Cleveland Browns: 3 Fundamentals being stressed first week of camp
By Randy Gurzi
3. Covering Tight Ends
The Cleveland defense had their share of problems during the 2018 season and one of the worst areas for them was covering opposing tight ends. They were torched several times which included giving up seven or more scores to four different tight ends — Jared Cook if the Raiders, Travis Kelce of the Chiefs, Austin Hooper of the Falcons, and Ian Thomas from Carolina.
Overall, Scott Patsko of Cleveland.com says that the Browns surrendered “100 passes for 1,008 yards and seven touchdowns” on the year. This is clearly an area that needs to be cleaned up and so far in the early portion of camp, coaches are stressing the importance of improvement here.
New linebacker coach Al Holcomb is taking it upon himself to try and shore this area up. Discussing the team on Monday, Holcomb put the honus on hos group to step up and said a lot of the responsibility will fall on the MIKE linebacker — which is Joe Schobert.
The coach also said they plan to mix up their coverages as they aim to confuse their opponents while also putting their players in the best position to succeed.
With more talented tight ends on the schedule this season — George Kittle, Mark Andrews, and Vance McDonald for example — it makes sense that Holcomb wants to get things cleaned up here.