CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Browns defensive end Myles Garrett and left guard Joel Bitonio were recognized by the local chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America for the season and there was plenty of Pro Bowl reaction from the locker room.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites from Thursday.
Awards season – Garrett was named the Joe Thomas Player of the Year for the third time in four seasons. Wednesday night Garrett, who leads the team with 14.0 sacks this season and is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, was named to his fifth Pro Bowl. Garrett is the first Browns player to win the Joe Thomas award three times. The annual award, voted on by the local beat writers who cover the team daily, was named in Thomas’ honor during the Hall of Famer’s retirement ceremony. Bitonio, named to his sixth Pro Bowl Wednesday, was voted the Dino Lucarelli ‘Good Guy’ winner for his cooperation with the media and the way he carries himself in the community for a record fourth time. “I appreciate it,” Bitonio said. “I know you guys have a tough job to do, so try to help out any way we can, but it's appreciated and thank you.”
Door open – Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz transformed the Browns defense from one of the league’s least effective last season to one of the best in his first year in Cleveland. It’s because of that Schwartz’s name should be mentioned among the candidates to fill head coaching vacancies later this month, something he is open to entertaining. “I'd say this, in any job that you do, you always aspire to the top of that profession, and I'm no different there,” Schwartz said. Schwartz praised the organization from top to bottom Thursday. “I'm really happy here,” Schwartz said. “I talked about Kevin [Stefanski]. I haven't really talked about Andrew Berry or the Haslams, but I love this organization. I love the city of Cleveland. That was such a great atmosphere. 31 years in the NFL. That was one of my top five atmospheres that Thursday night. We needed to share that with the players. We got a lot of energy from them. We needed to give them a little energy, pay them back. Not many chances you have to be able to clinch at home. So all that.” Schwartz’s players quickly bought in and credit the veteran coach for making them better individually as well as a team. “Huge impact. More than I could probably even speak of in this moment,” Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward said. “I'm very appreciative of coach Schwartz and just who he is as a person coming into this organization and the demands that he placed on us and his coaching style and just how he's helped develop my game this year. I do feel that he's one of the key reasons that helped take my game to the next level this year and just, I don't know, I can't say enough great things about coach Schwartz.”
Opportunity knocked – Jeff Driskel is having quite the week. Days after signing with the Browns off the Cardinals practice squad, he’ll start the regular season finale in Cincinnati. “I don't know about surprising. I mean it’s the NFL, things happen,” Driskel said. “I've been around long enough to understand don't try to figure it out. Just handle the moment and that's what I've been doing the last five or six days and just happy to be here.” Driskel is the fifth starter for the Browns at quarterback this season. “When you get an opportunity to get on a 53-man roster, you take it,” Driskel said. “That's typically the fastest path to the field and that's what my thought process was. So came here, had a chance to get on the 53, and looking forward to the opportunity on Sunday.” Driskell also becomes the first QB to start for both teams in the ‘Battle of Ohio.’ His first touchdown pass came against the Browns in 2018. “I threw a touchdown on the seam to Tyler Boyd and he proceeded to throw my first touchdown ball in the stands,” Driskel said. “I looked around like, I asked the ref, I was like, ‘where's the ball?’ And he’s like, ‘I don't know.’”
Elite company – Only Hall of Famers Joe Thomas, Jim Brown and Lou Groza have made more Pro Bowls as a Cleveland Brown than left guard Joel Bitonio, who was named to his sixth consecutive Wednesday putting him in the conversation of getting his own gold jacket and bust in Canton, Ohio when he retires. “That's pretty special company,” Bitonio said. “That was the one that kind of like made me go, wow. Like, this is pretty cool because you live in the moment from season to season and you try and take it one game at a time. But like I said, anytime you get recognized, it's a great honor and we'll see about the other stuff. I'm just trying to do the best we can this year and we'll go from there.”
First of many to come – Tight end David Njoku received his first Pro Bowl invitation Wednesday night. “Feels pretty good,” Njoku said. “Hopefully, first of many. But honestly, the best feeling is just being what I can be for this team. It's crazy saying that, thinking of the past and how everything went the past few years, but there's nowhere else I'd rather be.” Njoku leads the Browns in catches this season and he leads the NFL in yards after catch. His growth and development under Stefanski deserve mention, and praise. “The way he's matured and the way he's been a core part of this team and one of our leaders, one of our playmakers,” Bitonio said. “It's been special little run he's been on, catching passes and making plays for us. I was so pumped for him when I heard he made it, because just the change he's made. I don't know how many times he asked for a trade or wanted to get out of here, and it takes time to learn and develop, and he's done all those things. So for him, I know that was really special.” Njoku shifted his focus for 2023 and it has paid off. “As crazy as it sounds, throughout my whole career, it was always…it was mostly about stats and how many yards I can get, how many touchdowns I can get,” Njoku said. “In the one year where I felt like, not that I didn't care about it, but more so the team was more important than me, is the year that I make it. So it's really funny how that all works out.” Earlier this season Njoku survived a horrific accident that resulted in his face and hands being severely burned. That event gave him a fresh perspective on life, and the game of football. “Probably after my face got burned off, so I was like, number one, life, no matter what, is a beautiful thing,” Njoku said. “The finer thing was just being able to see, hear, sensing, everything. And then as each week went by and it went by, I started noticing I was caring more about what the team needed to win more so than what I needed to be happy. And by doing that, it also made me happy as well. Funny how life worked.”
Snubbed – With five Pro Bowlers and six alternates it’s really hard to complain about snubs but one is hard to overlook – kicker Dustin Hopkins, who lost out to Justin Tucker of the Ravens. “I think clearly Dustin's had the best season in the AFC for sure, and probably the second best season overall next to [Brandon] Aubrey in Dallas,” special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone said “Eight for eight, over 50 and in addition to that, I would say the kicks that he's made have impacted our team and our season and have really put us in a spot to have 11 wins.”
Got my vote – The Browns have several candidates for postseason awards – Joe Flacco for Comeback Player of the Year, Andrew Berry for Executive of the Year, Schwartz for Assistant Coach of the Year, Garrett for Defensive Player of the Year and Stefanski for Coach of the Year – but only one of those appears to be a layup for voters. "I think [Stefanski's] coach of the year,” Schwartz said. “I mean, I don't think that's even close. He's just such a steady hand with the team… But a head coach should be a steadying influence in a team, and I don't think anybody exemplifies that better than Kevin. Good coaches can round out the roller coaster nature, which is the NFL, right? You're going to have highs. You're going to have lows over the course of the season. You want to be the person that can level out those. Almost like a good hedge fund manager. And I think Kevin, he's awesome to work for. I got a ton of respect for him. And we've had a couple spots this year where we haven't played great, but we've always been able to bounce back. And I think players take a lot of confidence in Kevin's confidence and his ability to handle all these different situations. A lot's been made of the quarterback position, but you can go down a list of a lot of other situations, particularly injuries, that have come and found ways to still be successful and have the record that we have. It's really been impressive.”
Injury report – DNP: DT Shelby Harris (back), LB Jordan Kunaszyk (calf), LG Joel Bitonio (oblique, knee), S Duron Harmon (hand), WR Amari Cooper (heel), CB Mike Ford Jr. (calf), K Dustin Hopkins (left hamstring), CB Greg Newsome (knee), LB Anthony Walker (knee), C Ethan Pocic (stinger); LIMITED: S Juan Thornhill (calf), TE David Njoku (illness), RB Kareem Hunt (groin), WR Marquise Goodwin (knee), P Corey Bojorquez (left quad), WR Elijah Moore (concussion), DE Ogbo Okoronkwo (pectoral), RG Wyatt Teller (ankle); FULL: QB Joe Flacco (calf), DE Myles Garrett (shoulder), CB Denzel Ward (shoulder)
