With no football this week for the Cleveland Browns, who are on their bye week, general manager Andrew Berry stepped up to the microphone for a press conference. The team is coming off of a loss to the Baltimore Ravens where backup quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was thrust into the lineup, and will have the San Francisco 49ers on the menu coming out of the bye as well.
There is a ton to feel confident about defensively as defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s unit has been flying around the football and making life miserable for opposing quarterbacks. Offensively, however, a ton needs to be reworked during the extended time off before they take on San Francisco.
Buy Browns TicketsBerry addressed it all and everything in between in his 40-minute press conference. Here are the five biggest takeaways as the general manager faced the media to address where the 2-2 Browns are through the season’s first four weeks.
Comments about the offense where intentionally pointed
Opening up his press conference with almost a State of the Union address, Berry’s monologue was heavily pointed at the offense. And for good reason as that unit has held the Browns back from what should have been a 3-1 start to the season.
The run game is broken, the Browns have turned the football over 10 times, and the passing game has only found success in one game this season. The sample size is still to small for definitives, but something has to change on the offensive side of the football.
“And then offensively, we’re really looking forward to using this bye week to really return to the level of consistency and the standard that Kevin has really set there on that side of the ball since he’s been here in 2020. And no doubt with having Deshaun (Watson) for a full season, losing Nick, losing Jack Conklin, that it’ll look different than we’ve been accustomed to seeing over the first three years. But we have no doubt that not only that] we’ll be able to meet, but kind of exceed the standard that we’ve seen the first three years that Kevin has been the head coach here.”
An expectation has been set by the general manager. These words should ring loud and clear to the head coach as they come out of the bye week against the Niners.
Bye week emphasis and moving forward is on ball security
Berry mentioned it over and over again. The Browns have lost the turnover battle in every game this season, and that needs to be their emphasis during the bye week as they get set to take on the San Francisco 49ers. Through the first four weeks, the Browns sit bottom-five in turnover differential at -7.
Asked what the primary focus was during the bye week, Berry did not hesitate:
“Number one, two, three, four and five would be ball security. Number one through five would be ball security. Like, that is the number one thing that we have to correct – the primary focus. Again, ten turnovers in four games. We put five more balls on the ground that weren’t recovered by the opponent. That alone, and that doesn’t mean that we’re perfect in every area, no different than any team at this point in the season, but that alone, minimizing that or getting that back to an acceptable standard will make a huge difference.”
The Browns have been sustaining drives at a high level, but there have been at least four drive-killing fumbles through four weeks. This is completely unacceptable, and the boss knows it.
Nothing but praise for right tackle Dawand Jones
The man who selected offensive tackle Dawand Jones out of Ohio State in the fourth round had high praise for the rookie through the first four games of the season. For a player who slipped pre-draft for concerns about his work ethic and weight fluctuation, Berry sang his praises since entering the building.
“Dawand’s done a nice job coming in some really challenging circumstances. The first half of the first game in his rookie year. He hasn’t had a chance to catch his breath. Right. He’s played some really good pass rushers and he’s done well. I’m actually glad you asked about Dawand because I actually want to touch on this. Dawand has taken advantage of every resource that we’ve had within the organization and I think particularly for that young man, the way he came into the organization with a lot of the, what I would say, like anonymous criticism, kind of attacking his work ethic, his character, things like that. He really has been fantastic. He’s done a really nice job for us, and he should be commended for coming in and being prepared when his number was called much earlier than any of us anticipated.”
As one offensive tackle struggles to gain his footing in his fourth year in the building, it is refreshing to hear about a rookie who, as Berry stated, has taken advantage of every resource in front of him. There is uncertainty along the offensive line, but right tackle does not appear to be one of those question marks.
Jim Schwartz is passing with flying colors
Outside of the loss to the Ravens, a game where the defense was on the field for nearly the entire game as the rookie quarterback could not string together a drive, the defense has been stellar under Schwartz. The Browns have fielded the most dominant defense in the NFL by a comfortable margin.
And Berry made sure to give Schwartz his flowers.
“Defensively, we’ve been very good, and I would like to give a ton of credit to Jim (Schwartz) and the defensive staff. They’ve done a fantastic job of preparing our guys, developing our guys on a weekly basis. I think it’s been really cool to see the aggressive mentality that side of the ball has played with. And honestly, quite honestly, the level of joy and fun that they’ve had on a weekly basis playing together.”
They have a massive test upcoming against the 49ers and their flurry of playmakers including Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, and more. The Niners’ offense, led by the best offensive mind in the league in Kyle Shanahan, is moving the ball through the air better than anyone in the NFL while also fielding a top-five run game.
Schwartz will have his defense ready for the task in what looks to be a battle of the elites when the 49ers have the football.
Browns are confident in the nuances of their run game
Everything Berry said about the run game is true but on a theoretical level. He was asked about the run game struggles, and here is what his response was:
“Over the past four years, we really have a pretty broad menu to draw from. So probably the short answer to your question is, I think we’re going to be able to be multiple moving forward based on the opponent, how we looked in the run game versus Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, that really had to change when we played Tennessee, which was arguably one of the best run fronts in the league. We tried to have more of a perimeter game, perhaps without as much success, and then you pivot to the passing game. So for us, it’s not necessarily about, okay, hey, we’re only going to do this. We have to be variable enough that we can adapt to our opponent.”
The only issue, however, is we have yet to see that nuance on Sundays. Outside zone is clearly not working, and these backs in Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt are not Nick Chubb in terms of what they see with the football in their hands and what they can do with the football in their hands.
The Browns can no longer pretend it is business as usual in the run game because it is not without Chubb. They have two weeks before taking on the formidable defensive front of the 49ers, but a great place to start is to gameplan a significant uptick in RPOs and inside zone.
