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The Cleveland Browns made the move to fire defensive coordinator Joe Woods on Monday and safety John Johnson III got honest about the unit’s struggles following the move.
The Browns’ defense had a strong showing at the end of the year, although they ended with somewhat of a dud against the Pittsburgh Steelers, falling 28-14. However, the unit was miserably inconsistent for the majority of the year, struggling with blown coverages and stopping the run with any level of consistency.
The Browns averaged 331.5 yards allowed per game this season — which ranked 14th in the league. Cleveland allowed 135.2 yards per game on the ground, which ranked 25th in the league.
Johnson didn’t sound too surprised by the firing of Woods and felt like some things were swept under the rug as the Browns tried to keep the ship afloat.
“If we’re all doing what we were supposed to do and we all had the same goal in mind, certain stuff like that doesn’t happen. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so obviously there was something underlying that wasn’t addressed,” Johnson told reporters on January 9. “It boiled over. Have to try to move on from it. The time is now because once we start back up, there’s no time for that.”
Johnson: ‘We Didn’t Need to Trick Ourselves’
Johnson pointed to some issues with communication on the defensive side of the ball and doing too much trying to “trick” the opposition.
“I wouldn’t say it was too complex schematically but I would say at certain moments in the game maybe we didn’t need to trick ourselves trying to trick the other team. Maybe we could just lineup, get our feet placed in the ground and make plays. When we are panicking and stuff, that’s when you see guys running wide open. When we got our cleats in the ground, we are a pretty good defense. We need a calmness out there.”
The Browns need to upgrade certain positions, primarily at defensive tackle and linebacker. But with Denzel Ward, Myles Garrett and others, the Browns have a good core to build around. Johnson feels like the sense of urgency to capitalize now as a contender needs to be felt by the entire franchise.
“We need a sense of urgency — all over the building,” Johnson said. “Not just players and coaches. All over the building.”
Browns Already Looking at Options to Replace Woods
The Browns’ firing of Woods felt like a long time coming. The team finally pulled the trigger on the move once the season ended.
“I’d like to thank Joe for his hard work and dedication in his three seasons as our defensive coordinator,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said in a statement. “I will always have the utmost respect for Joe, the person, and the coach. Unfortunately, we didn’t perform up to our standards enough this season, and we all share in that responsibility. We all wish Joe and his family the best in the future.”
The Browns have already started to evaluate their options for a replacement. Among the names Cleveland has requested to interview are Steelers defensive assistant and former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo.
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