Shorn and reborn: Chase Winovich hopes to be with the Cleveland Browns for a long time

BEREA — Chase Winovich saw his nine-year growth of dyed-blond hair hit the salon floor, and the personal transformation soon marked what he believes could be his football rebirth.

The then-New England Patriots edge rusher was alone in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, working out in the offseason. While meditating, he said he fell asleep and dreamed that it was time to cut his hair.

His long locks defined him during his career at the University of Michigan, where he was a third-team Associated Press All-American, All-Big Ten selection and the Wolverines’ MVP in 2018. He kept the flowing style after he was drafted in the third round by the Patriots in 2019.

The morning after his dream, Winovich told only his mother before he drove to a random salon. The stylist told him she had no open appointments all weekend, so he turned to leave.

“She was like, 'Are you Chase Winovich?'” he recalled Thursday. “I was like, 'Yeah.' She's like, 'Actually, I'm free in about 20 minutes.'”

Three days later, on March 15, he was traded to the Browns for linebacker Mack Wilson, a swap of two players in the final year of their rookie contracts.

“The Grim Reaper called me into Bill's office and they told me they're trading me,” Winovich said of Patriots coach Bill Belichick and the staffer who summoned him. “That's the first thing I said, 'You guys didn't like the haircut?’”

The free-spirited Winovich is now playing defensive end for the Browns, backing up three-time Pro Bowler Jadeveon Clowney and sitting next to two-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler Myles Garrett in meetings. Winovich told the Beacon Journal in May the trade "could be the best thing to ever happen to me."

But Winovich had to survive Tuesday’s final cuts after straining his left hamstring on his third play in the Aug. 12 preseason opener at Jacksonville. Winovich said he tore his right hamstring last season, so he gutted through the injury against the Jaguars, playing 23 snaps on defense and 10 on special teams.

Winovich returned to practice on Wednesday.

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“Injuries are a process of discovery as much as they are a process of recovery,” Winovich said. “It sucked not being out there, but it was great to be able to go and get my feet wet again.”

Winovich said the biggest thing he took from three years with Hall of Fame-bound Belichick is “ignore the noise.” That was put to the test during speculation over the Browns’ final roster.

“There’s a lot of things that people say and that you can get caught up in and if you do it saps your energy, it saps your emotional strength,” Winovich said of Belichick’s teachings. “And just to find that internally and not rely on the whims of the crowd or other people that may comment on those things is ultimately the way to go about your business.

“If you feed into the narrative of people that aren't necessarily in this building or certain things, it could lead you to certain conclusions. But ultimately, I was on New England. I made the roster every year. They traded for me. I thought I had a good camp up until [the injury]. It’s like …  there's a plan, I've got a job to do and until they tell me otherwise, I'm going to keep doing it.”

While he awaited his fate, Winovich said he felt trust from the front office.

"I think there's a huge trust factor, and it's a mutual respect," Winovich said. "I mean this sincerely, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time not only on the football team, but in the Cleveland area. I've really loved getting to know my teammates. I've loved the coaching that I've received here, and I hope to be a Cleveland Brown for a long time, so we'll see.”

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Winovich’s limited training camp work didn’t threaten his job.

“We have tape on him. We kind of know the player. Excited about what Chase is going to do for us,” Stefanski said Wednesday.

As for what interested the Browns in Winovich, Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Personnel Glenn Cook pointed to Winovich’s 11 sacks in his first 32 games with the Patriots. After missing part of 2021 training camp after undergoing surgery, Winovich played 14% of the Patriots snaps on defense last season, 48% on special teams, and went without a sack.

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“It was a combination of his college work as well as in New England, but it’s just his ability to rush the passer,” Cook said Thursday. “You want to value that as highly as you can, and when you have an opportunity to acquire a player who can get after the quarterback, you do it.”

Winovich gained 10 to 15 pounds to play defensive end this season, and he showed his increased strength while injured when he took on the skier machine in the Browns fieldhouse. When he finished, his primal scream could be heard by those watching practice on the closest field.

“The training staff was joking, saying the skier record was unbeatable, that nobody ever attempted it ...,” Winovich said. “I think I beat it by like 20, so I was pretty fired up.

“You almost feel like helpless. You sit there and you have to watch other people compete for your position. I really wanted to demonstrate how hard I've been working this offseason, how focused I've been. To have to surrender to the whims of the universe, it felt really great to be able to — even in this small way, the skier — to set the record and have fun doing it.”

Asked if that was the same machine Garrett once broke, Winovich said, “That would make sense. Myles is a pretty strong guy.”

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Winovich loves spending time with Garrett and Clowney, especially talking to Garrett in the meeting room.

“Every single time I’ve asked him a question — and I ask a lot of questions, I consider myself a perspective collector —he has been just spot-on,” Winovich said of Garrett. “It’s really changed the way I’ve looked at the game. I used to watch a lot of Jadeveon before I came here, just the way he played and the way he changed direction and set up his moves. So I’m constantly learning.”

Winovich is always adding to his perspective collection, even mentioning a man from Ukraine who works as a janitor for the Browns.

“He's been working with me on Ukrainian words. Just building my vocabulary,” Winovich said, uttering a phrase in the language. “I think there's a lot to learn. I don't have all the answers, and I think if you'd say to yourself that you do, that it closes you off from other things. It's part of what makes life fun."

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: Chase Winovich hopeful for long career with Cleveland Browns