The Cleveland Browns will sport a new defensive look when they take the field on Sunday for their Week 1 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Some of those changes are by design: defensive end Jared Verse replaces Myles Garrett, linebacker Quincy Williams replaces Devin Bush, and defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg takes over for Jim Schwartz.
There were some unexpected changes, however, most notably along the defensive line, after defensive end Alex Wright, who was expected to be a starter, was lost
for the season to a torn Achilles tendon.
That led general manager Andrew Berry to bring in veterans Sam Williams and Derek Barnett, and Rutenberg to experiment with Michael Hall Jr. at defensive end.
Rutenberg had his weekly press conference on Thursday and addressed several topics. Here are four takeaways from what he had to say.
The impact of Jared Verse
There are no bigger shoes to fill for a defensive player than those of Myles Garrett, who picked up his second Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2025 after bagging an NFL-record 23 sacks.
Garrett is now with the Los Angeles Rams, while Verse is in Cleveland and bringing his own style to the defense, according to Rutenberg:
“(Jared’s) such a unique guy. He’s really like a unicorn in that he sets a standard with his play style and who he is. Really, what we saw early is what we continue to get. He sets that standard from the jump, in meetings, great questions, great insight. And then on the practice field, his standard of not only performance but style, and how hard he plays, has been the same every day. It’s really cool to see.”
Working in the new guys on the defensive line
Adding veterans is nice, especially for a team that is in the second year of a youth movement, but adding them so close to the start of the season is not always ideal. Especially with everyone on the defense already working with a new defensive coordinator and not necessarily able to quickly bring the new guys up to speed.
But so far everything has gone smoothly with Barnett and Williams, according to Rutenberg:
“It’s awesome to get new guys. The nature of this league is that you get new players, and those guys have worked as hard as you could possibly imagine. They’ve worked their butts off. Derek’s obviously been in it. Sam’s had experience in it. Those guys are pros, man. They approach it the right way. We’ve got a great defensive line coaching staff, starting with Jacques (Cesaire), Ralph (Street), Laroy (Reynolds), Shaq (Wilson), and together they’re preparing really hard. It’s really cool to see.”
A defense with bad intentions
All through training camp and the preseason, Rutenberg has talked about how “the ball is oxygen,” and the defense needs it to survive. He also wants his defense to have a very particular mindset when it takes the field:
“When the ball is thrown, we’re arriving with bad intentions. We’re built off that. We choose violence in everything we do, and it doesn’t have to be a tackle; ball’s in the air, we’re knocking it out. That’s what we’re built off. We do our job so my brother can do his; I do mine and a little bit more. And our guys have done that. They do it in practice; they do it in walk-through. It’s awesome to see.
“I’m excited to watch us play as hard as possible. I can’t wait just to watch us celebrate together. I can’t wait to see our preparation hopefully come to life. We’re built off violence, and that’s what we’re looking for in every play.”
The ultimate goal
Far too often, fans and media focus on sacks and turnovers as the only sign that a defense is successful. Those are fun, no doubt, but pressuring a quarterback into a bad throw is just as helpful. And turnovers are not something that a defense can control.
For Rutenberg, however, there is only one clear goal:
“Win. Win. I want to help the Browns win. I learned that from Jeff Ulbrich, man. Raheem Morris used to say, ‘help the team win on defense. Find a way to help the team win on defense.’ It’s a team game; we’re a team staff, Browns helping Browns, man. I want to help this team win.”
The Browns and Jaguars kick off the NFL season on Sunday at 1 p.m. Stay with Dawgs By Nature throughout the weekend for full coverage, and be sure to download the app to enhance your gameday experience.
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