Refreshed from their bye week, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are ready for "a big workload," according to coach Kevin Stefanski.
Will Kevin Stefanski ‘sell out’ to keep the Browns’ playoff hopes alive?
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Browns practice and interviews …
Could Kevin Stefanski imagine calling a game like Bill Belichick did against Buffalo on Monday night – 46 runs v. 3 passes?
“Yeah … in that wind, for sure. That was pretty crazy,” he answered.
Relax, Baker Mayfield fans.
Weather forecasts for Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium don’t call for 50 to 60 mph wind gusts. In fact, it might be relatively mild for mid-December on the lakefront.
So Stefanski won’t be handing the rock to Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt 46 times into the teeth of the Ravens’ No. 1-ranked run defense even though coaches and players all season have been saying their offense runs through their No. 3-ranked running game.
I asked Stefanski if he believed in “selling out” to win a game in the must-win situation the Browns are in.
“I don’t know if I’d put it that way, but I would tell you, you have to put everything you have into that one week. These are one-game seasons. For us, our focus really goes to this week and whatever we can do to get a win,” the coach said.
Chubb and Hunt had only 15 combined rushing attempts for 36 yards in the 16-10 loss in Baltimore. Chubb was coming off COVID protocol and Hunt was activated for the first time in five weeks nursing a calf injury.
Now both have had the bye week to refuel their engines.
“I think we’ll always be mindful of the next weeks, as coaches,” Stefanski said. “I think we have to. Specifically to Nick and Kareem, I think they’re both ready for a big workload. They’ve both taken care of their bodies and they’re ready to go.”
The temptation of throwing against the Ravens’ 31st-ranked pass defense – further weakened by a season-ending injury to All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey – may be irresistible to Stefanski, however.
“Ultimately, we are trying to find ways to be explosive,” he said. “Whether that is through the ground or through the air, that is what we are searching for. How we play and how we call it is always based on that opponent, that game and what we feel like gives us the best chance.
“Our focus is playing a clean brand of football. We have been good at moments this season when we are playing freely – run and pass, staying on schedule, not hurting ourselves with penalties or negative plays and those type of things. That is really our main focus.”
Baker refreshed
Mayfield said he split time over the bye week in Arizona and Austin, TX, and it helped heal his body and mind “quite a bit, to be honest with you.”
“I have not had any major [injury] setbacks the past few weeks and then having another week off. Looking forward to keep getting better as the weeks go on," Mayfield said.
It’s one reason GM Andrew Berry said he expected Mayfield to play his best football after the bye week. The Browns will need that to happen for them to win enough games to reach the playoffs.
“Anytime you can kind of step back, kind of re-evaluate everything, come back with a fresh mindset and realize where we are right now and just have that one week at a time mentality,” Mayfield said. “It is what it is, so that is where our heads are, and that is where I play my best.”
Make Them Know Your Name
The mantra Denzel Ward often heard from his father was the inspiration behind his foundation of the same name. And the foundation's work led to Ward being named the Browns 2021 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.
Paul Ward passed away suddenly of a heart ailment in 2016. He was a long-time principal in the Bedford City School District.
“I think he’d be proud,” Denzel said. “I wish my foundation didn’t have to start for the reason it did. It was inspired by my father’s passing. But I think he’d definitely be proud. [I’m] looking forward to continue to build on the foundation and be an impact in this community.”
The Macedonia native intends to resume his annual youth football camp held at Nordonia High School, his alma mater, provided COVID protocols allow. More than 400 kids attended the camp in 2019. Ward said he intends to keep the camp free.
Delpit feeling good
Safety Grant Delpit, who received the team’s Ed Block Courage Award for his recovery from 2020 Achilles tendon surgery, said, “I think I’m the healthiest I’ve been in two years. I don’t have any problems.”
Still, this being Delpit’s first season, he still needs reps to reach his expectations on the field.
“I haven’t really showed anything too crazy, anything special,” he said. “So I’m just dissecting it all right now and feel in the next couple weeks I can put it together and make a couple splash plays. [I just need] more snaps.”
Delpit turned in his first career interception in the last game in Baltimore. His was one of four interceptions on Lamar Jackson passes intended for tight end Mark Andrews.
But when Delpit was asked about the job the defense did in shutting down the notorious Browns-killer, Delpit said, “We didn’t do that great of a job shutting him down. He still had a touchdown. We’ve got to limit them and just make him use somebody else.”
Jackson turned two broken plays into completions to Andrews, the latter recorded as a 13-yard touchdown after pressure from ends Jadeveon Clowney and Myles Garrett forced Jackson 25 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
“You have to stay in coverage, stay on your man. You never know what he can do. He’s a great player. He makes crazy plays,” Delpit said of the Baltimore quarterback.
Next men up
Stefanski hinted on Monday that the team was evaluating whether to keep Blake Hance at right tackle. Rookie James Hudson would be the first alternative.
The fact Stefanski most likely will be without his second and third tight ends – David Njoku (COVID) and Harrison Bryant (high ankle) – reduces the regular options to help whoever fills in for injured starting right tackle Jack Conklin (dislocated elbow).
So what will they do? Stefanski said the decisions have been made but he wouldn’t announce them.
TE1 Austin Hooper caught himself from divulging too much when he said, “We all have to do what we have to do. Blake … and we have extra linemen come in and give us good jumbo looks and do things like that when we want to get into those types of deals. It is just next guy up. We have to keep rolling.”
Brownie bits
Ward never says anything controversial and he wasn’t being controversial when he answered a question about whether the team needs to change its gameplan for Baltimore after intercepting Jackson four times in the last game: “I think we just need to play complementary football. Play as a team, play together,” he said. In other words, hey offense, pick it up …
Hooper was happy for the bye week to come. “It is the latest bye week I have ever had. To be honest with you, just the past couple of games, it just looked like we were out of gas. It was good to just unplug and rest.” ...
Not practicing were receiver Jarvis Landry (knee), receiver Anthony Schwartz (concussion), defensive tackle Malik Jackson (knee) and Bryant …
Stefanski ruled out Bryant for Sunday’s game, but the Browns are still evaluating whether he’ll move to injured reserve and miss at least three games …
