LB Anthony Walker Jr. (8.2.22)
On if he will be practicing soon:
“Soon. We will take it one day at a time. That is (Head) Coach Kevin’s (Stefanski) job to comment on injuries and stuff, but I am getting there.”
On memories from his time with the Colts when QB Jacoby Brissett was the starting QB after former Colts QB Andrew Luck’s retirement announcement:
“Obviously, it wasn’t the most thrilling times of my career. I tell people, ‘I found out the same time everybody else found out.’ I think that the only person who knew differently was Jacoby, and he didn’t tell me so I still hold a little grudge about that (laughter). That is just the person he is. Him and Andrew had a great relationship, and they had talked about it before. He stepped in, and he was a pro. He handled it the right way. People forget that we were a really good football team with him as our starting quarterback before a lot of guys go down. I think we were 5-2 and had just beat Kansas City in Kansas City. We were rolling at that point and then took a couple of bad bumps and got a lot of guys injured. Jacoby is a pro. He is prepared and he is going to prepare every day like he is the starter whether he is a starter or he is a backup. He is always prepared to go, and he is always ready so he never has to get ready.”
On the Browns having joint practices with the Colts around the time of Luck’s retirement announcement:
“Yeah, it was a little weird times over there. There were some good joint practices with the Browns and then obviously we are getting into the last preseason game, it just happens. Like I said, he stepped in and was a professional every day. Really took control of our offense. We were rolling. I am excited for him to get his opportunity again.”
On Brissett’s abilities, given Brissett is sometimes characterized as a ‘game manager’:
“The No. 1 job of the quarterback is to control the game. I don’t care what anybody says. I think all of the good quarterbacks can say that they are a game manager, and most quarterbacks you want to be a game manager and then you want your playmakers to make plays for you. He does that. He gets his guys the ball in space. Obviously, the job is a lot easier when you have (RBs) No. 24 (Nick Chubb), No. 27 (Kareem Hunt) and No. 30 (D’Ernest Johnson) and all of those guys that hand the ball off to. You have No. 2 (WR Amari Cooper) running deep overs and No. 85 (TE David Njoku) running everywhere. We have a plethora of guys to use to get the ball. You are playing behind one of the best offensive lines in the game, and that makes it a lot better. Again, as a defense, we have to step up. We pride ourselves on being a dominate defense anyway. That was not going to change no matter who was at quarterback. We have to be a dominant defense for us to get to where we have to go, and that is our mindset.”
On how important it is as a defensive player to have belief in the starting QB, regardless of who is playing:
“Like I said, we can’t even worry about that other side of the ball if we are not doing our job. That is our mindset right now is doing our job first. I told Jacoby and I will tell (QB) Deshaun (Watson) the same thing, I am so confident in our defense. Just give us however many points as you can, and we will make sure we hold our opponent under that. You have that belief and that confidence in your defense and the offense, as well, and that is what it leads to. We will be fine whoever is back there.”
On whether there is any sense of relief following Judge Sue L. Robinson’s report related to Watson’s suspension:
“The defense, our mindset was that we have to get our job done no matter what and no matter who is at quarterback. Obviously, we got the ruling and we respect the decision, but we have to worry about ourselves. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, whether it is Deshaun, whether it is Jacoby, whether it is (QBs) Josh Rosen or (Josh) Dobbs, we have to be ready to play, and defensively, we have to do our job.”
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