CLEVELAND: Outside the team’s Berea headquarters, the Browns defense is buried in negativity.
As a winless preseason concluded with a 21-7 loss to the Chicago Bears Thursday night in FirstEnergy Stadium, the Browns gave up 92 points in four games, 59 in the first half. Opponents averaged 374.3 yards, 150.5 rushing, converted 47.8 percent on third down and completed 61.2 percent passing.
The starting unit for the Sept. 11 regular-season opener in Philadelphia will be heavy on youth. No one on defense has more than five years’ experience except for cornerbacks Tramon Williams (starting his 12th season) and Joe Haden (beginning his sixth) and safety Rahim Moore (also his sixth).
But second-year defensive end Xavier Cooper knows coach Hue Jackson and defensive coordinator Ray Horton have some new wrinkles planned for the Eagles. While everyone else is gnashing their teeth and predicting disaster for the Browns defense, Cooper remains upbeat.
“Of course, it’s Believeland, right?” said Cooper, a third-round pick in 2015 from Washington State. “We’ve got to believe. I’m bought in. Everything good is going to come from positive vibes. We’ve just got to keep pushing.
“Last year sometimes we got down and sometimes we were high. We’ve got to stay high all the time and continue to believe. I think that will translate well into each game.”
The statistics may not bear him out, but Cooper liked what he saw from a Browns run defense that ranked 30th in the league last season. On Thursday, the Browns’ first-team defense only played one series and that Bears drive stalled at their 29. But the Bears rushed for 151 yards on 37 carries (4.1 average) and two touchdowns.
“What we did in the preseason, I thought we got after it in the run game,” Cooper said. “One of my goals and I think talking to the rest of the guys, we want to stop the run. Stopping the run on the way to the quarterback, that’s always been my philosophy. We did some good things in the run.”
The contributions of two rookies, defensive end Carl Nassib and outside linebacker Emmanuel Ogbah, were easier to spot. In the first quarter, Nassib tipped a Brian Hoyer pass on third down from the Browns’ 12, forcing the Bears to settle for a 30-yard field goal. Nassib waved his finger at Hoyer after the play.
“Carl’s a funny guy,” Cooper said, chuckling. “He kind of reminds me of myself last year — high energy, always want to be out there. When we’ve got coaches trying to push us back from getting out there, that’s a good sign we’re making progress. A lot of these guys are hungry to get out on the field, and that’s what we need.”
Cleveland media voted Nassib, a third-round pick from Penn State, the winner of the Maurice Bassett Award as the top rookie in training camp.
Ogbah, a second-round pick from Oklahoma State, moved into the lineup after Monday’s release of Paul Kruger. Ogbah recorded two tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry.
Asked about Nassib and Ogbah’s performances, Jackson said, “Very encouraging. Those are the young guys. Those guys made some plays early. Our defense early did a nice job. Everybody is looking for the consistency. Obviously, when you get to the second and third teams, it is a little different. I think we all get that.”
Williams, 33, said he was also encouraged to see Nassib and Ogbah making plays.
“No doubt about it. Those guys are going to have to play big for us this year, and what I’ve seen from them so far, they’ve got the ability to do it,” Williams said. “They’ve got a knack for making plays and getting to the quarterback. We’re going to need that this year.”
With Nassib considered a starter, at least when the Browns open in the nickel with four defensive linemen, Cooper can see improvement from a year ago.
“I think we’re doing a lot better job of collapsing the pocket than last year,” Cooper said. “I look on tape — we left so many windows open for the quarterbacks to throw, Big Ben [Roethlisberger], [Joe] Flacco. We’re trying to tighten down that window and make it hard for them. We did a very good job of that in the preseason. We’ve just got to get it going in the regular season now.”
Williams sees what the critics see and knows the defense must improve before the opener.
“It’s got to be different in 10 days,” Williams said. “We’ve been doing a lot of good things throughout the preseason. Not consistent enough, but we do have hope that we can get it to be consistent. The only thing we’ve got to do is keep working.”
A veteran like Williams may see the flaws, but young players like Cooper and Nassib are not discouraged.
“I don’t think anybody’s discouraged,” Nassib said. “I think everybody’s really excited. I think everybody’s really amped up to get it going.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.