The Cleveland Browns have completed the first two weeks of training camp, with only about 99 percent of the focus being on the depressing battle to see who will be the starting quarterback.
Fortunately, other areas of the team will play a role in determining how well the 2026 season goes, starting with the defensive line.
The biggest change, of course, is that defensive end Myles Garrett is out and Jared Verse is in his place. Following at a very close second is Mike Rutenberg taking over as defensive coordinator
for the departed Jim Schwartz.
While Rutenberg is bringing some fresh ideas to the defense, many of his core philosophies are similar to what Schwartz likes to do, and there is the added benefit that six of the defensive coaches are holdovers from last year, which brings a nice sense of familiarity and comfort to the defense.
One of those coaches is Jacques Cesaire, who is tasked with getting the most out of a defensive line that no longer features the game’s best defensive player.
But that doesn’t take away from what Cesaire wants to see from the defensive line, as he explained during his media session on Saturday (quotes via a team-provided transcript):
“The engine of the defense simply means this: we’ve made a deal with the entire organization that when the ball is thrown, we’re going to sprint to the ball. We’re going to be first on the scene to deliver the blow on whoever catches the ball or is trying to run the ball. That’s the first part of the engine.
“The second part of the engine is we get to establish the violence. We’re the first line of defense, so we get to establish the violence, the mentality of the entire defense. So, those guys take a lot of pride in it. We talk about it every single day, we preach it every single day, we practice it every single day. We take pride in the fact that the defense is trusting us with that title.
“I just want them to play sudden, violent, and fast.”
Verse has claimed a considerable amount of attention since arriving in town, while second-year defensive tackle Mason Graham has quietly gone about his business. Now that he has a year under his belt, Cesaire is expecting even more from one of the defense’s smartest players:
“He just understands football, understands formations and what the offense is trying to do, and he’s trying to help everybody out as much as he can, and he gets down, and he starts rolling. It’s been really cool to see that maturation out of him. This is a guy who knows exactly what’s going on, and he’s letting everybody know. It’s like having a second Mike linebacker out there. It’s really good for us.”
Cleveland has been dealing with injuries at defensive tackle throughout training camp, as Maliek Collins is on the PUP list, Graham and Mike Hall Jr. have missed practice time with minor injuries, and Sam Kamara and Kalia Davis are dealing with injuries.
That has provided an opportunity for some lesser-known players like Travis Bell, Elijah Chatman, and Tyreek Sapp to show what they can do, which has Cesaire excited for the first preseason game against the Chicago Bears:
“Tyreek Sapp is a name that comes up. He’s grown so fast, from where he started to where he is now; I’m extremely proud of him. Adin (Huntington) has been Adin, as usual. Just a ball of energy, a Swiss Army knife who can play inside or outside; he has enough speed to do both. And you guys are going to love “Snacks”. T-Bell (Travis Bell), we just got him, and he just works. I’m really excited to see what these guys do next Saturday. We’re tuning them up right now for all of that. I just can’t wait; I am excited football is back.”
It might take some time to get used to seeing Cleveland’s defense without Garrett and Schwartz, but if the defensive line can be the sudden, violent and fast unit that Cesaire wants them to be, then the difference may be negligible.
And they may even help to take some of the focus off the ongoing mess at quarterback.
