Jedrick Wills injury will test the genius once again of Browns line coach Bill Callahan
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Second thoughts on Browns 27-0 win over Arizona Cardinals …
1. Jim Schwartz and Bubba Ventrone, the new coordinators on defense and special teams, have been tremendous additions to Kevin Stefanski’s staff this season. But the MVP of Browns assistant coaches, four years running, has been offensive line coach Bill Callahan. He’s the reason the Browns can absorb injuries to right tackle Jack Conklin in the first week of the season and now to left tackle Jedrick Wills. Wills will be out six weeks after suffering a high-grade sprain to his right MCL, a low-grade sprain to his PCL, and bone bruises, per reports. The good news for Wills is the injuries are not season-ending. Callahan worked his magic in September to get rookie Dawand Jones up to speed when Conklin went down. Now he’ll do the same with James Hudson, who’s been a project three years in the making. In the meantime, Callahan converted backup center Nick Harris into a productive, short-yardage fullback. Wills’ injury does challenge the depth behind Hudson and Jones. Callahan and assistant Scott Peters probably will conduct a tryout for top backup tackle among newly-acquired Leroy Watson, and practice squadders Alex Leatherwood and Geron Christian. If they can hold the fort another week, versatile lineman Michael Dunn would be eligible to come off injured reserve next week. Most teams would panic after losing both starting offensive tackles. But because of Callahan, the Browns are always in good hands when they need to call on their reserves. Also, never forget that Callahan is the mastermind of the Browns’ wide-zone running scheme that has functioned adequately in the absence of Nick Chubb.
Left tackle Jedrick Wills will miss up to six weeks after injuring his right knee against the Cardinals. The good news is it won't end his season. (Cleveland Browns)
2. Wills is the fourth prominent member of the offense to go on injured reserve. Start with Jakeem Grant, the return specialist who would have had a specialty role on offense as a receiver. Then there’s Conklin and, of course, Chubb. When you add quarterback Deshaun Watson, who missed essentially four games during his shoulder injury, you can understand why the Browns’ offense has never hit the strides expected when Watson, Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt spent the spring months in the laboratory revamping the offense to suit Watson. So, halfway through the season, the offense is more resembling the multiple-tight end, heavy formation-dominated scheme Stefanski used in the 11 games started by Jacoby Brisset last season during Watson’s suspension. That offense ranked in the top 10 in yards and scoring. The problem was the defense and special teams badly underperformed. That’s not the case this year. Bottom line is the Browns can reach their goals this season because of the improvements in the units coordinated by Schwartz and Ventrone.
3. The worst game the Browns’ No. 1-ranked defense played was against Baltimore in the Ravens’ 28-3 rout in Cleveland on October 1. That initiated a string of sub-par performances during which the defense gave up 107 points in four games. So it was good to hear safety Juan Thornhill say, “We’ve learned a lot, honestly. We were riding on the high at one point, thinking like we were unstoppable. But then these teams came out and they hit us in the mouth a couple of times and showed us that we can be beat. And I feel like we needed that. And I just feel like this is a perfect opportunity just to continue to climb, to get to where we want to be.” The Schwartz defense gave up two TDs in the air and two on the ground to Lamar Jackson, and also failed to outplay the Steelers’ Dee in Pittsburgh’s 26-22 win in Game 2. It’s payback time. The Baltimore-Pittsburgh gauntlet coming up will go a long way in determining the place in Browns history this defense ranks.
4. Former Browns punter Dave Zastudil believes Corey Bojorquez deserves a Pro Bowl berth. At the midpoint of the season, Bojorquez certainly deserves to be in the conversation. Among AFC punters, Bojorquez is third in gross average at 50.5 yards. Ahead of him are Tennessee’s Ryan Stonehouse (52.3) and Las Vegas’ A.J. Cole (52.0). In net average, which takes into account the entire punt coverage team, Bojorquez ranks fourth in the AFC at 43.6 yards. Against the Cardinals, Bojorquez had a 73-yard punt downed at the Arizona 1-yard line by Mike Ford. A 73-yard net for a punter is the equivalent of a 325-yard drive down the middle of the fairway. Bojorquez averaged 58.6 yards on seven punts. “He was a weapon,” Stefanski said. “I just know a couple of those were hit really, really well. You’re going to be in some field position games, and I thought him – Corey and the punt unit really set [Arizona’s] offense up in some disadvantageous field position.”
5. The Browns’ receiving corps is Amari Cooper and everybody else. Cooper has 35 receptions for 617 yards and two touchdowns. The rest of the wideouts combined have 46 catches for 418 yards and NO touchdowns. I asked Stefanski if he felt this imbalance was the result of the instability at the quarterback position during Watson’s shoulder injury. “I don’t know that I really spend a lot of time thinking about the stats of it,” he said. “I think, you know, we know, the opposing team knows Amari is a good football player. He gets a ton of attention, that opens up other opportunities. But like we talked about [Sunday], the ball goes where the ball goes. It’s just based on coverage. All our guys are doing what they’re supposed to do, and when the ball finds its way, we have a ton of trust in all of our receivers, tight ends, you name them.” This isn’t what the offense was supposed to look like after the Browns invested in new receivers Elijah Moore, Marquise Goodwin and Cedric Tillman. But it is what it is.
