kent State...Green Bay tight ends coach Brian Angelichio held the same position with the Browns from 2014-15...Packers vice president and general counsel Ed Policy is a native of Youngstown, Ohio...Browns DB Tramon Williams netted 28 regular-season INTs as a Packer from 2007-14, the sixth-most in the NFL during that span...Browns inside linebackers coach Johnny Holland (1995-99) and defensive line coach Robert Nunn (2005-08) coached for the Packers...Holland also played for Green Bay from 1987-93...Browns outside linebackers coach Ryan Slowik was a personnel intern for the Packers in 2003 and coached at Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 2004...Slowik's father, Bob, was an assistant coach for the Packers from 2000-04...Browns C Garth Gerhart and RB Rajion Neal both spent time with the Packers...Packers Hall of Fame T Forrest Gregg (was also head coach from 1984-87) was Cleveland's head coach for three seasons (1975-77), winning 1976 Associated Press Coach of the Year...Browns OL Joe Thomas closed out a four-year career at Wisconsin (2003-06) by becoming the first player in school history to win the Outland Award, which is given to the nation's top lineman, as a senior in 2006...Thomas is from Brookfield, Wis., and was inducted into Brookfield Central High School's Hall of Fame in 2013...Browns LB Joe Schobert grew up in Waukesha, Wis., and played for the Badgers with Packers WR Jared Abbrederis...Browns DT Nick Hayden is from Hartland, Wis. and played for Wisconsin...Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy coached with Browns senior offensive assistant/wide receivers coach Al Saunders in Kansas City from 1993-98...Saunders also coached with Capers at California from 1978-79...Packers LB Julius Peppers has been a teammate of Cleveland QB Josh McCown for five seasons in the NFL (Carolina 2008-09, Chicago 2011-13)...Peppers was coached by Browns special teams coordinator Chris Tabor in Chicago in 2010...Cleveland TE Gary Barnidge played with Peppers from 2008-09 with the Panthers...Packers secondary-cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr. coached with Browns head coach Hue Jackson in Atlanta in 2007...Jackson was a colleague of Trgovac for one season (2001) in Washington...Browns associate head coach-offense Pep Hamilton coached Packers WR Ty Montgomery (2011-12) and T Kyle Murphy (2012) as Stanford's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach...Cleveland defensive coordinator Ray Horton and Green Bay secondary-safeties coach Darren Perry both coached the defensive backs in Pittsburgh for three seasons (2004-06)...Green Bay TE Jared Cook was teammates in St. Louis with Browns QB Austin Davis from 2013-14...Packers DE/LB Datone Jones and Browns DB Rahim Moore Sr. were UCLA teammates from 2008-09...Green Bay LB Lerenteé McCray played at Florida in 2007 with Browns DB Joe Haden and spent 2014 in Denver with Moore.

***This is an abbreviated version of the Dope Sheet. Read the full version here (PDF)***

LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON

• Oct. 20, 2013, Lambeau Field, Packers won, 31-13
• QB Aaron Rodgers completed 25 of 36 passes (74.3 percent) for 260 yards and three TDs (117.8 passer rating).
• WR Jarrett Boykin registered his first 100-yard receiving game (eight rec., 103 yards and 1 TD) in his first career start.
• Browns RB Fozzy Whittaker and WR Travis Benjamin each had kick returns of 50-plus yards, combining to average 47.3 yards per return