More bite, less bark: Browns defense sharpens attack skills with Alpha Dawgs competition

BEREA — There might not be an oversized chain or trophy involved in the new Alpha Dawgs competition among Browns defenders.

Defensive coordinator Joe Woods is remaining mum for now, although he acknowledged, “There may be a prize. A couple of them.”

Free safety John Johnson III revealed the challenge on Thursday, when the emphasis on turnovers came up. Last season, the Browns recorded 19 takeaways, better than only eight teams in the league. They totaled 13 interceptions (tied for 15th) and six fumble recoveries (tied for 26th; only two teams had fewer).

“It’s not just takeaways, it’s attacking the ball. … Attacking the ball, good things are going to happen,” Johnson explained. “That was like the first thing that we mentioned when we got back for training camp. We saw the numbers, but we said takeaways is what’s most important."

On Friday, Woods joked that the details were secret, but said the idea behind the Alpha Dawgs is to “make our practices like games.”

“Four teams … We have a little cabinet that divides it up, we just tried to balance out the teams. But we’re definitely going to get into Alpha Dawg mode here in a couple days,” Woods said.

“We try to churn all the information and then we keep track of the guys leading each categories, teams leading each categories, and then there may be a reward at the end. Maybe.”

According to Johnson, there is no maybe about it.

“Coach Woods hasn’t gone over it with us with us yet, but there’s a prize for sure. We have four teams and I think my team is going to win,” Johnson predicted.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said the Alpha Dawgs is a way to motivate players on a day-to-day basis, but joked he would get fined if he revealed too much.

“Each position group does it in their own way, and certainly, Joe with the unit is taking it to a unique place,” Stefanski said.

Had it been instituted on Friday, cornerback A.J. Green’s team would be in the lead. In seven-on-seven drills, Green intercepted a Jacoby Brissett pass intended for tight end Johnny Stanton IV and returned it for a touchdown.

“That’s what we live and breathe. That’s in our DNA, we want to take away the football,” Woods said. “We haven’t done as good a job the previous two years, we were right in the 19, 20s in the NFL. We greatly have to improve that because that’s one of the major categories, if not the most important category when it comes to winning games.”

Training camp opened on Wednesday and the Browns have set their standards high. Three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Myles Garrett said the defense can be as dominant as it wants to be after it ranked fifth overall in 2021. Johnson and cornerback Greg Newsome II said the secondary wants to be among the league’s best.

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Woods loves the enthusiasm, to a point.

“That’s something that we want to keep internal, within the confines of our walls in the defensive meeting room,” Woods said. “But I do like the confidence. I do feel like we have a chance to have a good defense, but you’ve got to prove it, you can’t talk about it. You’ve got to do it between the white lines.”

Here’s what Woods had to say about some other issues on his side of the ball.

Denzel Ward’s absence means more reps for rookie Martin Emerson Jr.

Stefanski and Woods said two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward will miss a couple weeks with a foot injury suffered on the final day of the June minicamp. It forced him to start camp on the active/physically unable to perform list.

Ward is attending walk-throughs and meetings, but his absence in practice means Woods can look at different combinations and give more reps to rookie Martin Emerson Jr., a third-round pick (68th overall) out of Mississippi State.

The Browns’ first draft pick after their first- and second-rounders were traded to the Houston Texans, Emerson could compete with Greedy Williams for the third cornerback spot. But Woods wasn’t ready to go that far on Emerson, 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds.

“We’ll see. That’s part of training camp or preseason, but he is a very big corner,” Woods said. “You look at him sometimes and think he’s a linebacker. He has the length, that’s the way we like them, just because of the style of defense we like to play.

“He’s a smart guy, he’s picking things up, so we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do this year.”

Even before Green’s big play in practice, he earned praise from Woods.

“He’s proven himself. Last year he stepped up, he had some premium matchups against some of the better receivers in this league and did a nice job,” Woods said. “He’s part of the equation. And that excites me because I know there’s more things I can do.”

Browns bringing in veteran defensive tackle sounds unlikely

The Browns let starting defensive tackles Malik Jackson and Malik McDowell go in the offseason, and have resisted bringing in a veteran replacement.

Manning the starting spots thus far have been Jordan Elliott, a third-round pick from Missouri in 2020, and Taven Bryan, signed as an unrestricted free agent from the Jacksonville Jaguars. Also in the mix are Perrion Winfrey, a fourth-round pick from Oklahoma in 2022, Tommy Togiai, a fourth-round pick from Ohio State in 2021 and Sheldon Day, an unrestricted free agent re-signed in April.

Asked about a bigger name veteran, Woods said, “Yeah, nah. I think we’re at a position where we’re trying to develop young players along with some free agents. Certain times within the team you’re going to have those moments where you’re developing young guys at the position.

“We have some youth at the defensive tackle position, but they’re talented. Along the way they’re probably going to make some mistakes as they’re growing into the position and learning it, but I think that’s just the process we’re going to have to go through this year.”

Seven Browns competing for the nickel back job

After selecting Emerson, the Browns traded nickel cornerback Troy Hill to the Los Angeles Rams for a fifth-round draft pick in 2023, leaving a crucial spot open. Hill played in 12 games last season and started four, totaling 49 tackles, seven for losses, and three quarterback hits.

Newsome was used in that role some as a rookie last season and wants to do it again. Woods said they have seven cornerbacks and safeties they’re training at nickel, with Newsome and Green among them. Some have never played inside.

“Nope, they haven’t … they weren’t asked to play nickel in college, so we train them all and see who can do it,” Woods said. “It’s like train everybody.”

Browns’ three safety package remains an option

Johnson spoke excitedly Thursday about a potential three-safety package this season with himself, Ronnie Harrison and Grant Delpit.

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“He’s politicking,” Woods joked. “The three safety package is good for us. There’s some other things we’re going to do this year.

“But I always think defensively I want to to dictate the matchups, not what the offense is doing. So when you can go three safeties, you can put more corners, we have all type of packages. But we’ll slowly introduce it so that way we feel like we have more control over what we’re doing defensively.”

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Browns defense institutes Alpha Dawgs competition