T Jack Conklin (9.23.20)
T Jack Conklin:
On working through his ankle injury:
“The ankle is feeling great. I will be back to 100 percent this week and rolling. Obviously, it is a tough situation on a short week trying to come back after getting beat up. It came down to the wire. Obviously, (Head) Coach (Kevin Stefanski) made the decision after the workout to have me stay active but keep me down in case of some sort of emergency. It is tough. You want to be out there playing, but that is why I am here. Hopefully, we do not have that situation again.”
On if the extra rest after playing on Thursday night gives him more confidence that he will be able to play and perform well on Sunday:
“Definitely. Definitely. Having those 10 days, that was fantastic for my ankle, and I am feeling great.”
On if the success of Washington’s DL impacted his decision to play this week and what he has seen from the unit on film:
“First of all, I am ready to go. No matter what, it would have been this week. I am rolling. Obviously, they are a great front and they are playing really well. They have some young guys up there that are doing a great job, really coming together and working as a group. They have a great front. It is going to be a great challenge for us this week to keep everybody up and keep everybody clean. It is going to be a fun week. It is a great challenge for us. We are excited to get out there and show what we can do.”
On his reaction seeing RB Nick Chubb run hard and carry defenders:
“It gets you really excited. That is the fun part with Nick and (RB) Kareem (Hunt). We block up our guys so they can make somebody miss or just flat out run them over. That really pumps us up, and it is awesome to have those two back there.”
On if an OL needs to learn the RBs and adapt to their styles, similar to run game coordinator/running backs coach Stump Mitchell’s comment about the RBs needing to do the same with OL members:
“Definitely. With the zone game, it just comes down to how set the blocks a little bit, how they press the holes and stuff. I think it plays back and forth. It is really one of the big things figuring out between the two of us – the offensive line and running backs – is just figuring out how to work off each other. That is really where you see those big runs starting to happen is when that cohesion starts to take full stride.”
On T Jedrick Wills Jr.’s development during the first two games:
“I think the biggest things is confidence. I think for him, just coming into the league and moving from right tackle to left tackle, that alone is a tough transition, and then not having any preseason games, that is a whole another one, just being out there not seeing anybody but your own jersey in front of you. Luckily, we have such a good defensive front and it was a great challenge for him. I think just getting out there and now being in the game having the shots fired at him, you can really see him fighting back and figuring out and really gaining confidence every week.”
On if Wills has settled into his position and if Wills is ready for Washington’s defensive front:
“Yes, definitely. He is prepared, and I am excited to see what he can do out there this week.”
On Washington DE Chase Young and Young’s start to his rookie season:
“It is impressive. You saw what he was in college obviously, and to see how that has translated so far for him in the NFL, it is impressive. It is a tough transition for anybody, but he is doing an awesome job. I think he is going to be a great player in the league for a long time.”
On if the entire Browns OL needs to be prepared for Young, expecting Young to move around the DL:
“Yes, their entire front, they do, especially with the DEs. You can see them on both sides right to left. Both me and Jed definitely have to be prepared for seeing just about anybody over there.”
On if he has seen flashbacks to the formula the Titans used for their running game success last year:
“Definitely see a lot of translation there just with the wide zone and then hitting. Once you get the success in the run, that turns into the pass and the play action stuff. I think it definitely correlates a little bit more with what you saw from Minnesota last year, obviously, with (Head) Coach (Kevin Stefanski) coming from there. It is definitely a lot of similarities just with the formula of how we did things at Tennessee and now here in Cleveland, as well.”
On if the Browns goal is to rush for 200 yards every game and if the team has that potential:
“Definitely. It is a big goal, but it is something that we can do. When you have two backs like that, you never are going to have somebody who is tired. You can just bring in the next guy, and he is not going to be a drop off at all. It is a goal, and it is a tough one. Every week, it is a great team and great front to go against as an offensive line, but that is what we want to be. We want to be a team that can pound the ball and put up 200 yards a game. Again, that will just lead to more openings in the pass game and a lot more play action when teams start filling and sitting in the box to try to stop our run. We have great threats on the outside to back them off and then hit them again.”
On if he marvels when he sees Chubb carrying four players towards the goal line:
“Yeah, it is impressive. He is one special back, and he is so tough. It is funny quiet he is. You do not expect that much out of him, and to see him to do, it just kind of blows your mind.”
On DE Porter Gustin:
“I did go against him quite a bit. He is a guy who was out there working every day, and you could just see him getting better throughout camp, too. He is a real tough guy. He is a big weight room guy. He is a guy that is going to stay after practice, keep on working and trying to work moves. You could definitely see throughout camp his progression.”
On Gustin being ‘legendary’ in USC’s weight room and if he has seen that from Gustin with the Browns:
“Yeah, oh yeah. He is funny. He is always marching around with his shirt off, going to the weight room, back and forth.”
On Mayfield having success with play action and roll outs on Thursday and if this is a ‘perfect system for’ Mayfield:
“Yes, definitely, especially with the threats we have. We need to get the quarterback out in space and we get the defense to worry about the run, it is just going to give him a lot more time and getting him in a position where he is not worrying about just having to sit back in the pocket. That is tough for any quarterback just to sit back there and worrying about the offensive line holding up. When you change it up on the defense and make them think we are going to be out of the pocket so then in the situations where you do have to sit back, they are a little bit slower and it is not going to be a collapsed pocket as quickly. You can really see him starting to grasp the offense on Thursday night. I am excited to see what he can do the rest of the year with it.”
On if Mayfield has conveyed to the Browns OL that he is a lot more confidence in the unit this year:
“Definitely. He is always honest just about working hard, understanding the playbook and knowing everything. He is a great leader. He always has confidence back there. You can feel it.”
On G Wyatt Teller:
“He is an extremely powerful guy. He is a guy that is going to put people on the ground and finish. It has been fun to see throughout camp and really starting to figure out the wide zone concepts. It takes a while, and you can really see him throughout these first couple of weeks starting to figure it out and put his strength into it. You can really see it. Last week, he was all over the field putting people on the ground. He is a lot of fun to watch.”
On C JC Tretter calling offensive signals with no crowd noise and defenses hearing those calls:
“It is definitely a week-to-week thing. We have to change a lot of stuff. Even with teams going back and watching the TV copies, they can hear a lot of our calls. It definitely makes it a little more challenging in having to change things every week just to mask our calls and different things. It is a challenge we are up to. As an offensive line, you have to be able to be cerebral and figure these things out. It is definitely eerie as a player. It was nice being back home and having at least those 6,000 fans out there. It was exciting for me just to hear how loud 6,000 people can get in our stadium. It is going to be fun when we finally do get it back to full capacity.”
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