Cleveland Browns' rookie WR Michael Woods II 'more comfortable' with growing role

BEREA − The last time the Browns played the Baltimore Ravens, it was just Michael Woods II's second game as a professional.

Woods played six offensive snaps and three special-teams snaps for the Browns in their Week 7 loss in Baltimore. That was the second of five consecutive games in which the rookie sixth-round pick saw time before being inactive for the Weeks 12 and 13 games against Tampa Bay and Houston.

However, as the Browns get set to play the Ravens for the second time this season on Saturday, Woods has found his way back onto the field. He's coming off a game last Sunday in Cincinnati in which he played 15 offensive and another 11 special-teams snaps for a season-high 26 total snaps.

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The difference, Woods feels, between where he was the first time the Browns played Baltimore and where he is as a player as the rematch in Cleveland nears, is night and day.

"Just more comfortable," Woods told the Beacon Journal. "Just got more reps under my belt, seeing more looks from defenses, watching more films. So I've just become more savvy, I would say, since then."

Woods has also become more important for the Browns as they head into Saturday's game. No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper is battling a core muscle injury that, while he's playing through it, has clearly impacted him in some ways.

Meanwhile, fellow rookie David Bell did not practice this week due to toe and thumb injuries. While he's officially listed as questionable by the Browns, there's a growing sentiment that he's unlikely to play.

That leaves Woods as the guy to see an even more elevated role behind Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones.

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"I mean, it is a next-man-up mentality in general," Woods said. "I don't think it's too difficult at all. We all learn our plays conceptually and as a whole, rather than learning one position. So we all kind of have that flexibility. And also, I mean, we just went through COVID and all that kind of stuff. So, for some years now, we've been on this next man up no matter where you've been playing. So I don't think it's too bad."

Woods has two catches for 21 yards this season, both prior to the Week 9 bye. He's been targeted six times, but not since the Week 10 loss at Miami.

While not specifically targeted, Woods was involved in a key play in the Bengals loss. He was coming open on a deep crossing route on the same play that Deshaun Watson tried to throw to Peoples-Jones, but ended up being intercepted by Cincinnati safety Jessie Bates.

"I was late, I was late across," Watson said after the game. "We had a post going, and the backside safety Bates cut the cross or he cut it a little bit and Woods was coming, corner dropped back. So me being on the other hash throwing across, I can't do that, probably just take the check-down. I felt like I could make that throw and Bates made a good play with the interception."

That's the closest that Woods has come to being legitimately targeted by Watson, with whom he's only played one game. Watson was suspended for the first 11 games of the season, and Woods was inactive in the quarterback's debut in Houston.

All of Woods' previous targets and catches have been on passes thrown by Jacoby Brissett. Brissett has only made two spot appearances on third- or fourth-and-short plays in the last two games since Watson's return.

That quarterback change is irrelevant to Woods. While they may be different, his task doesn't change at all.

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"I mean, it don't matter who throwing me the ball, my job is to catch it," Woods said. "My job is to get open, catch the ball, compete in the run game. So I'm going to do that no matter who's back there. And if the ball comes my way, I'm going to make a play."

If there is one thing that had held Woods back from getting on the same page with either quarterback, it was the time he missed both in the offseason program and in training camp due to injuries. The time he missed, which was substantial in terms of number of practices and even preseason games, prevented him from getting the kind of work other receivers were getting with any of the quarterbacks.

Woods missed four weeks in training camp with a hamstring issue. By the time he returned to the practice field, Watson had already started his suspension and Brissett was solidly entrenched with the No. 1 offense.

Watson returned to the practice field on Nov. 16, the Wednesday after the Miami game. Between then and now, he's had now five weeks of on-field work with his Browns teammates, including Woods, to start to find the same page.

That's why Woods minimizes the amount of time it can take for a connection to develop.

"It's not too difficult in my opinion," Woods said. "I mean, we had time in the fall camp. I mean, we're both professionals. We all know what a dig route is, what an out route is. So it can't get too much more complex than that."

What can be complex is the Ravens defense Woods and the Browns will see Saturday afternoon. While Baltimore is 26th in the league against the pass − Brissett completed 22-of-27 passes for 258 yards in Week 7 − it's good at two things in particular, intercepting the ball (fourth in interception percentage) and getting to the quarterback (fifth in sacks per pass play).

Woods believes there one thing in particular that sets the Ravens apart from most defense, at least in terms of a direct impact on receivers like himself.

"I would say just a little more physicality," Woods said. "They got Marlon Humphreys out there, so he's a little more physical. They got their safeties back, so I know they're feeling good, they're happy, they're healthy. We know Marcus Peters been playing for a long time. He's a very savvy player, knows the game in and out. So they got a good mix of experience and youth and physicality on their team."

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Michael Woods II getting comfortable with growing role on Browns