DT Devaroe Lawrence, LB Joe Schobert and C JC Tretter (8.26.19)
Included below are select quotes from interviews with the following Browns players during today’s media availability:
- DT Devaroe Lawrence
- LB Joe Schobert
- C JC Tretter
DT Devaroe Lawrence:
On recording two sacks against Tampa Bay:
“It always feels good to make plays so when I got those two sacks, adrenaline was just running high, trying to stay calm, get to the next play and see if I can get another one. It felt good that night.”
On Head Coach Freddie Kitchens telling the offensive line earlier in training camp that they could not block him and his improved performance since that day:
“Yes, sir. I remember. He made me raise my hand. Just stop thinking so much, come out and play the game and just trust what I am learning every day in fundamentals with my coach. Just using the techniques that he uses, taking it to the practice field and trying to transfer it on gameday.”
On changing his mental approach:
“Yeah, just stopped thinking about it so much. It is football. It is what I have been doing my whole life. Just go out there, apply the right techniques and the proper skills and do what I supposed to do.”
On his reaction to Kitchens comment and if he was shocked
“No, it was not even like that. I was in such a zone, I thought I was in trouble because I just tackled the running back to the ground. I really thought I was fixing to get in trouble. When he said that, it was like OK, boom, accept the pat on the butt but put your head down and keep working.”
LB Joe Schobert:
On the Browns defense’s performance against Tampa Bay and if that is what the team should expect this season:
“Yeah, I think if everybody is on the field, healthy, communicating and playing as disruptive as we can, that is the kind of stuff that we want to put on tape. Hopefully, that is just the sign of things to come.”
On the Browns defensive line dominating last week and that benefitting the entire defense:
“For sure. When you are a linebacker and you get back into your drop and as soon as you get to your landmark, you turn around and the quarterback is on the ground and you just job back to the huddle every play, that makes you feel better. You feel like you are in much better shape when that happens instead of chasing receivers around all play if they can’t get the quarterback down. Live, in person and right behind them, those guys can really get after it.”
On the Browns focusing on improving the run defense:
“I think just buying in into the coach’s system. It is a gap-based system so everybody just has to do their 1/11th versus the run. If you trust the guy next to you to do their job and you do your job, there is going to be nowhere for the ball carrier to go. I think everyone just buying into the way the coaches wants us to play and coaches coaching up well with us. I think is the biggest key.”
On if the Browns’ attacking defensive scheme and the front four will help allow the defense to impose their will on opponents:
“I think (former Browns and NY Jets defensive coordinator) Gregg Williams would say that his defense was attack mode, too. It is definitely just a lot more, especially with the guys we got up front, of letting them go after the quarterback, and you saw the results in the game. When you can rush four, play seven in coverage behind them and constantly getting to the quarterback, that is asking a lot for a team to stop because there are not a lot of windows for the quarterback to throw it in to. They are going to be trying to make some perfect throws, and we got ballhawks back there that can take advantage of it.”
C JC Tretter:
On if he is confident the Browns offense can correct mistakes from the third preseason game:
“Yeah, after every preseason game, especially preseason games, there are things you can learn from and grow from. I think we got outside of our technique and fundamentals a few too many times. That is something you watch on tape, you correct it and put a better foot forward the next time out.”
On how much of the struggles against Tampa Bay can be attributed to the recent grind of training camp, preseason games and travel:
“That is football. There are going to be rough stretches. You are going to go from a Sunday to a Thursday game and that is the stuff you face. You have to be able to fight through adversity, and that is really not an excuse you can really hang your hat on and think that is OK. We have to do a better job as a unit, the offensive line especially, of going out there and playing better and go out there and protect the quarterback and be able to protect the football.”
On clarifying mistakes from Friday and it sometimes not appearing as good or bad as it seems on TV:
“I think a lot of it is just getting outside of your fundamentals, getting outside of your technique and things go poorly. That is the tough thing about offensive line play is if one guy makes a mistake, it kind of makes everything look bad so I think all of us had one or two plays that we wish we had back. That kind of makes everything look a little sloppy. We corrected the film, and we will be much better off the next time we are out there.”
On if it helps to have more clarity on who will get the first opportunity at RG:
“We do not get too caught up in titles. We have been playing with (G Eric) Kush the last few weeks so we have been used to that. It does not change anything now that anything has been announced or a job has been given. He has been the guy lining up with us so we have been preparing with Eric. Moving forward, I think we need to settle in and play better than we did against Tampa Bay. I think we all need to do a little better, and I think we got that stuff corrected from the film. Next time we are out there, we will have to show it.”
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