Ken Dorsey will call the offensive plays for the first time as Browns offensive coordinator Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. He wants the offense to be physical and fast. (Cleveland Browns)
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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.
Takeaways from Browns practice and interviews …
What might the offense look like with Ken Dorsey calling plays for Jameis Winston?
For one thing, guard Joel Bitonio asserts that Winston is more of a pocket passer than Deshaun Watson.
“He’s probably more pro-style, had some under-center play-action characteristics,” Bitonio said. “He plays out of the gun too, but I would say he’s more of a pocket passer than Deshaun was.”
Bitonio also cited Winston’s “energy” as a welcome addition to the field.
Dorsey was brought in to tailor the offense to fit Watson’s desire to play mostly out of the shotgun and leave the pocket and make out-of-structure plays.
You would think a Dorsey-Winston tandem, actually, might resemble what Kevin Stefanski ran with Joe Flacco last year – more running to set up play-action and shot plays downfield.
In his best years with Tampa Bay, Winston averaged anywhere between 7.2 and 8.2 yards per attempt. Watson was similar in his glory years with Houston, peaking at 8.9 in 2020, but was lagging at a clip of 5.3 yards per attempt this season.
“We all want to attack the ball down the field vertically,” Winston said. “That’s explosive, that’s fun football, and that’s what we’re trying to incorporate as an offense, is get back to playing Cleveland Browns, fun football.”
For his part, Dorsey sounds ready to adjust his scheme to fit Winston.
He wants the offense “playing with extreme physicality, playing with speed, playing with confidence.”
“It’s all about the evaluation process of what our guys can do in week-to-week scenarios,” he said. “Obviously, I don’t think with Jameis, we’re going to be running a lot of pin and pull quarterback run type things or anything like that.
“It’s going to be in the pass game, what he’s got reps on throughout training camp, throughout OTAs, and that he feels comfortable with within the system. The last thing I want to do when we’re putting this plan together is say, ‘OK, this is stuff we want to put in’, but no one has any reps on it. No one has any experience with it whether it’s training camp or anything like that.
“So, I think that’s the big thing for us, making sure that when Jameis steps in. Guys feel confident in what they’re doing, and guys feel like we could go out and execute this so you’re not thinking because when you’re thinking, you’re slowing down your play. But to me it’s about, all right, let’s evaluate kind of where we’re at and make sure that we’re staying balanced in how we’re attacking and doing those things.”
Jeudy vents
In his first game as the No. 1 receiver in place of departed Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy wasn’t targeted in the Bengals game until Winston got in with 3 ½ minutes to go.
Prior to that, Jeudy tossed his helmet to the bench in frustration after one series. He finished the game with one catch on six targets.
“It is frustrating,” Jeudy said. “Football’s an emotional sport. Things like that happen sometimes. You just have to be able to control it.
“I want to have that back, of course, for showing that emotion. I don’t want to leave that emotion, as well. Sometimes ya’ll see that and you say, ‘He’s selfish.’ But that’s somebody who’s passionate about the game, who works too hard throughout the week and year round to come out there on Sunday and perform to the best of their ability. It be tough when you're not capable of doing that due to certain circumstances. [But I] gotta be better at that.”
Jeudy said the problem wasn’t with the play-calls.
“I mean, it’s not on the coaches. They call plays for me to get the ball. A whole bunch of other stuff going on that you can’t control. They try to get me involved,” he said.
Was he open throughout the game?
“Ya’ll watch the film?” Jeudy asked. “Gotta watch the film. Film tells the whole story.”
Line changes
The Browns have had different offensive line combinations over the last six games. There definitely will be seventh combination Sunday against Baltimore.
Wyatt Teller is expected to be back at right guard after a four-week IR stint with a knee injury. It would be the first time this season Teller and right tackle Jack Conklin play side-by-side.
Another change could be at left tackle. Jedrick Wills has not practiced either day this week because of his recurring knee issue. So who might replace Wills if he can’t go?
When Wills missed three of the first four games, James Hudson played left tackle. But Hudson is on injured reserve. Backup tackle Germain Ifedi could get the call. Or the coaches might consider moving one of the right tackles – Conklin or Dawand Jones – to left tackle.
With that position group, it’s always something this year.
Brownie bits
Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone shed some light on returner Nyheim Hines not being activated this season after coming close a week ago. Hines was excited to play against the Bengals, but the team didn’t think he was ready. “He put in a lot of time and effort to try to get back. He did everything he could,” Ventrone said. “We felt like he was trending in the right direction and just couldn’t get him to where he felt — and how we really, I would say, evaluated him in the practice setting to get back to where he needed to be, to be an impact. His number one thing for him is his speed and his explosive ability, and he just wasn’t at that spot where we felt comfortable to make the move. So disappointed for him. He would have been a great asset for us to have moving forward, but hopefully things work out in the future.” …
Safety Grant Delpit, on preparing to defend Baltimore running back Derrick Henry: “We’re going to put Dawand [Jones] at scout team running back.” …
Dorian Thompson-Robinson practiced fully and threw again for the second consecutive day. Stefanski said he would wait until the end of the week to decide whether it will be DTR or newly signed Bailey Zappe as the No. 2 quarterback Sunday.