Select Browns Player (9.24.23)

LB Anthony Walker Jr.  

 

How much fun is it when the offense is clicking and playing like that?

“It’s always fun.  Don’t get me wrong, but this defense is special. Anytime we go out there, it’s an opportunity for us and we take advantage of it. It’s always going to be fun for us. It’s always fun to see number four (Deshaun Watson) smiling. Fun to see Coop (Amari Cooper) celebrating – which you guys have never, ever seen before. I hope you all know that. He’s over there chest-bumping people. That’s exciting. That’s the camaraderie we want to build, and we’re getting there. We are trending in the right direction. We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re trending in the right direction.”

After a tough week, losing Nick Chubb, was this the statement you wanted to make?

“He was the whole motivation.  He’s going to be our motivation for the rest of the year. Anytime you lose a player the caliber of Nick Chubb, the heart and soul of this team, it sparks something within everybody in this locker room.  You saw it on the practice field, you saw it in the meetings. Guys were just locked-in and that translates over to Sunday.”

 

How good did if feel to see Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt being able to step up an fill that hole that Nick Chubb left?

“We knew that was going to happen. Kareem is Cleveland through and through. Jerome –just getting his feet wet. Touching the ball and a great route catching the touchdown. He’s going to continue to get better and make plays. We’re going to need everybody and we understand that. That whole room, even Pierre (Strong Jr.). We’re going to need everybody. Nick Chubb is one of a kind. To fill those shoes, you’re going to need everybody and they understand that.”

 

WR Amari Cooper

 

Did you feel like you were robbed of a touchdown today?

“Yeah. I definitely got robbed of a touchdown because the safety, he was cooked. It was over with. I was going to make a move on him and score 100%. I didn’t step out of bounds, I knew I didn’t step out of bounds. I’m not sure why they called that out.”

Did the referee acknowledge the mistake after seeing the replay?

“I heard the ref apologize.”

 

How did it feel to get the touchdown later in the game?

“It felt amazing. It felt really good to get the touchdown at the end.”

 

After the week you’ve all had, how much of a relief was it to have a game like this?

“Grant (Delpit) said it best, 2-1 is much different than 1-2. We feel like we’re in a good place. I said it earlier in the week, when we are playing up to our standard, we can play with and beat anybody.”

 

How do you think Deshaun Watson played today?

“It’s a hard position. We just try and make it easier for him. Constant communication, discipline in the routes, trying to get as open as I can get and it’s just going to be easy for him. When I can’t get open, he’s going to make it easy for me with the accuracy. He played real good today.”

 

When did you sense that this was going to be a good day?

“The first play of the game. We kind of got rolling and then we had a good drive that ended in a field goal. We preached yesterday that we wanted to end every drive with a kick.  Either a field goal or a punt. We didn’t want to have any turnovers, I think we had one today. The defense played well, great complimentary ball. We’re happy and we’re going to celebrate this for 24 hours then it’s back to work.”

 

TE David Njoku  

 

The offense was clicking, what did you see as the game went on?

“I think for starters, everyone was playing for each other. Obviously, it was tough last week losing Nick, so we took it on ourselves to go the extra mile, building the extra chemistry and doing that plus-one. The more you can do, I think it worked out for us.”

Was there a moment when it seemed like, “this is what we want to do, now it’s working”?

“Of course, to be honest, God has blessed us so much for our team to be so dangerous. I don’t think this is close to being perfect, but it just shows what we can do. We have to keep working and keep it rolling.”

 

How did you feel Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt and Pierre Strong Jr. did?

“We have all the confidence in all our guys. At the end of the day, all we need is what we have. We’ll keep pushing and get back to work, watch the film, correct the mistakes and we’re going to be okay.”

 

RB Jerome Ford

 

Kevin Stefanski said he saw the look in your guys’ eyes and he knew that this would be a bounce back game. What was it about the mood of this team on Tuesday that got you prepared for what you guys did today.

“Everybody was disappointed about the loss about the Steelers in Pittsburgh and that we wanted it real bad. And with Nick (Chubb) going down, everybody felt the sense of urgency to play for him .”

How did you feel you did today filling the void left by Nick Chubb?

“We did okay.”

 

You had your first career rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown. Arguably your best game as a pro so far. Can you reflect on your individual performance so far?

“I’m doing the best I can to help the team.”

 

What does it say about Deshaun (Watson) after a shaky first quarter to wipe that away and really focus and you guys get the offense moving especially in the second half. 

“Coach all week has been preaching resilience. It’s one of the letters in our word ‘START’ and we showed our resilience.”

 

What was it like to have Kareem (Hunt) back?
“It was great, a lot of energy coming from Kareem.”

 

Is there anything you have learned from him that you take forth in your game in your career so far? 

“Kareem is a dog. He works hard.”

 

Does it feel any different being this active early in the game?

“No, not really.”

 

Two touchdowns in your first start, how did that feel?

“It felt pretty good. It felt really good to help the team.”

 

Any different emotions going through your head today?

“Definitely. Without (RB) Nick (Chubb) being here and seeing him prepare and getting ready, talking to him, it felt really different.”

 

You guys have talked about turning the page and trying to get on the same page on offense. Do you feel like you turned that page today?

“Yeah, I think so.”

 

Was there a moment where you thought that this is how it should be?

“That touchdown that (Amari) Coop (Cooper) had at the end.”

 

Did you have a pregame routine with Nick Chubb normally?

“No, Nick is actually really quiet before the game. Like he is usually. Usually it’s me, Coach Stump, him talking. You see him standing right next to you and know that Nick is ready to go. So not having him here is hard. Nick is the guy.”

 

LG Joel Bitonio

 

Can you talk about Deshaun Watson getting his rhythm?

“We have seen flashes. Last year with training camp, OTA’s, really everything, we have seen a lot of flashes of what we can be on offense. I think Deshaun showed today he is still building this thing and still learning but he still has that in him. Hopefully, we can build on that and keep going.”

 

There was some good news about Chubb about his knee, maybe being less injured than it looked. Did it get back to the team and did it feel like a little boost?

“I don’t know where that information is from. Until I hear from Chubb and our doctors, I don’t know what to truly believe. If that’s true, I am very very happy for him seeing that injury. But, we haven’t heard anything specifically about the team. We will see what comes of it, we are hoping for the best with Nick, obviously. ”

 

Stefanski said the protection was outstanding today, what did you guys like about this matchup?

“They were a great front, Jeffery Simmons, (Denico) Autry, (Harold) Landry III, all of those guys have big time plays and we try to fight our butts off. Good front. We knew it was a straight through defense. We knew if we gave Deshaun some time, they could make some plays.  And they have their plays on defense, but Deshaun made enough plays in the passing game. We just kept fighting out there no matter what. If we got beat on one, we knew we had to come back and fight and keep forcing.”

 

What are thoughts on Jerome Ford’s performance and Kareem (Hunt) coming in here and contributing?

“Jerome had that touchdown, we did some really good things. Kareem, I think you guys can tell, he brings that energy.  The crowd feeds off of it, we feed off of it in the huddle. So, it’s a really good one-two punch out there. We didn’t run the ball as well as we wanted today. They are a good defense but both of those guys’ performances we are going to need the rest of the way.”

 

What is your take on what you are seeing from your defense?

“They have been outstanding. A few times in that first quarter, I was like, ‘We are just going to get the ball back every three plays.’ We were playing so well, but it’s so nice. You don’t have to play perfectly when your defense is playing that well. We are striving to be as good as we can on offense, but hats off to them. They are playing lights out right now and we are going to try and take advantage of as many opportunities as we can with them.

 

DE Ogbo Okoronkwo  

 

What does it feel like to have three straight games of dominance? 

“We are not really looking at the stats, we are just having fun out there. Defensively, we really like each other, we like playing with each other. We just want to keep getting better every week.”

It seems like you guys were out there on the field giving what you want to give, is there something left that we haven’t seen from you guys?

“We are going to turn it up every week, this isn’t even our best performance. We are going to get back to practice and we are going to try and be better every week.”

 

What about this unit has allowed you guys to get so close so fast with so many new guys?

“I think that is just credit to the guys upstairs, they brought in a lot of good people who like each other and know how to play as a team. Everybody knows their roles.”

 

What does it mean for you guys after a tough week to come back here and dominate?
“Yesterday is gone. We are trying to go 1-0 every week. We didn’t get it done, we went back to work.”

 

DE Za’Darius Smith

 

What does it mean to hold a guy like Derrick Henry to 20 yards?

“20 yards? That’s big. You can’t forget about DT (Dalvin Tomlinson). He’s a big example of why that happened. Stopping the run inside, everyone doing their job. When everyone does their job, you get a great turnout.”

 

What are your thoughts on Alex Wright?

“Great kid. He loves to listen. If he keeps listening, you can see what can really happen. He made some big plays for us today and that’s big for our football team. For him to have that confidence, hopefully it keeps going for him.”

 

The only drive that the Titans scored was one. Derrick Henry had negative nine yards. How does it feel to hear that stat?

“It’s big. Practice makes perfect. Coach has been harping on that all week about stopping that guy. We were able to do that today.”

 

Having seen Myles Garrett from afar, and now playing with him, reflect on what he did today?

“He’s different. It doesn’t start in the game, it started at practice. He can bring that everyday. He was able to get three and a half (sacks) today. But like I said, a guy practices like that, it will happen everytime.”

 

 

 

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