The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Continuity boosting Browns defense
Familiarity in returning players and a returning defensive coordinator, plus a healthy Myles Garrett, has made the Browns’ defense better, Jeff Schudel writes. Plus, a look at the Indians’ 2019 schedule.
Continuity, a word rarely used in the same sentence with the word Browns, is making the defense run by Gregg Williams much better this season.
Key players such as defensive ends Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah, defensive tackles Larry Ogunjobi and Devon Coley (Coley is battling an ankle injury), linebackers Christian Kirksey, Joe Schobert and Jamie Collins plus safety Jabrill Peppers are all in their second season being coached by Williams, the Browns’ fiery defensive coordinator.
Beating the Eagles, 5-0, on Aug. 23 is a by product of that continuity. A week earlier, the starting defense held the Bills without a first down on four series.
“The first year you always have your rough patches, especially like through communication. But I think our defense is communicating well and we know our assignments to a T,” Kirksey said before practice Aug. 24. “Now we’re understanding our defense as a whole. So I think that was the key ingredient, just knowing the defense in and out, so that’s to be expected. Second year in the system, you’re supposed to be comfortable into it.”
It also helps that Garrett is healthy.
Garrett, the first pick in the 2017 draft, missed the first four games his rookie season with an ankle injury. He missed another game with a concussion.
Garrett, nicknamed Batman because of his build when he was at Texas A&M, flew around like a super hero in training camp and the Browns’ first three preseason games. He had two sacks Aug. 23 in the 5-0 shutout of the Eagles. One was for a safety when he politely touched the shoulder of Nick Foles when he saw Foles’ knee was on the ground.
“I saw that he was down on a knee so I was just making sure to touch him,” Garrett said. “I knew that I didn’t have to pounce on him to get the sack.”
This is the Myles Garrett the Browns thought they were getting when they selected him over Mitch Trubisky, Deshaun Watson and other quarterbacks in the draft last year. Garrett led the Browns with seven sacks, but he was not satisfied.
“He looks like he was made in a lab,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “If he goes 100 percent every play, there’s no way you can stop him. He’s an incredible player. It’s exciting to see we have him on our team.”
The Browns’ defense created four turnovers against the Eagles in the first half. That’s nearly one-third (13) of the number of takeaways they had all of 2017.
Briean Boddy-Calhoun is another holdover benefitting from a second year working with Williams. Boddy-Calhoun prepared to play cornerback in the days leading up to the game with the Eagles. Then, in pregame warmups, starting free safety Damarious Randall had to be scratched from the lineup because “his knee locked up,” head coach Hue Jackson said.
Boddy-Calhoun moved to free safety and picked off a pass from Foles, who definitely did not look like the Super Bowl MVP against the Browns.
“You have got to be hungry,” Boddy-Calhoun said. “If you want to win in this game, you have got to take the ball away and keep them in check on offense. Every single day in practice, we emphasize this. In the secondary, we try to get two or three per day, and we know the key to winning is taking the ball away. We know we have got to get better at that.”
Boddy-Calhoun had three interceptions in 2016 but none last season.
• The stripeless orange helmets the Browns have worn throughout training camp and the preseason seem to be growing on fans. Don’t get too used to them, because the stripes down the middle of the helmets will soon be making a comeback.
“I wish I could (keep the stripes off),” Coach Hue Jackson said, “I don’t think that’s going to happen. They’re definitely going to earn them. The guys who are the 53 that stay here, they will definitely be the guys that have the opportunity to put those stripes on their helmets.”
• Third-year tight end Seth DeValve has missed most of training camp with a quadriceps injury. He was injured July 29, returned Aug. 12 and was quickly back on the injury report. He is being pressured by Devon Carjuste.
“We know Seth is a good football player and he can play,” Jackson said after practice Aug. 25. “We just have to get him healthy. His health has been an issue. He’s had to work through it. It’s tough.
“How it’s going to unfold at the end, we’re going to keep the best 53 guys that we can, and I think that’s what we have to do. However that shakes out, if he’s part of that, great; if he’s not, it means we found somebody better.”
DeValve, a 2016 fourthround pick from Princeton, caught 10 passes as a rookie and 33 last season. He has not played in the 2018 preseason.
Carjuste has three catches for 53 yards in the preseason. He spent the 2016 season on the Packers’ practice squad.
• Shon Coleman started 16 games at right tackle last year. He was the starting left tackle in OTAs, minicamp and the start of training camp. Now he is in danger of not making the final roster. Coleman was reduced to playing third team in the preseason game against the Eagles. He could be the next Sashi Brown draft choice (third round in 2016) pushed out the door by general manager John Dorsey.
“This thing is going to come down to about three or four more spots here at the end,” Jackson said. “How can we continue to get better in our offensive line? We got a great chance to evaluate some guys (on the second team against the Eagles. “We’ll get an opportunity to do it again this week, see if we can get some improvement. We’re going to look across the league and try to figure out how we can make our team stronger and better.”
Rosters must be trimmed from 90 to 53 by Sept. 1.
Tribe gets better schedule
After striking out in 2018, Major League Baseball gave the Indians a more favorable home schedule for next season.
The 2019 schedule, announced Aug. 22, has the Indians opening the season in Minnesota on March 28. Chances are the grounds crew will be clearing snow from the base paths an hour before the first pitch, but at least it’s a Central Division game. So if the game is postponed the Indians and Twins can make it up when the Tribe returns to Minnesota for a four-game series that begins May 31 or a three-game series that begins July 31.
Teams in the north, especially, should always start the season against divisional opponents so what happened in 2016 when the Indians hosted Boston in the season opener doesn’t happen again. Weather was miserable for the series, and a game had to be made up on Aug. 15 at Progressive Field.
The Indians host the Chicago White Sox on April 1 in their 2019 home opener. They play six home games in the first week in April and then don’t play again at Progressive Field until April 19 when they start a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves.
The Indians play 11 home games in April next season. April 2018 was stacked with 17 home games — more than any other month. Attendance suffered because the weather was awful.
May 2019 will be busy with 18 home games. The Indians have an 11-game home stand with Baltimore, Oakland and Tampa Bay from May 16-26. They have a 10-game homestand from July 12-21 against Minnesota, Detroit and Kansas City after hosting the All-Star game on July 9.
One quirky thing about the 2019 schedule: The Indians finish next season with three games against the Nationals in Washington rather than face a Central Division foe. That means starting pitchers will have to bat just before the Indians begin what they hope with be their fourth straight postseason appearance.
I didn’t know that
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