Ken Dorsey's first game as Browns play-caller was a smashing success. He says it wasn't the play-calls but the execution by the players that made it happen. (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 …
The offensive line blocked. The receivers got open and made catches. The quarterback made quick decisions and good throws.
In Ken Dorsey’s first game as Browns play-caller, everything clicked. For the first time all season. Like magic.
Against the first-place Baltimore Ravens, the Browns set season highs in points (29), offensive yards (401), first downs (22) and third-down conversion percentage (53.3%).
So, does Dorsey think Kevin Stefanski should have let him call the plays sooner?
No way is the first-year offensive coordinator going down that road.
“No, I think, look, Kevin has called plays at a high level in this league for a long time,” Dorsey said. “He’s been a multiple coach-of-the-year for a reason, as a head coach and as a play-caller. I’ve got a lot of trust in Kevin, and I think if Kevin were calling it last week, I’d like to think we’d have very similar results because it wasn’t about the plays.
“It was about us going out and executing at a high level. Our preparation that week led to us having good things happen. So, I think that he’s obviously done a great job for a lot of years and we were good last week. The key is though, consistency in this league. We got to do the same thing this week.”
The Los Angeles Chargers present a sterner test on defense than the Ravens, who sported the worst pass defense in the league. The Chargers lead the NFL in scoring defense and are fifth in third-down efficiency.
One of the major differences in the game plan was having Jameis Winston play much more under center. That not only set up the play-action passing game better but also allowed Nick Chubb to be a more natural runner than from the shotgun formation.
“I think you want to be able to be versatile,” Dorsey said. “I think Nick’s the type of back that’s been effective in a lot of different areas over the years and I think we just want to continue to utilize him and maximize his touches as much as possible. And that has been, yes, a little bit more under center as the weeks have gone on.
“Has it been effective for us? I do think it has been in terms of not only the run, but some of the actions and stuff off that. But we can’t just live in an under-center world. We got to be able to do both and I think we’ll continue to do that whether it’s Nick or anybody else in there.”
Hit the JUGS machine
I’m not sure of the running total of dropped interceptions by the Browns’ defense this season – Six? Seven? More? So I asked defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz if he’s keeping count.
“No, because it would depress me too much,” he said.
Grant Delpit and Denzel Ward had drops against Baltimore. That makes about four for Ward overall. M.J. Emerson has at least two, also.
How do they correct this problem?
“I mean, it’s just keep working, just keep trying to be in position trying to put the players in position,” Schwartz said. “The guys have been doing extra when it comes to the JUGS machines and things like that. But we just got to start coming down with our fair share of those.
“We have a lot of PBUs [passes broken up], but PBUs don’t necessarily change the game. INTs are what changes the game.”
Where’s Q been?
Defensive tackle Quentin Jefferson was viewed as a help to the interior pass rush when the Browns signed him in free agency for one year. Jefferson had a career-high six sacks with the Jets last year. He has one for the Browns and has been a healthy scratch the past three games.
“I mean, we’ve got some good defensive tackles,” Schwartz explained. “We got Mo [Maurice Hurst] back from the injury from early in the season and same time we got Mike Hall back and we’ve been getting really good production out of Shelby [Harris] and Dalvin [Tomlinson]. So, it’s really just a numbers game. You got four guys active, Shelby, Dalvin, Mo’s been playing well, and Mike’s given us a spark, too and Mike has rushed the passer. There’s going to come a time when Q’s going to be out there, and he’ll be ready. He’s a veteran player and he did a nice job for us early in the season.”
Brownie bits
DNP’s were guard Joel Bitonio (foot), cornerback Denzel Ward (concussion), linebacker Jordan Hicks (elbow, triceps), linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (neck) and tight end David Njoku (ankle, hand) …
Defensive end Za’Darius Smith returned to practice after missing Wednesday because of an illness.