Browns Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward playing only 11 snaps against the Jacksonville Jaguars wasn’t part of Cleveland’s initial game plan.
But as Ward has been dealing with a shoulder injury over the last week-plus, that very quickly became Cleveland’s reality on Sunday in their 18-13 win.
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“It might’ve been the second play of the game,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said on Thursday, “he came out and didn’t feel confident in his ability to tackle and he was like, ’Look, I’ll help whatever I can.’ And it became third downs.
“And not that you still don’t have to tackle on third down, but you’re not filling the run the way that those guys — and he was trying to battle through it. He’s dealt with things like that before. I was proud of him and just contributing in any way.”
Ward did still find ways to contribute. He got a pass breakup in the first quarter, running a route with Gabe Davis, and also registered a tackle.
But the Browns certainly missed him at key points. Ward was on the sideline when Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence threw a 66-yard go route to rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr. It was the longest play of the game, and led to a touchdown two plays later.
Ward was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday and Thursday. Earlier in the week, coach Kevin Stefanski said he’s hopeful Ward will play more snaps on Sunday as the Browns host the Giants.
Schwartz expressed a similar sentiment on Thursday.
“Hopefully he’s trending the right way,” the defensive coordinator said. “But yeah, that was, I don’t want to say unexpected, but the plan wasn’t to do that. That was an adjustment within the game just trying to find what role he could accomplish.”
Ward’s presence would go a long way on Sunday
The Browns have two other starting-caliber cornerbacks in Greg Newsome II and Martin Emerson Jr., but it would be helpful to have their No. 1 lockdown corner in this matchup against star Giants receiver, rookie Malik Nabers out of LSU.
The No. 6 overall pick caught 10 of 18 targets for 127 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s 21-18 loss to the Commanders.
He’s the second-most targeted receiver in the NFL behind L.A.’s Cooper Kupp, with 25 through two weeks.
It may be a small sample size through two games, but Schwartz had plenty of praise for the rookie based on what he’s seen on film.
“He reminds me a lot of Odell Beckham (Jr.) just in the way he moves and his run after the catch ability and things like that,” Schwartz said.
“They target him a lot when they’re looking for big plays and also they target him on short passes that he’s been able to play the tackles and things like that.”
Alex Wright’s continued improvement
On Sunday against Jacksonville, third-year edge rusher Alex Wright executed the play of the game for Cleveland.
After Corey Bojorquez pulled off an expert punt to the Jacksonville 2, Wright and the defense quickly did damage.
On the Jags’ first play after the punt, Wright lined up inside of Myles Garrett on the right side of the D-line. Garrett brought the pressure around the edge, and as Lawrence stepped up to avoid the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Wright pushed past Jaguars center Mitch Morse and drove Lawrence out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
Schwartz said Wright’s improvement has been steady since he suffered a knee injury last year in training camp and worked his way back. He ended the 2023 season with 5.0 sacks.
“He’s been really productive over the last part of last year and then the start of this year,” Schwartz said. “And he’s being rewarded with more opportunities. That’s a big thing, but I think he started last year injured, had a little hard time sort of getting his footing and going, but he’s played good, consistent and physical football for us.”
Myles Garrett’s foot injury
Garrett
, the Browns star edge rusher, continues to deal with a nagging foot injury, and was idle at practice on Wednesday and Thursday.
Against the Jaguars, at times, Garrett was visibly massaging his foot on the sideline. He played 41 snaps (68% of the defensive total), but it was actually most among Browns defensive linemen. He also had a key strip sack in the third quarter.
He’s been helped along by Schwartz’s constant D-line rotation, that at times, can go as many as nine players deep.
The rotating has also been helpful considering the D-line was fairly beat up in the preseason. Dalvin Tomlinson missed the entirety of training camp after undergoing a knee scope, and DT Shelby Harris, DT Quinton Jefferson and edge rusher Za’Darius Smith missed spurts with various minor lower body injuries.
“We want to stay fresh within the game and we also want try to stay fresh throughout the season,” Schwartz said. “That’s just in general if guys are healthy, but there’s no secret we’re battling a lot of injuries up front.
“We’ve had a lot of guys miss a lot of time in training camp and preseason and things like that and they’re all battling, they’re all working really hard to get out there and things like that.
“But last week we were able to have (second-year edge rusher) Isaiah McGuire up, and he didn’t play a lot, but he was effective when he played. Had some really good rushes for us. So you just got to get contributions all across the line and other guys have to pick it up. Myles is still Myles, he gets that one-on-one sack strip. Just getting them those one-on-ones and finding the other complementary rushers is sort of where we’re at right now.”
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