Hue Jackson is hired as coach of Browns

Hue Jackson, the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive coordinator the last two seasons, was hired as coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Jackson, 50, finalized the deal Wednesday. He replaces the fired Mike Pettine.

“I came here to win,” Jackson said during an introductory news conference.

A quarterback at Pacific in the mid-1980s, Jackson was offensive coordinator at USC from 1997 to 2000 and then became an assistant with several NFL teams before becoming coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2011.

He becomes Cleveland’s eighth coach since 1999 and the sixth since 2008.

“That’s those coaches,” Jackson said. “I can’t worry about what’s happened before me.”

Jackson’s challenge in Cleveland will be turning around a team that lost 18 of its last 21 games under Pettine.

Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown sit out practice

Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sat out practice but is still hopeful he can play in Sunday’s playoff game at Denver.

Landry Jones took most of the snaps with the starters while Roethlisberger underwent treatment on his sprained right shoulder. Roethlisberger says he wants to play against the Broncos but said he’ll only do it if he feels like he can help the team.

Roethlisberger also said the team has confidence in Jones, who came off the bench this season to lead Pittsburgh to victories over Arizona and Oakland.

Receiver Antonio Brown also sat out practice and remains in the NFL’s concussion protocol. His status for Sunday is uncertain.

Marshawn Lynch participates in Seahawks practice

Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch was a full participant in practice but Coach Pete Carroll cautioned that it was no indication whether Lynch would play in the NFC divisional playoff game at Carolina on Sunday.

Carroll said that Lynch would be evaluated daily going forward to determine his availability for the game.

Darrell Bevell, Seattle’s offensive coordinator, said Lynch looked a little quicker than he did last week.

The Seahawks were expecting Lynch to play last week at Minnesota before Lynch decided not to travel with the team. Carroll said Lynch did not have a setback from abdominal surgery in November and just believed he wasn’t ready to go. Lynch has not played since Week 10 against Arizona, sitting out the last eight games.

Seattle also got tight end Luke Willson back at practice. Willson suffered a concussion in Week 16 against St. Louis, sat out the regular-season finale at Arizona and suffered a setback last week.

Lions assistant Teryl Austin to interview for Titans’ head coaching job

A person familiar close to the situation said that Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is interviewing Friday for the Tennessee Titans’ head coaching job.

The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team will not confirm candidates until after interviews are completed.

Among five teams still needing to hire a coach, the Titans are looking for their third since Jeff Fisher left in January 2011. Ken Whisenhunt, hired in January 2013, was fired Nov. 3 after a 3-20 record. Mike Mularkey, who was 2-7 as interim coach, reportedly will interview Thursday to keep the job.