BEREA — While there isn’t an I in team, there is one in complimentary. But not complementary.
The Browns are getting a lesson in teamwork, and homophones, this week as they try to rebound from an 0-2 start.
Coach Kevin Stefanski has always stressed the importance of complementary football, with offense, defense and special teams contributing to the victory. After two weeks of the offense and special teams not pulling their weight while the defense leads the NFL in yards allowed, Stefanski has made complementary football the focus of the week as the Browns prepare to host the Packers (2-0) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
“We talk about it. Try to be about it this week,” safety Grant Delpit said Thursday. “Y’all heard he’s making people give people compliments in team meetings and stuff. So we’re doing all kind of complimentary stuff this week. It’s free to be complimentary.”
Stefanski’s blending the homophones — complimentary means praising — to prove a point.
Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone gets it. After Andre Szmyt missed two kicks in the 17-16 opening loss to the Bengals, the Browns had a punt blocked and allowed a 23-yard punt return Sunday in the 41-17 loss at Baltimore.
“That type of play impacts the game so much,” Ventrone said of the blocked punt that led to a touchdown. “It’s like a turnover or worse. Especially when your defense is playing well.”
In the seven drives in which the Ravens started in their territory, they punted five times and scored a touchdown and a field goal. In the four drives that began in Browns territory, they had three touchdowns and a field goal.
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The Browns haven’t forced a turnover this season, and their only possession that began in Baltimore territory ended in a field goal.
“So there’s direct correlation in playing complementary football and giving the defense a long field and giving the offense a short field,” Ventrone said. “So that’s going to be the goal moving forward. Look, it’s been a short season. There’s been two games played, so we’re gonna look to hopefully get back on track, address the areas that we need to improve on in the next couple days.”
Delpit said Ventrone has delivered the message.
“As we all know, Bubba’s an intense guy and he don’t really take a lot of sh**,” he said. “He’s very adamant in what he believes and what he coaches. I think that makes the players want to go out and play well for him.
“We didn’t have a great special teams game last week, but it’s just one week and we know what we can become on special teams.”
The Browns appeared to get some good news regarding the kicking game Thursday when punter Corey Bojorquez was a full participant in practice and returner DeAndre Carter returned in a limited capacity. Bojorquez’s right (plant) ankle was injured on the blocked punt and he was limited Wednesday. Carter sustained a concussion Sunday on the opening kickoff.
“Better than it was Sunday,” Bojorquez said of the ankle before practice.
He finished the Ravens game but was in pain. Ventrone said the team worked out punters this week in case Bojorquez isn’t ready.
“We’ll get some more going (Thursday), so we’ll have a better idea how it’s going to be,” Bojorquez said.
Bojorquez had two good kicks after the injury, a 31-yarder to the Baltimore 9 and a 50-yarder that went out of bounds at the 4. The Browns didn’t punt in the second half.
Overall, the first two games were bumpy for Bojorquez and the coverage unit. Low punts each week led to long returns and points for the opposition.
“We need to tackle better,” Ventrone said. “We didn’t cover the punt poorly. We actually didn’t get a great ball to cover. The hang was low and we missed a number of tackles on the play. We’ve got to find a way to get the returner down.”
The blocked punt resulted in an in-game switch at personal protector. Ronnie Hickman, who was run over, was replaced by Delpit.
“We’ll see how it goes, see how the practice setting goes,” Ventrone said when asked if the switch would carry over to Sunday vs. the Packers. “We made the change we felt we needed to do.
“We just gotta execute it better, blocking, technique, have a base, time our punch. Disappointing, but it is what it is. You gotta coach it up and move on.”
The one bright spot on special teams in the Ravens game was Szmyt bouncing back to make all his kicks in his second NFL game — a 38-yard field goal and two extra points.
“It was good to see him get back on track,” Ventrone said. “The body of work that we’ve seen from him and his mental capacity for the position and being consistent, we had a lot of confidence that he would get back on track, and he did.
“He had a good week of prep last week. We got him back in the stadium on Wednesday this week. We trusted that he would get it done, and we have faith in him moving forward.”
