The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Coaches: Coleman has work to do
Lineman trying to replace retired Thomas at LT
The Browns might as well call in Tom Cruise to play left tackle, because what Shon Coleman is being asked to do really is right out of “Mission: Impossible.”
Coleman is trying to replace 10-year Pro Bowl player Joe Thomas, trying to play a new position, and trying to cut down on leading the NFL with seven
holding penalties as the Browns’ right tackle in 2017. He is trying to make the change at a time the Browns believe they can be relevant again, which puts even more pressure on him.
“The state of the left tackle … that’s the State of the Union,” offensive line coach Bob Wylie said before practice July 29. “Shon’s fighting, and he’s doing well at the spot. We brought Greg Robinson in, and he gets a concussion, right? Now, we brought Austin (rookie Austin Corbett) back out there to take the spot and we’re waiting for Desmond (Harrison, toe injury). We keep working with Desmond every day with the mental part of the game.
“Whoever that guy is, we’ll make a decision and we’ll work with that guy. Then, if we need to do something to help it with formations, protections, the backs, all that stuff, we’ll do that. We want to try to keep the (other) four together as long as we can.”
Wylie is reluctant to move left guard Joel Bitonio to left tackle.
“That’s the last (option),” Wylie said. “Like if you’re going to go A down, that would be Z.”
Wylie is determined to keep Bitonio at the position the second-round pick in 2014 has played since the first game of his rookie season.
J.C. Tretter is the center and Kevin Zeitler the right guard. Chris Hubbard, in his sixth NFL season and first with the Browns, has taken the right tackle spot vacated by Coleman.
Measuring Coleman’s progress has been difficult for Wylie and the coaching staff because players didn’t
start wearing pads until the July 28 practice. Restrictions in the CBA prevent NFL teams from being in pads before the third practice of training camp. Players could not be in pads in OTAs or the June minicamp.
Head coach Hue Jackson, at one point July 29 when Coleman struggled in team drills, called the 310-pound tackle aside for some one-on-one attention after apparently not being pleased with Coleman’s effort. Coleman caught a break because 2017 first overall pick Myles Garrett was given the day off. Normally Coleman would have faced the 272-pound defensive end from Texas A&M, but at times Coleman struggled against inferior competition.
“It’s Year Three of him being around me,” Jackson
said. “(Coleman) knows what I expect. It’s just that simple. There’s a way to do everything. He has to meet that standard. That’s all it is.”
The 70 yards the Browns moved backward on Coleman’s seven holding penalties doesn’t take into account how much yardage gained was negated. Cutting those down is critical for Coleman.
“I think it’s just because he’s afraid to fail,” Wylie said. “Right tackle, left tackle, doesn’t matter. When guys hold a lot, it’s because they’re afraid to fail. They’re afraid to get beat.
“Sometimes, you see him late off the ball. What happens? They reach out and try to grab because they don’t want to lose the guy, and then, we get the holding call. We have to get
them out of that mental state of not being afraid to fail, and then, the calls will come down.”
Coleman had two false starts last season.
Thomas announced his retirement on March 14. Coleman started preparing for his new job before that and dedicated the offseason to getting bigger and stronger, Wylie said.
“(Coleman) works every day,” Wylie said. “He doesn’t just stand around when he comes out early. He starts working on his pad set. He works on something he needs to do. He stays late and looks at some extra film. He’s doing what he needs to do as a good pro. Now, we just need to transfer it to when the ball is snapped.”
The Browns open the season Sept. 9. That gives them six weeks to figure it out.