Cornerbacks Coach Brandon Lynch (11.14.25)
Brandon, this week, Denzel (Ward) talked about, joked a little bit that he’s getting bored with seeing so few targets. I guess, in his position, is there anything you can do to kind of fight back against that or just have to let it play out and let the game come to you?
“Stay ready so we don’t have to get ready. He’s a guy that he’s been resilient through his technique so that he can help our team. So really just being consistent with that. And then he also knows in his leadership role that there’s others that are looking to him. You know, whether it’s, you know, Myles (Garrett), whether it’s some of the other guys, Dom (Jones), that we have on the roster, obviously TC (Tyson Campbell) coming in, like, really respecting his play. So, like, how we do things and make things as a statement for our room is very important.”
I think the last time we talked to you, Tyson had just come over in the trade. Just what have you seen from him as he’s continued to just kind of get acclimated and grow even more in his role with the team?
“He’s our type of guy. Our room is extremely competitive. They’re extremely tough and they’re well connected. The guys are a very cohesive group that they value the things that Jim (Schwartz) thinks and I said things that we know that are very important for defense – violence, effort and passion. So, you have a student like that comes in the room, everything that he does is a statement as a student, right. He does everything that’s important with Coach (Kevin) Stefanski, you know, and he’s a guy that, you know, we talk about being resilient together. He’s a young guy as soon as he came in, he understood the fact that families stick together and families do the things that are required to win. So happy to have that young man in our squad.”
What about Lamar Jackson, now that he’s been back for a couple of weeks? What is the messaging to your guys in the back end of, what you can do to play him a little bit better?
“Yes. You know, first we got to do our job and doing our job, we got to do a fantastic job with perimeter run support. We got to stop the run and then we got to take away his legs, right? He’s a young guy that really scrambles outside the pocket, makes off target throws. So, we got to do a good job winning early, plastering late so that our engine can get home. And then at the end of it, you know, we gotta win on third downs. You know, as a segment, we gotta execute the calls, we gotta communicate, and we gotta play extremely fast.”
Going back to Ashley’s question about Denzel, have you noticed a big difference this year with teams not going his way as much as they have in the past?
“I would say not so much. You know, he’s a guy that, you know, since, you know, we’ve been blessed to be in the building. You know, he’s a young guy that a lot of people respect, right? But he’s also a young guy that when his name has been called, he’s really been in position to, you know, like, take advantage of those throws and those opportunities for our team. So, really, this year, you know, he’s definitely arrow up tackling better. You know, he’s a trusted teammate as far as a communicator. So, I think that’s what we’re seeing this season, where they know where he’s at, right? He’s really in good position. And then the thing that also why he’s not getting a lot of targets – our engine, right? Like our engine is getting home. Like, they’re getting home. They’re playing violent, they’re playing with effort, they’re playing with passion. And that’s something that really helps us as the tip of the spear.”
I know we’ve asked you this before, but Denzel never really seems to grade out very high like on Pro Football Focus. And I don’t know if you pay any attention to those, but I can’t even remember where he is this week. But it just doesn’t seem like it matches up with his ability or his level of play. So, can you explain that a little bit?
“Yes. You know, the best ability is availability. So having him on the field, like, having his energy, his toughness, obviously, his competitiveness is very important to us. Now when I’m looking at, you know, the Pro Football Focus, like, I’m one of those guys that keep my focus on the work, you know, and my role here is to serve our guys, to do the very best for our defense and our team. So, you know, we really just keep the focus on that and remain fundamentally sound.”
When you watch Denzel, sometimes you see these replays or whatever where he’s just, he’s almost like running the route for the guy. I think in one against Minnesota, there’s been some other opportunities like that too. What allows him to do that? Like what goes into him being able to sort of anticipate what a guy’s going to do before he even does it?
“Sure. You know, it really starts with leadership. You know, the way that Kevin schedules a lot of things that if you’re not on special teams, you’re with the position coaches and you’re learning more. So, Denzel gets a lot of like other time to work through football one on ones, tendencies, formational IDs, and then with that, like he’s also, when he comes out to practice, he gets a lot of time to really work his fundamentals on the other details. When we talk about the football one on ones, right, these are the 80 percenters, and we try to make sure that we keep him in his strength zone. So, you’re seeing a student that’s really getting a lot of time on task, who trusts time on task and really is playing with a really good group. You know, we highlight our defensive line because that’s the engine and obviously that’s how we get places. But then also like our linebackers and our safeties, they do a really good job communicating so, when we’re talking about football one on ones or some of the small tips week to week so that we can play fast, they do an outstanding job communicating that and then being the tip of the spear, right? Like we talk about like we’re the rims and tires. So, we complement our GPS and our nerve center and we complement the engine. So, he’s in position to just do his role and he’s a trusted teammate by doing it.”
With Tyson, just given his size and given the speed he has, like, how versatile can he be and like how much more do you think you guys can unlock with him because of those traits in this defense?
“His potential is through the roof. We talk about, respect and reputation, and he’s a respected young guy who has a reputation of being a very hard-edge player who gives great effort. Obviously, we see the physicality out there and then like being within our scheme, you see the swag. And we talk about, like swag comes from knowing what to do, playing fast and having fun. So, like he’s a young guy who has totally bought into what’s important to us as a team.”
When you look at that Ravens receiving corps, you can throw tight ends in if you want but what stands out and then what will they be missing if (Rashod) Bateman is not able to play?
“You know what, it’s a group that’s very versatile. It’s a group that has speed; they play with physicality. You know, this is an AFC North team, which, that’s what we’re looking very forward to, getting back in front of our fans so that, we can help neutralize some of that, collectively with ourselves and our fans out there. So, this is a group that, when they catch the ball, like a group that’s really good short space quickness. So, we got to do a really good job communicating, capturing those guys. And then when Lamar gets out of the pocket, this is a group that really does a good job at improv and improving fast. The guys know what to do. They execute it well. So, we have to be at high alert on those things.”
This is a bit of a random question, but I think there’s only four cornerbacks on the active roster right now who would kind of step up as, like, the backup nickel to Myles (Harden) or I know you guys, you know, put safeties in those spots. But in terms of, like, cornerbacks, who would you kind of trust to put in there if you needed to?
“That’s a really good question. All of our guys are versatile, so, if in the event there was an issue with personnel, you know, we have all four of those guys have the ability to come inside to really, like, disrupt timing and really stay tight for our defensive line.”
# # #
***Visit the Browns Media Center for materials provided by the Browns communications department, including media schedules, press releases, quotes, photos, media guides, rosters, depth charts and more.***