Opening statement:
"Obviously, coming off a very disappointing performance on Monday night and a quick turnaround so there is not a whole lot of time to feel sorry for ourselves, not that we would anyway. A lot of work to do. Had a really good day yesterday at work. Plan on having another good day of work today and tomorrow to prepare ourselves for Sunday afternoon because we are playing an outstanding football team. You guys know that, not only offensively and defensively but obviously special teams. They have a bunch of speed. They have good specialists, a good returner. Like normal, we have our work cut out for us. Look forward to the challenge. Our guys are fired up to get back out on the field. In some ways, it is a blessing to have a little bit shorter week because now we can get that bad taste out of our month and let's go out and play ball on Sunday afternoon in front of our home crowd, our home fans and let's get after these guys."
On if WR Antonio Callaway is an option at punt return:
"We are working him in there. Yes, it was a first week back last week and he caught a few last week. He caught even more yesterday. He will be integrated into our punt return group as soon as he is ready."
On if WR Jarvis Landry is still the primary punt returner:
"He is probably the primary guy. Obviously, we used (WR) Odell (Beckham Jr.) the other night to try and provide a spark for us. (RB) Dontrell Hilliard and (RB) D'Ernest Johnson, we have a bunch of different options back there. Depending on the time of game, who is fresh and who is ready to roll because they are all being trained to do it like they have been since the spring. We just have to make sure that we have the right guy out there at the right spot. Obviously, ball security is the No. 1 thing that we talk about all the time, and we did not do a good enough job on that Monday night. Odell was trying to make a play. God bless him, he wanted to go out there. We talked about it before hand and cleared it with (Head Coach) Freddie (Kitchens). He went out there and tried to provide a spark for our team. Seven and a half minutes to go in the game, we get a big play there and you never know what happens in this game. You guys have been around the game long enough to know that. He just did not secure the ball like he should, and he knows that. Going forward, we will do a better job doing that."
On if he is concerned that the Browns special teams have not been able to provide the desired spark in punt or kickoff returns:
"The Jets game, we had a really nice game of punt return, but you are right that since then, it has not been a whole lot. We have not had a lot of opportunities on punt return. We have had plenty of opportunities on kickoff return, and we have not gotten to that point yet. I talked about it last week and we talked about it again this week that talk is cheap. We have to go out and execute our assignments. We have to block better. We have to make good decisions at the return position. We have to go out and make a play. We have to give our offense great field position or even score because that is what I am used to and the guys I have been around are used to. We have a good group of guys. It is a work in progress, I am not making any excuses. We absolutely need to provide a spark for our team, and this week will be the prime week to do it, I know that, against a good football team."
On if it is a difficult situation to let Beckham return the punt in the fourth quarter given the score differential:
"With seven and a half minutes to go, you never know. If we block the left gunner, the gunner on our left side, we are going to have something. We have something. He is the one that made him bubble and then he started cutting it back from there. If we get him blocked like we blocked the right gunner, we have a chance for a good play. You get a good play in a situation like that, next thing you know there are six and half minutes to go in the game, and you are down 18. I know it is a lot. I get it. I am little bit more of a optimist than most people, but I am also realistic to understand. I think it is worth it because you are trying to provide a spark not only for your team in that game but going forward and getting them to believe in what we are trying to do as a return unit against Seattle, against New England, against Denver, etc on down the line. We have to build a foundation. You do not just build a foundation by just going out there and quitting with seven and a half minutes to go in the game. That is not who I am. That is not who our guys are. We are going to out there and try to make a play every single opportunity that we have. I do not care how much time is left on the clock and if we are down or if we are up to be quite honest."
On challenges in the first year of a new staff and team:
"I think the challenge is there because you have coaches coming from different staffs around the league or even college. You have players coming from different teams. I think Freddie is doing a phenomenal job of changing the culture. I have my master's degree in management, and I took leadership culture classes and I have studied a lot of that stuff. Obviously, being a Naval Academy grad, I have studied leadership and leaders. You do not just walk in and change the culture overnight. It is a process. It is going to take some time. Whether we were 0-5, 2-3, 3-2 or 5-0, it still takes time to build that culture the way Freddie has envisioned it. Our staff has bought. Our team has bought in. We are going in the right direction. Although the record does not show it quite yet, I do feel good about where we are and I can see it change. It is kind of cool to watch it because I have had that experience of different staffs and being in the military and seeing the culture of a squadron change when a new commanding officer comes in. It is something that I am very familiar with. I can see the change coming. It just does not happen overnight. It really does not. It is a work in progress. It is a transformation that has to occur over time, but we are going in the right direction and I am really excited about that."
On if Beckham requested to return the punt:
"We were talking about it before hand. Just the situation came up. They were punting from backed up and we had an opportunity fourth and long, we can double-bite both gunners not worried about the fake. We were down so we can be more aggressive that way. I cleared it with Freddie, and off we went."
On clarifying when he talked with Beckham about a punt return:
"Earlier in the game. We had other return opportunities that we had made a stop on third down and we were going to possibly put him in at that time earlier in the game. It was one of those things that there was either going to be Jarvis or Odell and both of them ready to roll."
On what it says about Beckham that he wants to be involved on punt return:
"I loved it. He does not care what the score is. He is a competitive young man. I have had discussions with him before. I had a discussion with him yesterday. He was trying to make a play. I love that about him. I just told him when you try to make a play you still have to secure the ball, and he totally understood that. He is a competitive guy. Just like Jarvis, just like Antonio, just like our other returners and just like 99.9 percent of our guys, maybe say 100 percent of our guys are competitive people by nature. We are going to try to go out there and make a play. We blocked a field goal. A big play there by (CB) Tavierre Thomas and returned it to midfield, and that provided a spark in the third quarter. You never know when that big play is going to occur, whether it is the first quarter, middle of the third quarter or at the end of the game. We always have to be prepared to perform to the best of our abilities in those spots."
On if it increases chances to use Beckham on returns in games when he is not as getting as many receptions:
"I do not pay much attention to that part of it because I have a lot going on the sideline getting guys ready for punt, punt return or whatever. I do not know if he is getting the ball a lot, unless I look up and he is making another one-handed grab against New York. I think when you are in a situation where you can use an athlete like him, why wouldn't you? To be honest with you. You can't ever coach scored. 'Oh my gosh, he might turn an ankle' or whatever. I think you have to go out there and say, 'Can he help us win the game in this spot?" Then you put them out there. If it is a spot where he is gassed or he is performing as well as he normally does on offense, then you may not be able to use him because it is a situation where he is not physically ready because he is gassed or he is tired. Same thing with Jarvis. Same type of thing. That is why we train so many guys to be our returner so the right, the most fresh guy can step up and perform at the highest level on that play at that point."
On if he has every been in situations where a superstar offensive player did not want to play on special times:
"Not really. I have been around some superstar players on offense and defense that could not care less about special teams to be honest with you, but I have not found that here. That is why I love this group of guys."
On if some star players in his past have refused to contribute to returns:
"You know before you go into the game. I am not going to put those guys out there in a game if they have not practiced. If Odell had not caught punts in practice last week, I would not have put him in that situation. It is not fair to him. It is not fair to our team. I have been around some big time players that thought they were too good for special teams. I do not have any time for those guys, and we do not have those guys on this team, which is good."
On if the league is trending to kicking it shallow in the end zone while it previously leaned towards producing touchbacks:
"Depending on who you play. Depending on the time of game and the situation. If we are 14 in the fourth quarter and they have (Seahawks WR) Tyler Lockett back there, why would I give him the opportunity for a big play? Try and kick a touchback. If it is 7-7 in the middle of the second quarter and we are covering kicks like we normally cover kicks this year, we might challenge them and kick it to the 2-yard line and tell them to bring it out. Last week, we kicked it high and 2 yards deep and they let it go. Those are situations we will be more aggressive on the return end that has not come to fruition like we want it thus far, but that is going to change. That is our plan to have that change. We are going to be aggressive on kickoff and kickoff return in every phase because we want to make a difference and help our football team in any way that we can. Sometimes touchbacks are going to help us. Sometimes taking a touchback is going to help our football team. We have to be prepared to either bring it out from three or four deep to try to get a big play on one end, and on the kickoff end, we have to be prepared to go down and pin the opponent inside the 20 like we have done many times this year."
On returning deep kickoffs and potentially getting pinned inside the 20-yard line:
"It is feast or famine. It is risk/reward. You can get tackled at the 18, the 19, the 20 two plays in a row and then you can pop one for 50. That is our mentality. We are going to pop one for 50 every two or three plays. We have not gotten there yet, but that is the mentality that we are trying to create with our football team that we are going to put pressure on teams that they are want to kick touchbacks because they are afraid of our return game. It is not there yet, but that is the plan."
On if he is comfortable with players returning kickoffs two or three yards deep in the end zone:
"Yeah, they are given parameters. If they do not play within those parameters, we find someone else to make those decisions for us. So far Dontrell Hilliard has done a nice job. (WR) Taywan Taylor brought some out against Baltimore that we were asking him to bring out. We were trying to be aggressive. I do not think you can get any better on kickoff return if you just take a knee all the time."
On penalties on special teams:
"Punt return, I think we have had one. Kickoff return, we have had three. I told our guys this morning, I said I have coached teams that we have gone through 16 game seasons plus the playoffs and had one kickoff return penalty for the whole year. We already have three so that needs to change. It needs to change quickly. Other than that, the other phases we are doing a good job."
On how clean most Browns players are operating on special teams:
"There is a fine like. Absolutely, like we talked about with our guys, I do not want to over-coach not being aggressive because then we do not block anybody. You also do not want to make the dumb penalty. We had a penalty onKORthe other day that the illusion was he threw him down. The guy was starting to fall, but he followed him down with his hands. All he has to do is let him fall or push him and go on to the next guy. It was a young player and he needs to learn that. We have preached it and we have worked on it, but we must improve on that immediately because we can't put our offense at the 17,18,15 yard line anymore. It is not helping our offense get going. We have to provide a spark for our offense that we have talked about for a long time here for the last several months."
On how impressive was Thomas' blocked FG:
"He was getting hooked. The wing starts to hook him so he just kept fighting through it and turned his body, and he blocked it. It was a great play by him. I really respect our defensive players on that unit. They do such a good job. Their last field was 28-10, and (DT) Sheldon Richardson is 2 yards, 3 yards in the backfield trying to block the kick. These guys, they do not care what the score us. I have been incredibly impressed the attitude and effort of our guys on field goal block and most of the phases for that matter. They do a really nice job of putting pressure on our opponent's field goal team. We finally got one the other day, and we are going to get one inside, too. Tavierre did a great job off the edge. We are going to keep coming off the edge. We are going to be sound against fakes when it is fourth-and-short like we have been doing and trying to keep people off balance so we do not have a tendency that we show and we can take away those fakes. Those big guys inside have done a phenomenal job for us."
Offensive coordinator Todd Monken:
On the Browns' and QB Baker Mayfield's struggles in the red zone this season compared to last season:
"Obviously, we are not doing it well enough. That is quite a major difference. There is no way to defend that. We have obviously – you are going to get tired of me every week saying it – it starts with scheming it better, practicing it better and executing it better. Really, that is how you do it because everybody has a hand in that – really, really does from how we scheme it, how we execute it, how we get the guys to practice it and then once we get down there, guys making plays as we saw the other night."
On factors leading to Mayfield's slower start this season:
"I wish it was that simple. Obviously, as I just said a second ago, I will take for instance say the other night – this is just a microcosm of where we have been at this point – we start off the game, we get good field position, we get a nice play to start it, on the very next play we have a drop and a mental error from the right tackle not going out and we immediately have a false start. You are on the road with an opportunity to really take the crowd out of it and get a fast start, and we do some things that we have unfortunately done too often and that is shoot ourselves in the foot with not doing it better than they do it. That is the start of it is that. We talked about it today earlier in terms of what does an effective offense look like. It starts with an effective game plan, giving ourselves opportunities and answers to what they are going to do, taking advantage of matchups, looks, taking it into the meeting rooms, then onto the field and executing it and carrying it over. We have not been able to do that consistently enough, and that is obvious. That is obviously the goal. We just have to find a way to do that better because if we do not, the product is going to continue to look like that."
On if the Browns offense must exploit other matchups before a defense will allow WR Odell Beckham Jr. more freedom:
"There is a part of that. There is a part of it that teams do play players like Odell differently. They do. At times, you have to take advantage when they are not, which we have not as often as you would like. With all that being said, it does help when you have other players. We have said that before with balances, having enough people where they can't just play a certain player or if all you have is a run game, they can load the box and you can't throw it. Those are all pieces to it. How you formation people, where you put different individuals to give yourself a chance to give them the ball. Obviously, we are going to continue to do those things with all of our players to try and put them in the best positon to be successful. With that being said, it is difficult when you have good skill players because you do want to run (RB) Nick Chubb. He is a good running back so you want to involve him. A couple weeks ago at the Ravens, he did not get as many opportunities, but it did not matter as much. Last week we had 49 snaps. We just did not have the ball that often and we did not get him the ball as often as we probably could."
On factors leading to the 'self-destruction' and mistakes on offense that lead to negative situations and plays:
"It is hard to say exactly. Obviously, we are not doing it well enough, starting with myself and us coaches. We are all a part of it. I always used to say from a coaching perspective if you want some of the credit when you have success, you have to own it when you do not. You can't say, 'Boy, what a great scheme two weeks ago', and then, 'This week was a great scheme, we just have to execute.' No, it is all of us that have to do a better job of installing it, players understanding what we expect out of a certain concept and then going on the field and making sure we execute it at a high level and then being able to take that over to the field. Right now, we have too many people taking turns at each individual person, which puts you in a positon to be really choppy. Like I said, after that first completion, it was not the same person that jumped offside that we had the errors with the play before. When you do that, it is going to look like that until we get it resolved collectively."
On the advantages of using an empty shotgun formation in the red zone:
"I know what you are kind of getting at because of our lack of success down there in some ways as to why it comes up that way. One way can be matchups. Another can be space that you are creating for some of your receivers or looks that you see on tape that may carry over into a given gameplan. Sometimes you like certain tightened down sets more than others. Sometimes it comes up on third downs probably more than anything. Sometimes it has come up at the end of the game and then it comes down to the comfort level of the guy calling it. I am not backing out of it. Everybody has their personality and how they see the best way to attack somebody in any given part of the field, not just the red zone but early down distance, third downs. That is all part of it."
On if it is tough joining a staff with new personnel and a new head coach in the NFL:
"I do not see it as tough. The tough part is not moving the ball and not winning. To me, that is the frustrating thing. There is nothing in terms of organizationally, the staff, those things or the players. There is nothing wrong with that. It is frustrating because we are paid to do a job and that is a fact. This is a bottom line business, and we are not as successful as we would like to be and that is not good enough. We have to find a way to be more consistent. I will say this, it is a week-to-week league. It does not take long to get some of these things resolved and all of the sudden, momentum is a powerful thing and you feel good about it. We obviously did not carry that over, but we are on to Seattle. I know everybody says that, but we have to be. It is what it is. We have to stop looking in the rearview mirror. We have assessed the issues that we have to try and address. Now, it is time to fix them because believe me, it is no fun coming in here and saying the same thing every week. I promise you, it is not. The bottom line is it is up to us to fix it. There is no one else coming to save us. It is not like we are going to hire four guys outside as a coaching staff and bring in 10 other players. We have what we have. This is what we have and we have to fix it."
On if there is a sense of over-excitement with Mayfield's passing in the red zone:
"My sample size is small. I do not see that in practice. There is a number of I didn't think… Take for instance the other night, the throw to Antonio. I know he threw it on time – it was a pretty quick throw – but I did not see that. He was pretty in my mind decisive in where he was going with the ball. He saw it clean, threw it and we did not execute the play for God's sakes. It was catastrophic. It completely changed the game. As average as we had played up to that point, it is changed. From then, it was not fun but at that point, we were OK. We were still finding our way, but we just did not execute. To say that in a small sample size, there are a lot of things that go into it. There really is. Not just him, it is just all of us. What can make a QB that way? Scheme. What can make a QB that way? Protection. What can make a QB that way? Route running. All of the above. It is not just one thing. I have not seen that so much yet in terms of the sample size."
On if he felt there was frantic QB play on the final drive of the game against the Rams, referencing another goal line situation:
"Again, it came down at the end. I get what you are getting at but to me, a sample size is more than even just two handfuls of plays. To me, a sample size is a season. Since I was not here last year to me, it is more than that. Again, I understand where you are heading with it."
On if WR Rashard Higgins returning can make a small or signifant difference for the Browns offense and Mayfield:
"We want as many good players as we have on the field. Him coming back, certainly, Rashard is a good player and we will welcome him back when he is healthy."
On if it is natural for a young QB like Mayfield to have dips in their performance at times or if the regression is alarming:
"I was not here last year so it is hard to assess what was done here a year ago. With any player, especially even younger players, you are going to have ups and downs, even your best players have times. Even your best baseball players go 0-4. Even your best basketball players have poor shooting nights. You have ups and downs as players. It happens more frequently when you are younger and when you are not playing as well around a player and when you are not doing it as well as you can do it, starting with us. It is never just one group. It is everybody. We are responsible for the product we put on the field and we have to do it better."
On assessing the film, making corrections and implementing that to practices and games:
"It will take us probably longer than my time allots, but it is really not that difficult. Say we play a game. I will start with the beginning of the week. You get the film, you critique it and go through it and you look at it and say, 'Why did we not execute this?' Sometimes it has to do with us playing against the best in the world. If a guy does not win, a corner covers him or we lose and the guy gets a good pass rush. Then you assess those things and analyze from a practice model, what do we need to practice during the week, not only for us but for the opponent? What do we need to get better at technically? Those kinds of things so we do it better, irrespective of what we call or irrespective whatever the play call is, it does not matter if you call this route concept if we run a crappy hitch route. It does not matter if we call this certain play and we do not execute the technique or the fundamental that you are asking a certain player to do because at that point, it will not be about the call and it will be about how we do those things better, irrespective of who you are playing. That is the start when you are choppy is take care of yourself first, and take care of the scheme second. Repair those things you need repairing from a technical, mistake-filled issue that you have and then figure that out next. If you do not have those fixed, the gameplan won't matter at that point because you are game planning yet you are still not executing what you expect your guys to do. As I say, that is all of us. That is not any one particular group in general, but that is where we have to get to. Otherwise, we are going to get the same result. That is everywhere I have been. This is not the only place that this has come up. It is just fixing it. That is the main part."
On if the Browns OL took a step back against the 49ers:
"I would not say that. I would just say that they are very good up front, and when you get behind a really good defensive front, it has a chance to look like that. This is how I see it. I thought we ran the ball fairly well considering the number of plays we had. We had the one long run by Nick but it was not as if 'Boy, there is nowhere to run.' We had opportunities so that in itself you would say I thought we did pretty good against a good defensive front and pretty good linebackers. When you get behind and you allow that type of talent to just tee off and not have to worry about other things, you are going to put yourself at risk. You just are, that is a fact. Some teams will not expose you as much as a team that has that kind of ability, and that is one that can if you get behind."
On if the mistakes on offense are due to a lack of discipline, lack of understanding of the offense or other factors:
"I do not think it is not understanding the offense. God, I hope that is not the case. Obviously, some of the other things are collective. Call it what you will, we just have to do it better. Obviously from an understanding of what is expected of them, some it is in terms of just mental lapses. Some it is discipline and mental discipline in terms of pre-snap penalties that are going to bite you in the rear end. Some of it is we have to coach it better. That is a fact. There is no dodging this. We have to do it better."
On if successful teams have all 11 guys doing their job perfectly or if teams overcome certain breakdowns within a play here and there:
"First of all, bad football loses before good football wins – you do not even give yourself a chance – so let us just start with that. There are times when you overcome that and someone makes and they are not as big of a factor in the play. You can have a receiver on the backside of a play screw up and you can still have a successful play and they are not a factor. You can have the same thing on defense where you have a bust on the perimeter but you get good pass rush and it never get exposed. The bottom line is everyone is going to have their fair share of mistakes. It is shrinking those so it looks like what you want it to look like. Stacking plays that look like what you want it to look like."
On if the Browns are focusing more on winning, executing fundamentals and running the football first rather than developing the offense and players:
"I would hope that is what we are doing. I would hope that deep down that is our No. 1 goal, that we are trying to win the game and that we are trying to run the football. Sometimes, statistics can show a different side of that when you are losing. I do not think at one point the other night when it was still a ball game, if you looked at where probably at that point, our run-pass ratio would not have been so skewed. I know we run the football because I sit up there and I am charting it so I know at a certain point, it turns. It just does. All of the sudden, you go from balance to imbalance because the only you chance you have and you are not going to have enough possessions. You are just not. The clock is going to run on you. I would hope that we understand the formula for us to win and I know it is. I should not say I hope. That would be like I am not involved. It would be to run the football, play action, get the ball out of his hands quickly and be able to move the chains. Still, we want to be able to be explosive. We have good players, and obviously, when games get away from you, it becomes where there is an imbalance there. I really do not think that is what we are trying to do is to develop an offense or to do anything other than do what we think is in the best interest of the Browns and in the best interest of the Browns to move the football, win collectively as a team and play complementary football. If I thought that, which I do not because I do not see that, sometimes it may look like that, but I do not think that is what we are trying to do. I think we are trying to run the football first, play complementary football and not turn it over – all of the things that give you the best chance to win."
Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks:
Opening statement:
"Good morning. To say that we did not pay well Monday night is an understatement. Very embarrassing the way the defense performed. I take full blame and responsibility for that. It is definitely not indicative of who we are. I think when you look at the identity of this defense, each week you are going to tweak a few things. The previous two weeks, I did that and we performed well. What I did, I got outside the fundamentals of what we do. What you saw Monday night, you saw a defense that was thinking too much. They could not get aligned. They played slow. When you see that as a unit, that is on me. We are going to get back to doing what we do – fundamentals and technique, the identity of what we established from Day 1. We are going to get this thing turned around, and we started that yesterday."
On the Browns' tackling deficiencies on Monday:
"When you look at a couple of times, the two that really stand out are the opportunity we had to get off the field on third down when we had them backed up. We just did not wrap up. You saw I believe it was (CB) T.J. (Carrie) at one time and then you saw (S) Jermaine (Whitehead) on another one. Then most importantly, we need population to the ball. We need guys running to the ball, as you talked about proper angle so therefore, we can get them down. You are right, the previous couple of weeks we were good. We broke down the other night, and that is something that we have to improve on. This week, you are going against a great offense and (Seahawks RB Cris) Carson who is going to run the ball just as hard as those guys did last week, as well as (Seahawks RB Rashaad) Penny. We have our work cut out for us again this week."
On the Browns primarily using a 4-2-5 defense on Monday against a 49ers offense that typically uses two backs:
"We felt No. 1, that our safeties are strong enough, big enough and they understand the run fits. I do not think that really had anything to do with the outcome of the game to be honest. We did not align correctly a times. I thought we were thinking too much. We did set the front right. All of that goes back on me. I think we were trying to do too much, and it showed in our performance. There are times where you are going to see maybe a guy or two or sometimes even a position group that is going to struggle a little bit, but when the whole defense looks lethargic and slow, I put all that on me. We are going to get it corrected."
On the challenge preparing for Seahawks QB Russell Wilson and Wilson's ability to extend plays, particularly on a short week:
"That is so true. I have faced Russell a couple of times, probably eight times in the last six or seven years wither it is regular season or the playoffs. He is so dynamic at extending plays. Those guys from my understanding, they practice that every day, You look at (Seahawks WR Tyler) Lockett, that is the guy he is trying to find. Those guys do a great job of really scrambling and trying to work to get open. We have to do a great job containing this guy, which is going to be tough, but we have to try to keep him in the pocket. When he does get, got to make sure that we plaster on the back end. You are completely right, the play is never over with him. I have seen him make so many plays that you would think the play is over and all of a sudden now he finds a way to get the ball in there."
On how tough it is to be in the first year as head coach of a team and implementing a new system and culture:
"It is a tough transition whenever you are trying to lay a foundation of your culture and what you want. I think (Head Coach) Freddie (Kitchens) is doing a tremendous job. I really do. I think the expectations and his message, and I think he does a great job of really coaching the players as well as the coaches and laying out a plan of action of how to achieve that. You go back and you look at the first game of the year, and rallying the guys together and getting those guys to respond. We are going to do the same thing this week. That was not indicative of who we are as a defense or a team"
On if Browns players were thinking too much due to how 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan schemes his offense:
"Kyle does a tremendous job. That is a good football team that we just played. Kyle does a tremendous job in his scheme and most importantly, getting those guys ready to play. To me, we went a little too much on what we did on the previous couple of weeks, and each team is different. Having experience with those guys before, I should have not walked down that path. I knew better. We made some adjustments throughout the game, you saw us slowing down a little bit and playing according to how we needed to play in stopping the run some. I am not concerned about it because I know how we can play and how we will play. We started that correction period yesterday, and I saw the results."
On what the Browns defense can do better than last week when facing Carson:
"It is just gap integrity. Lining up correctly, No. 1. That is the start. Then two, everybody doing their job and staying in their gaps. This is a good football team as I mentioned. Carson and Penny, they run hard. Then you have the element of the play action, the same thing we saw last week with the 49ers. Great eye discipline across the board. We have to do a great job of recovering in the hole off of play action with our linebackers and we got to do a great job of staying over the top of No. 16, Lockett."
On how managing reps at CB when CBs Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams return, given CBs T.J. Carrie and Terrance Mitchell have played well:
"It is a good problem to have, and we are going to address that problem when it happens. I am worrying about right now stopping this run game with the Seahawks. Seriously, to answer your question, we are going to have some issues when they come back. Those guys are performing well, Terrance as well as T.J. Competition is great. That is what we encourage across the board. The better we are from the standpoint of competition, the better we are going to make this defense. We will see exactly where we are once those guys come back into the fold."
On trying to defend against incredible plays from talented players like Wilson's TD pass to Lockett last week:
"It is tough to defend. It is funny, we just watched that play in the meeting and talked about it from the standpoint of scrambling. I think Lockett was probably this close right here as far as his feet being out of bounds, but that is the play that Russell can make. That is the play that he has made over the years. We just have to find ways to try and contain him, and most importantly on the backend, we have to plaster guys, really try to get him out of bounds and knock him down."
On coaching points from the opening TD touchdown run last week:
"I do not think that one play was really the outcome of the game. Did it get us back on our heels? Yes. I thought we responded. That play can't happen. When you look at from again starting up front, the 3-technique swim to the guard and allow the guard to get to the second level, we can' allow that to happen. Now, the linebacker needs to fallback off that particular run but he did not have the opportunity because the guard was in his face, and then the bottom line, the safety has to get him down. Regardless of what happens, we have to find a way to get that guy down in the secondary. Great play by them. Not efficient and definitely not detail on our part."
On Wilson showing good ball placement in and outside of the pocket:
"He does. It has just been him over the years. I think he is more effective believe it or not when he gets outside the pocket. He is a guy that is not really looking to run. His eyes are constantly down the field and he is looking for that open receiver. That is the challenge for us as someone has already mentioned that we can't relax in coverage, particularly once he gets outside the pocket."
On LB Mack Wilson's performance following the loss of LB Christian Kirksey:
"You see the athleticism there, very skillful. Of course, when you start talking about a rookie compared to a seasoned vet, you are missing some things there. He is going to have some growing pains. You saw that on the first play. I still have total confidence in Mack. I know that he is going to be a good football player for us, and he is going to learn from this like we all are and like I did."
On the Seahawks TEs, specifically Seahawks TE Will Dissly:
"Very talented. I know they brought (Seahawks TE Luke) Willson back as well, but this guy is just like the guy from last week. Very skillful out in space and is going to look to try and hit you down the seam, particularly in the red zone. Very good in-line blocker, as well. We have another task this week in covering the tight end. I think he is very good."
On challenges facing teams that run the ball consistently well:
"Each week, it is different. I think you have to tweak some things as I mentioned earlier. This run game is similar to what we saw last week – a little outside zone, zone-read and some gap scheme. Our tackles inside have to play well. We have to play well up front across the board, and our linebackers have to play downhill and try to get the double teams off. We have to do a great job of setting edges in this particular offense. You saw the hesitation last week and guys not striking with violent hands and those things. I think going back to who we are and doing the things that we have done in the past is going to get us to playing fast again. I am not overly concerned. I am disappointed in our performance, but I am not overly concerned about us getting this corrected."
On if DE Myles Garrett is as aggressive now as the first two games following penalties early in the year:
"I think he is still aggressive, but the thing about it is I think what you are seeing is he is trying to work within the confinements of not getting a penalty. He is still quick off the ball. He is still making some things happen. You saw that one sack he got last week. Can he play better? Of course, he can, and we need that across the board with all those guys up front."
