Williams: ‘Stupid’ tackling led to Ward’s injury

One thing has been made very clear since Gregg Williams was hired on Jan. 7, 2017: The Browns defensive coordinator with the well-trimmed goatee and salty tongue does not play favorites.

Williams, from his spot on the sideline, will praise the lowest player on the depth chart for a good play made in practice and he will get on a starter who should have made a play better.

The question that got Williams going after practice Aug. 26 was about rookie cornerback Denzel Ward, the fourth overall pick of the 2018 draft.

Ward’s back was twisted awkwardly when he tackled Eagles 250-pound tight end Zach Ertz in the preseason game Aug. 23 at FirstEnergy Stadium. Ward is listed at 190 pounds

The injury appeared serious at the time, but Ward was back to practice Aug. 25 after the players were off Aug. 24.

“I was glad to hear that,” Williams said. “Maybe he’ll finally listen to me and stop doing those stupid things the way he’s trying to tackle and tackle the way I tell him to tackle and he won’t get hurt.

“I’m not worried as much about the wrap-up part of it. It’s about getting the guy to the ground. A lot of times what you do is you cut the guy. He should have cut the guy at that time right there instead of a 290-pound (sic) man running over his face. I think this was a good enough shock that maybe he thinks that I might know what I’m talking about.”

The secondary coaches put the defensive backs through the same tackling drill every day to emphasize exactly how Williams wants his players to take the opponent to the ground.

Men from the equipment crew stand to the side of a thick orange pad holding tackling dummies by the top.

The DB runs and dives at the tackling dummy, slamming his shoulder into it as a way of mimicking cutting the player.

“Lower! Lower!” defensive backs coach DeWayne Walker shouts when the hit is made too high — which is what Ward did wrong in Williams’ view.

The back injury wasn’t the first for Ward in his brief time with the Browns, though he came back from it quickest. He suffered a hip flexor on the first day of rookie minicamp and sat out the next two practice days. He suffered an ankle injury early in training camp and was limited in team drills.

“Rookies have to understand this is not a scholarship league,” Williams said. “You have to stay healthy and be on the field. If you’re not on the field, then you’re not helping us, and that’s what you have to do. You have to be on the field and play.

“I’m not a doctor. I’m not a trainer. He needs to make sure he’s doing all the things he needs to do to stay on the field. Otherwise, hey, he’s not a football player.”

Williams did not dump on Ward for the entire 16-minute news conference. He said the former Ohio State Buckeye has improved backpedaling in coverage and he likes the way Ward tracks the ball.

“He’s been an example from day one on how to play the ball in the air in the man to man, and it’s kind of bled through the group,” Williams said. “I think Denzel set that example pretty well back in the spring, and he still does a very good job of playing the ball. He has a very natural way of doing that.

“He’s come a long ways. He’s done a very good job with what we’ve asked him to do and it’s been a big learning curve for him on understanding some of the zone awareness-type things that he has to have because he hasn’t had an opportunity to do very many things like that but locking down and playing man-to-man. That’s why he’s here. He just needs to stay healthy. He needs to tackle the way I tell him to tackle.”

Ward will be tested early. His first assignment in the regular season will be covering Steelers All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown.