BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It’s amazing what a win can do for a team off to a disappointing start to the season. The Browns aim to build some momentum heading into the bye by picking up their third ‘W’ of the season against the Chargers Sunday.
Here’s a few Brownie Bites from Thursday.
Breakout time for Tillman – Browns receiver Cedric Tillman admitted he was frustrated by his rookie year, but after catching his first two touchdowns last Sunday, he believes he is ready to break out and make more big plays. “I want to make plays,” Tillman said. “It is frustrating, but it's my journey. This is my process. I'm with the Browns, so I trust the organization and obviously I've had more opportunities to make plays, so I've been happy.” Tillman finished with 99 yards after catching seven of nine targets, including the game-winning score with a minute to play, in the 29-24 win over the Ravens. “I knew about when the ball hiked what the matchup was,” Tillman said. I felt like it was a good chance.” Tillman, picked in the third-round last year, has 18 catches for 189 yards and the two scores this season after finishing with 21 catches for 224 yards in 2023.
Stepping up – Injuries to the linebacker room have opened the door in recent weeks for Mohamoud Diabate, who has come on strong thanks to his offseason preparation. “As a rookie, you're focused on running the 40 and things like that. So being able to focus on five to six months on just working and getting my body and get my body ready for what I expected. As a rookie, you don't know what to expect, but I knew what to expect this year, so I knew how to prepare for it.” In last week’s win over the Ravens, Diabate played 59 snaps or 87% on defense where he flew around and led the team with nine tackles, one for loss and a batted pass. “That's how I've played since I started playing football,” Diabate said. “I just had to work on eliminating some other things and that's what I've done, so I look forward to every single week flying around, put my body on a line. That's what a linebacker is supposed to do.”
Cannon fodder – Cleveland’s defense realizes the test they will face Sunday from Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who has a cannon for an arm. “He definitely has a great arm,” safety Grant Delpit said. “You can see plays where he doesn't even have to step in the throws when he's still throwing the ball in the money, 20, 30 yards out, cuts don't matter wherever on the field. Arm talent’s there for sure.” Herbert has thrown for 1,443 yards with eight touchdowns and one interception for the Chargers this season. “He's one of the only guys that can throw off his back leg,” cornerback Greg Newsome II said. “He's a guy that can make every single throw. I definitely think he's probably got the best arm talent we've gone against so far this year.”
Communication is key – Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey credited communication with Kevin Stefanski and not his play-calling for the team’s best offensive performance of the season against the Ravens. “A lot of it happens between series,” Dorsey said. “A lot of it is kind of what we're anticipating coming up on the next series and what we're looking at and any thoughts there and adjustments. There were some plays that weren't in the game plan even that he brought up that were critical plays for us and we were able to install on the sideline and that was a lot of just kind of his experience and a lot of things that we've run here a lot in the past that maybe I haven't run as much in my past and they were a great place for us. So things like that were huge because it helps you kind of limit your tendencies as a play caller a little bit when you have that type of communication and I think trust between myself and him and him and myself, that type of trust to where it's like, hey, that's a good, let's do that and go that direction because there's going to be points in the game where not everything is flowing, not everything's perfect and you've got to adjust and you got to give the defense different looks or give your guys things that they're comfortable with.”
Quote of the day – Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone on Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh: “He is old school and I know that that's how he's done a good job of being able to keep that old school mentality in this new day and age where I would say football's much softer overall than it's been in the past relative to the rules and just everything that goes into it,” Ventrone said. “Less practice time, less time with the players and things like that. You could see he's done a good job of even at Michigan, wherever he's been, of maximizing the time with the players to create that culture of toughness, physicality, and it shows up in their film. I mean, their defense is really good. They run the s*** out of the ball, excuse my language, and that's his mentality.”
Injury report – DNP: TE David Njoku )ankle), G Joel Bitonio (foot), LB Jordan Hicks (elbow, triceps), LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (neck), CB Denzel Ward (concussion); LIMITED: WR Jerry Jeudy (knee), C Ethan Pocic (back), S Grant Delpit (groin), Mohamoud Diabate (thigh, groin), RB Jerome Ford (hamstring),DT Shelby Harris (hamstring), S Ronnie Hickman (ankle), DE Ogbo Okoronkwo (knee), LT Jedrick Wills (knee); FULL: DE Myles Garrett (Achilles), QB Dorian Thompson Robinson (finger), S Juan Thornhill (shoulder), DE Za’Darius Smith (illness)
