BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Myles Garrett Defensive Player of the Year campaign added three key endorsements Thursday – the coordinators.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites from Thursday.
Campaign endorsements – Garrett has gone sackless the last four games, the longest drought in his career, but like head coach Kevin Stefanski earlier this week, all three coordinators backed Garrett for the top defensive award for this season starting with defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who compared Garrett’s impact on the game to greats he’s seen during his coaching career like Calvin Johnson and Ray Lewis. “Myles fits in that category, affects the game, helps other people make plays,” Schwartz said. “We could have a two-hour press conference of the ways that he affects the game.” Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone was asked who his team MVP is and his answer was not a surprise. “I'll say, Dustin [Hopkins] aside, I would say 95,” Ventrone said. “He's just ridiculous. I've never seen a player – I've been in the league since 2005, I've never been around a football player like that guy. It's unbelievable. And I think when you actually get to see him in person, it just looks way different. And to me, he's hands down – it's not even a question – he's hands down the best football player in the league. Defensively, he's hands down the best. There's no one that's even remotely close to him, in my opinion.” Schwartz agreed with Ventrone. “I'm a little bit biased because I'm here, but again, for all those reasons that we just said, it's really a pleasure watching him play and watching him affect games,” Schwartz said. “Say whatever you want about sack numbers and everything else. We're the best third down defense in the league by a pretty good chunk, I think, and he has everything to do with that. Our corners, all three, are really high in their coverage percentages. Every single one of them can attribute some of that to Myles Garrett.” Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt is glad he doesn’t have to prepare for Garrett. “Oh man, he's a generational pass rusher,” Van Pelt said. “His strength, his power, his quickness, he's special. I don't know if we blocked him out there on the edge when we do compete period yet. So I mean he's dynamic and I'm glad he's on our team. We don't have to block him in a game.” Stefanski, Schwartz, Ventrone and Van Pelt are all spot on in their assessments of Garrett’s greatness, but the unfortunate reality when it comes to award voters is this: Garrett isn’t winning Defensive Player of the Year unless he starts piling up some sacks and single-handily flipping games down the stretch.
1k, that’s Amari – In the long, storied history of the Browns they have never had a wide receiver tally multiple 1,000-yard seasons for the franchise. Amari Cooper is 15 yards shy of doing just that. “It is kind of surprising a little bit, but at the same time it's not,” Cooper said. “Things happen throughout the course of the season. Obviously there have been a lot of guys who played here who definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, has had the ability to go back-to-back thousand-yard seasons. But extenuating circumstances happen, guys get injured and whatnot. So it's definitely something I don't take for granted.” Cooper’s 1,160 yards last season ranked fifth-best in team history. This would be his seventh 1,000-yard campaign in his career. “Just to be consistent, just to be reliable, just to be available, it means a lot to me. Being able to play through whatever circumstance and still be able to do my job, it definitely means a lot that I'm able to do that and help the team.” Cooper would join Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome as the only players to record two 1,000-yard seasons in their Browns career should he hit the milestone.
Bitonio’s back – Left guard Joel Bitonio did not practice again and he is day to day with back spasms that forced him from last week’s win over Chicago. “I do feel a lot better,” Bitonio said. “I mean Monday morning was very difficult for me to get out of bed and make it. Just those backs, you never know. But I'm feeling a lot better now and hopefully that continues to progress.” Bitonio started having problems during warm ups Sunday and he gave Michael Dunn the heads up he might be needed. “It popped up,” Bitonio said. “It hasn't bothered me this year. I have in the past had some, you play football in the NFL for a decade, you have some back issues, but not this year. I haven't dealt with it. It kind of just popped up Sunday, honestly. So that's one of those ones that you try and play through an ankle or a shoulder or knee, but when you can't really get in your stance, it's hard to go out there and go out there and play.”
Faith in Flacco – The narrative that the addition of Joe Flacco has saved the Browns season sounds a bit dramatic, but it might be true. “He's like a faith multiplier,” Cooper said. “When he came in, guys [were] like a weight lifted off of our shoulders. This is the guy we trust in him, for whatever reason, because a lot of guys, they know of Joe, but they haven't seen him play every game. It's just his credentials. Super Bowl winner, consistent quarterback, throws a great ball, has a great understanding of the game. So yeah, I think that's what draws everybody to him.” Flacco has set a franchise record for passing and tied the team mark for touchdown passes by a quarterback in his first three starts.
Praise for Dave – There was a time after Kevin Stefanski took over in 2020 David Njoku didn’t see eye to eye with his new head coach. The bond and respect the two have developed for each other is hard to miss. “We obviously weren't on the same page his first year, but I'm glad that we are where we are now,” Njoku said. “When we figured out we both were going to be here for a little while, the last thing we wanted to do was act like nothing happened. So we had to address everything that was going on and build together. So I think that's what we're doing right now.” Njoku, who played through serious burns suffered in a home accident, leads the team is catches and receiving touchdowns this season. He is second in receiving yardage. “He works hard. He's battling through injury all the time to get there,” Van Pelt said. “Again, one of the greatest teammates on our team for everything he does and one of the most productive guys. I don't know if there's another tight end in the league I'd rather have than David.” Njoku’s maturity and growth has been praised by Stefanski. “I think there was a lot of maturity that happened over the last seven years, and I'm just blessed to be here,” Njoku said.
Best in the business – The Browns remain No. 1 in overall defense allowing just 261.1 yards per game as well as defending the pass by surrendering 158.9 yards per game and getting off the field on third down by holding opponenets to a 28.3% conversion rate. “I think we take a lot of pride in it,” cornerback Denzel Ward said. “I mean, since the beginning of the season, you've been hearing us talk about how we want to be the best in the world. And I think we've been consistent in showing that we're the best corners out there and the best defense out there. And we're just trying to continue to show that, continue to execute plays out there and lock our guys down and make plays for this team and find a way to get a win.”
Pickup trucks – Van Pelt hands out a toy pickup truck to the player who picks his teammates up off the ground the most on game day. “As a quarterback when I played, I always tried to be the first one to help guys up off the field,” Van Pelt said. “That's just something I always believed in. The tighter the group, the more success you have, and that's just something that I've always done. And these guys have all bought in across the board as a team, and it's awesome to see. You hate to see a guy lay there and then guys walk away, and we won't put that on film.” Njoku has received five or six of them, including following last week’s win over the Bears. “It really shows that we really play for each other. We love each other,” Njoku said. “This is probably the most in-tune team I've ever played with, the chemistry and the love we have for each other. You know what I mean? I think that's really what you need to be successful to win is to play [for] more than just yourself.”
Playoff probabilities – At 9-5, the Browns have a 90% chance to make the playoffs according to NextGen Stats. A win over the Texans Sunday boosts them to 99% while a loss would drop it to 78%.
Injury report – DNP: LG Joel Bitonio (back, knee), LB Anthony Walker (knee), LB Jordan Kunaszyk (calf), DE Ogbo Okoronkwo (pectoral), S Juan Thornhill (calf), WR Amari Cooper (rest); LIMITED: TE David Njoku (rest, knee), RG Wyatt Teller (rest, ankle), OT Geron Christian (shoulder), RB Kareem Hunt (groin), C Ethan Pocic (stinger); FULL: QB Joe Flacco (calf), DE Myles Garrett (rest, shoulder), RB Jerome Ford (wrist), C Nick Harris (knee), CB Denzel Ward (shoulder)
