Daily Dawg Tags: Gregg Williams arrives in town

The Cleveland Browns have a new sheriff in town on defense, which defensive coordinator Gregg Williams made clear on Thursday.

Whenever the Cleveland Browns make a coaching change the new hire generally wins the opening press conference.

But no one has won the day quite like new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams did on Thursday.

In a nutshell, things are about to change for the players on the defensive side of the ball.

“Mental toughness precedes physical toughness. So when we talk about attitude, it’s mental before physical,” Williams said. “You won’t slump in my meeting room. You’re going to have your feet flat on the first day and we’re going to talk about how you sit in your chair when I walk in the room, and how you focus and pay attention. So, from an attitude standpoint, how do we all believe the same way, do the same things and then in this game that’s a contact game, from an attitude standpoint, they’re never going to play for anybody that is going to let them play more attacking, more physical or more aggressive than me.

“My whole life I’ve been trying to speed up your decisions and speed up your toughness and get you to play harder, get you to play tougher, get you to play meaner. That will be the way. We’re talking about defending every blade of grass, not every yard on the field. How do we get that? It starts in the room. We’ll talk a lot in the room and we’ll do a lot on the field.

“I want them to have fun doing that. That fun will only happen when they understand that this is team and that we’re all in this together. There are no individuals. I’m not going to put up very much with guys that don’t get the fact that we have got to play as a team.”

It should be a lot of fun for however long Williams is in town.

Cleveland Browns news:

Browns should look to Ohio State to fill their needs

The Cleveland Browns have significant needs on both sides of the ball that could be met by drafting former Ohio State Buckeyes as Ohio State is sending a wealth of talent into the 2017 NFL Draft.

Deshaun Watson skipping the Senior Bowl is not a big deal

Hue Jackson and his Cleveland Browns coaching staff will not get a chance to work with Deshaun Watson in the Senior Bowl, but that doesn’t affect his stock.

No need for the Browns to overthink the No. 1 pick

The Cleveland Browns need to be smart for once and take the most talented player with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Browns close to signing Jamie Collins to a new contract (ohio.com)

The Browns are on the verge of pulling off what they consider a coup. The franchise has been working on a new contract with linebacker Jamie Collins, and the two sides are getting close to reaching an agreement, a person familiar with the negotiations confirmed Thursday night.

Who will Browns select with top pick in 2017 NFL Draft? (NFL.com)

Now that the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the 2017 NFL Draft has come and gone, we have a clearer look at the player pool teams will be selecting from in late April. The Browns own the top overall pick and I was curious to find out what other team executives expect them to do with that selection. Do they fall in love with a quarterback? Do they add some firepower to their pass rush? Or, do they follow last year’s playbook and trade down? I reached out to five personnel executives and posed this question: Who will the Browns select with the first overall pick? Here are their answers.

NFL news:

Recent coaching hires stray from the NFL’s winning formula (SI.com)

You can learn a lot about the NFL’s most and least successful franchises by looking at both the new hires and candidates who were passed over for this year’s head coach openings.

Matt Ryan has played better than Aaron Rodgers (ESPN)

There is another NFL quarterback who has matched Aaron Rodgers throw for throw, from a statistical perspective, during that span. In some regards, the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan — the presumptive league MVP and Green Bay’s opponent Sunday — might actually have performed better than Rodgers.

How long will Patriots, Steelers dominate AFC? (Sporting News)

The Patriots and Steelers meet in the AFC championship game Sunday in yet another clash between Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger. Those two franchises haven’t met in the AFC championship game since 2004, but this matchup shouldn’t surprise anybody. Brady and Roethlisberger have 36 playoff wins. Alex Smith was the only other AFC quarterback with postseason wins entering the playoffs.

Patriots’ Martellus Bennett sounds off on Steelers, Antonio Brown (USA Today)

It was quiet and mostly uneventful when the New England Patriots opened their locker room to reporters Thursday. Then tight end Martellus Bennett strolled to his stall and held court with about 35 media members.