BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – You can’t teach commitment or self-motivation.
It appears the Browns are in dire need of both, which would explain the stunning and disappointing start to the season, especially on the defensive side of the football.
For weeks we’ve been hearing players step up to take public accountability for mistakes in games, but what we haven’t seen is tangible improvement and elimination of them. Safety John Johnson III explained why he believes they haven’t righted the ship beyond accepting responsibility.
“Yeah, it's a commitment thing,” Johnson said. “When practice is over and our day is done, you can't just run out of the building and forget about your job. I think we need everyone in this building to really be a hundred percent in on the task at hand. Right now, I think we're at a place where that's not the case.
“So whatever we gotta do to get as many guys, if not everyone in on the same page I think that's what it is. Because that's the only way things are going to change.”
Coaches and players in the NFL typically take their work home with them so what Johnson is suggesting is not a novel concept, but it is concerning to hear one of the team leaders does not feel his teammates are pulling their weight away from the facility.
“You could say we're a younger team but that's no excuse,” Johnson said. “This is a big-time league, the top of the top and, like I said, it's not an excuse so we've got to find ways, however that may be, the leaders on this team need to get together and figure it out, but got to change something.”
Johnson is among the Browns leadership group that meets regularly with head coach Kevin Stefanski, so this is not a case of a player speaking out of turn or rocking the boat.
When asked about the comments, Stefanski seemed to indicate there is merit to what Johnson had to say.
“You do want these guys to take their jobs seriously,” Stefanski said. “This is a job at the end of the day, and you have to spend time with it when you are in the building and you have to spend time away from the building. There are young players of course that you are trying to teach them how to be a pro. Until you teach them, there are some guys who don’t know. Like most teams, you have young players that you are bringing along, but I think the guys do a good job of pouring everything they have into these weeks.
“We fill up their day. We fill it up with whether it is meetings, walkthroughs, practice, lifting, rehab and those type of things, but there is also an element of this job that you do stay committed to it outside of this building.”
The Browns head to Baltimore this week 2-4 and with their season already hanging in the balance and in danger of slipping away.
For linebacker Jacob Phillips, success on Sunday begins with preparation during the week.
“I know we’ve been preaching 100% commitment for this week and treat this game as a playoff game and all those things,” Phillips said. “But I feel like those are real things to do because when you’re 100% committed and the preparation is there throughout the week it just makes everything move a lot easier and faster, smoother Sunday if communication is there and the trust is there from teammate to teammate, from coach to player. It’s just one of those things where still we’re getting towards the middle of the season, we want to buckle down on our mistakes and correct them.”
There’s been talk of gathering at one of their homes in the evening to do a film study, which Phillips believes can’t hurt.
“I feel like that will help with communication, running through plays, making sure everybody’s on the same page and also you can trust that communication is coming when you hear it first, the first time you hear it isn’t on the game field,” Phillips said. “Obviously all those things will be an advantage to us when we do ‘em.
With the level of talent on the defensive side of the ball, it’s surprising to see the Browns ranked 30th in points allowed and 23rd in total defense through six games.
“My message to the team when you are not producing how you want to produce, we all have to do our jobs and then we all just have to do more,” Stefanski said. “I think it is do your job a little bit better, but let’s do more. What more can we do?”
Busted coverages, communication breakdowns, missed tackles and blown assignments have become commonplace and cost them yards and points.
“Obviously we want to be the best,” Johnson said. “We're far from that right now. But what's most important is winning. We've got two games coming up, division games, I think if we win both we'll be in first place. As bad as we're playing, that's the big picture and that's what we're trying to focus on.”