Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns could not continue their winning ways last week as they dropped a game to the Detroit Lions.
It was another rough day for the offense, one that led head coach Kevin Stefanski to make the switch this week and name rookie Dillon Gabriel as the starter for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in London.
Gabriel could have a new left tackle in front of him if Cam Robinson is up to speed after being acquired this week in a trade with the Houston Texans. Gabriel will also have at least one new wide receiver to throw to after Cedric Tillman was placed on the injured reserve list with a hamstring injury.
As for the Vikings, they are coming off a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, Ireland, and are in the second week of a two-week international visit.
Minnesota looks prepared to start Carson Wentz at quarterback for the second consecutive week, which, coupled with some lingering injuries along the offensive line, could mean that Cleveland’s defense is in for another big day.
On Thursday, Cleveland’s coordinators held their weekly meeting with the press, and here are the key takeaways from what they had to say about the upcoming game against the Vikings.
While the defense has to do its job no matter who is playing for the Browns, Schwartz still believes the defense can take some of the pressure off Gabriel by doing what they do best:
“I mean, number one, we have to take care of our business, and we have to try to be the best versions of ourselves and not worry about all those other things. But there is a responsibility that goes along with starting a rookie quarterback. It’s up to us to get stops and keep them in position so that he doesn’t feel the need to do too much. Last thing you wanna do with a rookie quarterback is put him in a situation where he’s got to score every time he has the ball, then you’re going to see mistakes.
“So, if we do our part, then that can help but our part is trying to be us, trying to get stops, trying to take the ball away, you know tackle fundamentals, all those things.”
Even though Wentz is no one’s idea of a starting quarterback, Schwartz said the Vikings still have playmakers on offense that the Browns need to be aware of:
“You know, getting (Jordan) Addison back last week really helped them. Obviously (Justin) Jefferson, but (TJ) Hockenson, and you know, I mean (Jordan) Mason’s a good running back. So even though they’ve had some injuries, they still have a lot of talented guys, and you know, he does a pretty good job of getting the ball in those playmakers’ hands, and you know, we’ll have to play our best to come out with a win.”
With Gabriel being a left-handed...
