The Cleveland Browns are back home on Sunday in front of the mob, we mean adoring fans, for a game against the Baltimore Ravens.
This is the first divisional rematch of the season after the Browns dropped the Week 2 game in Baltimore. Since then, the fortunes of the two teams have been on different trajectories as the Browns are once again residing in the basement of the AFC North Division, while the Ravens are getting healthy and appear poised to march unopposed to the division title.
The game marks
quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s first career start against the Ravens, making it the ninth consecutive game against Baltimore where Cleveland will have a different starting quarterback from the previous meeting.
On Thursday, Cleveland’s coordinators held their weekly meeting with the media, and here are the key takeaways from what they had to say about the upcoming game against the Ravens.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz
In the first meeting with the Ravens, Cleveland defense held running back Derrick Henry to 50 rushing yards (he is averaging just 56 yards in eight career games against the Browns), and quarterback Lamar Jackson to just 13 rushing yards.
With the division foes familiar with each other, stopping the run is more about attitude than scheme, according to Schwartz:
“Scheme-wise, there’s really not a whole lot (to change). It’s more just attitude. I think (the Ravens) had pretty good idea what we were going to do in the first game. When you play division games like this, particularly coaching staffs that have been around for a few years and players that have been around for a few years, there’s not a whole lot of secrets this time year.
“There’s very little in this game that we’re going to do that the Ravens are going to be like, ‘woah, where did that come from?’ Because if it was, we would have been doing it last game, the game before that. They know us, we know them. It’s classic division games. And it comes down to who plays physical, who does the techniques well, who plays with the best fundamentals, who plays with the best spirit, who makes the fewest mistakes. It comes down to those things as opposed to a coach coming up with a with a magic scheme or something like that.”
With the defense trying to give the offense one more chance last week against the New York Jets, defensive lineman Cameron Thomas committed a penalty on a fourth-down play that allowed the Jets to run out the clock.
The coaches obviously don’t teach players to commit a penalty, and sometimes things happen. But players need to move on to the next play, according to Schwartz:
“I’ve made mistakes in games where you do something, make a bad call, or something like that, it’s not as evident as that. I think that if you look across that game, I’m sure dozens of people on both sides made mistakes and plays that they’re not proud of. The thing is, when you make it in that situation, it’s magnified, and that’s the spotlight that players live under, that’s the spotlight coaches live under. I think you have to learn from it, you have to flush it, and you have to be able to move on.
“The thing I’m disappointed with Cam (Thomas) is that he played a really good game, other than that. But that one he’s going to, that one play defines his game, as opposed to his pressures, his run defense, he got a sack, did a lot of good things in the game. But that’s just the way this game goes, and that’s the spotlight we all live under, and we have to do better.”
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees
Rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel has had his struggles this season, so how does the coaching staff feel about him after five starts?
“He grades out pretty high. Look, nobody’s going to bat a thousand. There’s certainly – I don’t bat a thousand calling it. Nobody’s going to bat a thousand in really anything they do. But I would say he grades out where we want him. Dillon’s prep and where he is mentally for a rookie is really well beyond. He’s mature in that way and we want to make sure that those things that are happening during the week, we go ahead and execute them on Sundays.”
But surely Gabriel’s lack of height must be causing him problems? It is actually more about trusting what you are seeing on the field, according to Rees:
“(San Francisco QB) Brock Purdy has this quote. He was on a podcast in the summer (with) a former quarterback. And he talks about like 60% of the passes, you don’t see it. You know, and other tall quarterbacks have said the same thing, right? You’re playing with big men out there, and windows close fast. And he said you have to trust the look you’re seeing. You have to anticipate, you’re really throwing to spots versus different coverages, and that takes time.
“And I think Brock in the quote talks about how he’s a rookie and how he’s grown into that and the comfort in that and is confident in that. So much of our stress right now with the young quarterbacks is, hey, when we get looks that we know we like this concept versus, we gotta trust in that, anticipate, let it go. And then, you know, part of the job of the quarterback is, hey, we might call something that’s not the ideal look. How do we solve that problem?”
Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone
Cleveland’s special teams had their weekly breakdown in the Jets game, but this time that resulted in a pair of kick returns for touchdowns. So what was the problem?
“I would say in both areas, we got to do a better job – well, first off, on the kickoff, got to do a better job of getting off blocks and then folding when necessary. You know, we practiced that play multiple times throughout the week, so we could have done a better job with our details, our techniques, and our fundamentals. And then on our punt, just not taking the easiest release in the coverage, getting outside the ball, and then we need a better ball with better hang time on that. So, we need to do a better job.
“We haven’t played near our capabilities – we’ve had too many issues with just dumb football, dumb mistakes. But look, I will say this, we have a prideful group, and I expect these guys to respond, I really do. So, made the corrections, moving on. It’s a new week, and we’re excited about the opportunity to play against the (Baltimore) Ravens.”
With each weekly miscue, the noise grows louder for the Browns to make a chance at the position. After 18 years in the league, eight as a player and now 10 as a coach, does that noise bother Ventrone?
“I’m unfazed by that stuff. It really does not bother me at all – I could care less.”
The Browns and the Ravens kick off on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. from Huntington Bank Field in downtown Cleveland. Stay tuned to Dawgs By Nature for coverage throughout the weekend and all day on Sunday.
