The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Tretter aided by time with Rodgers
Going from playing for perennial playoff contender Green Bay to signing with the 1-15 Browns is like snapping to a former MVP one year to snapping to a rookie quarterback the next season.
Oh, wait — that is exactly what JC Tretter is doing.
The Browns did not do a lot in free agency, but one of the three players they signed was Tretter, a 2013 fourth-round draft choice by the Packers who, because of injuries, started only 10 of a possible 64 games in four years. He played in 21 others. The Browns also signed guard Kevin Zeitler and wide receiver Kenny Britt over the winter.
If Browns coach Hue Jackson
knows who will start at quarterback for the season opener against the Steelers he isn’t saying, but it definitely won’t be Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers was named the NFL’s MVP for the second time in 2014 when Tretter played eight games with the Packers.
The candidates to start are Cody Kessler (0-8 as a rookie last year), Brock Osweiler (13-8 over the last two seasons with Denver and Houston) and rookie second-round draft choice DeShone Kizer.
Tretter said his responsibilities won’t change regardless who gets the job.
“I don’t see it as any different,” Tretter said after the team walkthrough on Aug. 2. “Our job is to protect forever on pass plays and give him as much time as possible and on run plays it’s to move the ball.
“Obviously, it’s only going to help when you put a run game out there that produces, but I don’t look at whoever’s back there,
whether it’s a future Hallof-Famer, a rookie, a Wildcat quarterback, whoever’s back there, our job is to open up holes for the run game and protect as long as we can.”
Speaking strictly about his job description, what he said is true, but spending four years in Green Bay with Rodgers, even his rookie year of 2013 that was wiped out by a broken ankle, benefited Tretter and should in turn benefit the Browns.
“(Rodgers) is just a very, very savvy, smart player,” Tretter said. A lot of that rubs off on the guys he plays with. His recall on the field is second to none. We’d be in the huddle and he’d remember a look he saw on film from a year ago that he brought up to us. He’d say, ‘OK, let’s hit this play.’ That recall, I think, makes everybody think the same way he does, so a lot of it’s on-thefly problem solving.
“The center is the quarterback of the offensive line. I try to talk to all the quarterbacks as much as possible about different things I’m seeing. My first thought is to see if we’re on the same page just so we can play fast and move things along, like ‘What’s your first thought on this check?’ That way I can try to take some things off (the Browns quarterback’s) mind where if he knows, ‘All right, JC’s got it,’ he can worry about the next thing.”
Tretter — if he can stay healthy — is a major upgrade from last season when Cameron Erving was thrust in as starting center after Alex Mack defected to Atlanta.
Left tackle Joe Thomas, in fact, compared Tretter to Mack in the way Tretter directs the offensive line. The Browns sorely missed that communication last season when they allowed a franchise record 66 sacks. Certainly the sacks weren’t all on Erving, but Tretter’s experience, particularly his experience with Rodgers, should make for a smoother operation.
“JC has a lot of the same demeanor Alex had,” Thomas said.
“He’s very intelligent. He’s very confident. He has those intangibles you need as a center. Those are the same intangibles Alex had.
Certainly, I hope JC can play as well as Alex did for the Browns.”
Tretter, right guard Kevin Zeitler and the winner of the Erving-Shon Coleman battle at right tackle represent a 60 percent overhaul in the Browns offensive line from a year ago.