BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – In April, Perrion Winfrey authored one of the most memorable draft night media availabilities in ages.
His barking went viral and it instantly made him a fan favorite.
During training camp, Winfrey hasn’t done much barking, by design.
“Like Joe Woods always tells us, our mantra is ‘All bite, no bark,’” Winfrey said Tuesday. “So I don’t feel like there’s no need to be continuously barking or continuously talking. I feel like once the season comes and I start to bring that juice back and start to make plays on the field, that’s when I’ll be back to doing all the antics.
“Right now, I’m just head down, just working, trying to be the best player I can be every day.”
Winfrey has flashed during camp recording a few virtual sacks – quarterbacks are off limits – during team 11-on-11 work but he needs to keep doing more.
“Perrion, as you know, full of life, full of energy and full of personality,” Stefanski said. “I do think he understands that this is his job. He is a professional. He is a young player, so we are going to bring him along like we do with young players and mentor him both from the coaches and the veterans on this team, but I do think he gets the seriousness of this and that he has to work on his craft.”
Winfrey, a fourth-round pick who is competing for a starting job at defensive tackle, has found a way to channel his energy off the field through meditation, which he’s been doing for the last three years.
“It just helps me relax, helps me compartmentalize things I need to do in my life and just helps me focus on the things that matter, the things that don’t,” Winfrey explained.
“It brought me a lot of peace. It started to make me focus on the things that matter and start to control what I can control instead of trying to force things and be in situations I have no control over. It really just gained control over my life.”
Although Friday night’s preseason opener in Jacksonville doesn’t count in the standings, Winfrey plans to treat it like a regular season game.
So what is he dreaming of for a debut?
“Obviously everybody wants like a strip sack or sack but just making the plays, consistent plays is one of my dreams,” Winfrey said. “Just being able to make play after play after play after play, not just making one big flash play because everybody can do that but consistency making sacks, consistently making TFLs is what I’m looking for.”
If that happens, the barking will probably return in a heartbeat.
“I’m a different guy once the pads come on so it’s definitely going to come out,” Winfrey said. “It’s not something that I force. It’s something that happens so you’re going to have to just wait and see I guess.”
Stefanski on The Fan – Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski joined Afternoon Drive with Nick Wilson and Dustin Fox Tuesday.
Check out what coach had to say about self-scouting himself, Deshaun Watson’s preseason playing time, the difference in prepping Watson and Jacoby Brissett plus more in the audio player above.
Plays of the day – Safety John Johnson III intercepted a Deshaun Watson pass intended for receiver Javon Wims during the first 11-on-11 series. Receiver Anthony Schwartz bounced back from a slow start to the afternoon that included a pair of drops in drills to catch three passes for big gains in team work. Defensive backs D’Anthony Bell and AJ Green both denied tight end David Njoku catches in 7-on-7s but rookie receiver David Bell got himself open in the endzone for Watson to make a catch in traffic. Receiver Amari Cooper had a rare drop on a would-be TD toss from Watson. Backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett had a solid day throwing red zone touchdowns to receivers Schwartz and Mike Harley Jr.
Roster moves – The Browns swapped out linebackers by signing Jordan Kunaszyk and waiving Silas Kelly with an injury designation.
Kunaszyk is a fourth-year player out of California that was originally signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and spent his rookie campaign with the club before serving the past two seasons with the Washington Commanders (2020-21). Over the course of his career, he has appeared in 26 games and totaled four tackles.
Puppy pound counter – Four puppies were adopted Tuesday bringing this year’s camp total to 46. Since the program’s launch in 2015, 671 puppies from the Northeast Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have been adopted by Browns fans at training camp practices.
Roll call – DT Sheldon Day (back), CB Shaun Jolly (groin), CB Denzel Ward (foot) and WR Michael Woods II (hamstring) did not practice due to injury.
Running back Nick Chubb and receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones were given the day off and worked on the side.
Up next – Closed practice Wednesday before they fly to Jacksonville.