On RB Nick Chubb's improvement this season, including with his patience:
"I think [he has improved with] some of the patience that he has demonstrated over the last couple of weeks and even once we got into the season. Really where he struggled with that was the first preseason game in New York when everybody was pushing the panic button. He just went back to work. It is different. You can say what you want, but practice is different than games, even the preseason games. The first time you try to visualize yourself in practice, but once you get into the live game speed whether it is against in the preseason or during the regular season, it is just different. I think he has made strides in all of those areas."
On how OL Greg Robinson can help the Browns OL:
"If he plays the way he did last week, he will make us better. All of those guys up front, they did a tremendous job last week. They worked their tail off last week, and they were very efficient in what they did and the other one (OL Desmond Harrison) is working, too. We will see how it goes."
On how Chubb has handled the starting RB role:
"Nick is the consummate pro from the standpoint of he prepares every day, and he is all work and business and things like that. It was not a big adjustment at all for him. Of course, everybody wants more carries, touches and everything like that. It just came to fruition in a different means than he necessarily saw."
On Chubb fighting for extra yards and if that has been a point of emphasis or if it is natural for Chubb:
"Of course, that is what we saw on tape, and you are not going to change someone's physicality in six months. We saw all of that, but we continually stress you always want to fall forward as a running back or any position that you are carrying the football with you always want to fall forward because that one yard matters. When it is third-and-one, you are going to wish you hard that one yard prior to that. It is something we stress, but Nick has good body lean and good body posture when entering the pile, which allows him to fall forward."
On if QB Baker Mayfield may have been previously restraining himself, given Head Coach Gregg Williams saying to Mayfield that the team has his back and he shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes:
"He may have. That probably would be a better question for Baker, but I do not think you can play this position scared, and I do not know that he has every played it scared. I think sometimes you have to say whatever happens, happens. I know the good ones throw four picks or whatever, and the next time they get an opportunity, they are going to try to fit it into a window of a size of a – window, I do not know (laughter). They do not care. They do not care what happened the previous play, and they have short memories, the good ones do. I have been around a couple of good ones in (former Cardinals QB) Carson (Palmer) and (Vikings QB) Kirk (Cousins). The good ones have very short memories. The good offenses have very short memories. It is like I tell running backs, you have to have a short memory. If you go one-yard gain, one-yard gain, one-yard game and then a seven-yard gain, and that is four carries for whatever yards. All you are looking for is four yards a carry, but we tend to look for more consistency that that as far as last week we were only four yards a carry on offense, but we were very efficient. From the standpoint of getting what we need to get to stay ahead of the down and distance. On some third-and-twos and some third-and-shorter runs, if you get two yards on third-and-one, that is a good, efficient run. It is the same with a quarterback. You have to have short memory, not let the previous play affect you, the previous game affect you and just play the next play like it is the first one."
On importance of getting RB Duke Johnson Jr. more involved:
"We have certain playmakers we definitely want to get the ball to, and we try to devise opportunities for them to get the ball. Some of Duke's last week were designed plays, and some of them were Baker just doing a good job of finding his check downs. I had a coach tell me one time, if you do not throw it, they will not cover it. Defenses get paid and defensive coordinators get paid around the league from stopping you so if you are going to stop yourself by not using an attribute that you may have, then they are not going to cover it. That is just kind of what we try to stress."
On WR Breshad Perriman potentially becoming more involved:
"I think he is working, and he is going to try to continue to get better, just like we do with all of them. He has really put some time in from a mental aspect of things to know what to do so he is putting himself in good position to do that. He has good speed. He has demonstrated good hands for us. We are only going off what we see, and what we see is a player that is very hungry to get on the field and he has continued to work hard to do that."
On balancing when to take shots down the field against a team like the Falcons:
"That is the fine line you are walking. If you take too many shots down the field, then you are off the field in three-and-outs if you do not connect on any, but if you do, everybody is tooting your horn. What we try to do is just be consistent on first down, be consistent on second down and know the importance of third down when it comes up. It is all situational football. When we get into the red zone, we want to score touchdowns, and when we get to third down, we want to score first downs. That is the way we approach things. Of course, when we take our shots, we want to hit our share of them."
On Mayfield's development since the beginning of the season:
"I think just being comfortable with some of the guys around him. The last couple of weeks, we have had some guys in and out of the huddle from an injury standpoint, are nicked up or whatever. Just being comfortable with the people around him and knowing who is in the huddle with him, different routes that they run well and different routes that others run well. Really, just a better grasp of overall where his eyes need to be. It is all about the eyes for the quarterback and where his eyes need to be on a particular play or a particular read or a particular side of the field on a particular play."
On if there is anything else that he wants to install into the offense, given his new role as offensive coordinator:
"Yeah, I eventually want to get to the wishbone (laughter). Seriously, someone asked me the other day what had changed in [the offense]. I am being very serious when I say this, nothing has changed as far as what we call things. I could give five people in here the same gamelan, and you are going to call different plays at different times for different situations. That is the only thing that changes. Whether or not we change anything schematically or not, I do not know because (former offensive coordinator) Todd (Haley) and I have different views from the standpoint of some things. A system is just a system from a terminology standpoint. The system that you run is really internal in what you feel and what you believe in."
On Mayfield throwing outside of the pocket more in Week 9 was by design:
"I think Baker could be a really good pocket passer, but if you do different things with different things with different personnel to suit them – it may not be for Baker per se but it may be for a receiver or it may be for our offensive line – you are doing everything for a reason. Anytime that you can move the quarterback from one particular spot… If you go to the gun range and you are firing a shot, you are a lot better shot – I do not know if you are but I am (laughter) – if the target stays still. That is the same thing for a defense. If you know where the quarterback is going to be, you know how to get there and you know the most direct way to get there. If you move him around, maybe you change that up and at least give them something to think about."
On if he did a self-scout of his play calling in Week 9 and how Sunday went with play call mechanics:
"I did not do any self-scout or anything like that. I think it went well. I think that our offensive staff did a good job of just staying the course during the course of the week. It is like I said last week, just do your work during the week. You have a good feel for the players. You have a good feel for what the coaches like and what the quarterback likes, what I like, what your running backs like, what your offensive line likes to protect. It is a group effort. Coaches coach and players play. They are going to be out there playing the game so you better be calling things that they like and that they feel comfortable with or that is your fault. That is the approach I took."
On if OL Chris Hubbard has improved over the past few weeks:
"I think so. I think Chris is another good example of – all of our guys, we just keep our head down and work and try to get better. I think that Chris has definitely done that. At this point in time of the year, we are nine games into the season. You almost have to do a self-scout of yourself. Not necessarily the plays, but as a player, you have to do a self-scout of yourself and see 'What do I need to work on?' and the position coach needs to see 'What does he need to work on?' If you do that and do that honestly – that is the key, you need to do it honest with yourself – you know what to work on and then you can continue to get better."
On the process for OL Austin Corbett learning to play C:
"His study habits help him a lot from the standpoint of that the center is kind of the quarterback those five guys up front. When the center can do it since he can see both sides of the ball, he can get people pointed in the right direction. A lot of times the center is getting some help, and he needs to let his help benefit him the most. I think that he is getting a grasp of that and when to call people down to him and when not to and things like that. The scariest part for Austin is snapping from the gun, which is with any center, but he has made tremendous strides with that. Back in May, I do not know if we would have ever thought that he could ever snap a shotgun snap, but he has really gotten better, worked hard and has put a lot of time into it. (Offensive line coach) Bob Wylie and Hut (assistant offensive line coach Mark Hutson) have spent several hours with him just on snapping and stepping."
On the value of having OL Joel Bitonio to offer Corbett assistance:
"I think that it is very valuable. You can only take so many guys into the game so when you have guys that can play different spots, you kind of cover yourself from the standpoint of injuries and in-game situations where you may have to move some people over. Joel is very valuable to us, just as the tackles and (OL) Kevin Zeitler on the other side."
