Denzel Ward has been a bright spot for a Cleveland Browns team that has stumbled to a 2-6 start as they’ve hit the bye week.
The four-time Pro Bowl cornerback has been part of a defense that’s consistently been in the top five in the league since the start of the season. The problem for the Browns has been obvious to anyone who’s watched the team, which has been an offense that’s been stuck in neutral.
Ward appeared on the “The Stephen A. Smith Show” on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio channel on Oct. 28 and acknowledged that the frustration is real within the team, and has included some “tense meetings” where some have been “calling guys out” about mistakes.
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However, Ward stopped short of naming any names, and instead tried to paint it as “constructive criticism.”
“Nah, yeah, it’s just being real with each other,” Ward told Smith. “I mean, we’re watching the film, it is a tense meeting, and just saying what guys, who’s doing their job, who’s not doing their job, who needs to play better, who’s doing well. It is just constructive criticism and, I mean, you need that to change things around and start getting on the right track of things. So I think it was a good meeting that we had and we gotta definitely keep that going. But with that, yeah, we gotta go out there and change it come Sunday.”
Smith, on multiple occasions during the 10-minute interview, tried to get Ward to speak about the quarterback position. The Browns have started rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel the last four games, and coach Kevin Stefanski has said he will remain the starter when they come out of the bye week.
Gabriel replace veteran Joe Flacco, who started the first four games of the season. After spending one game as the backup, Flacco was traded Oct. 7 to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders was elevated to the backup as the only other quarterback on the active roster after the Flacco trade. Sanders, though, was inactive for the Week 8 loss at the New England Patriots due to a back injury that came up the day before the game.
Smith asked Ward if the Browns’ problems were as simple as the quarterback position. The cornerback paused for about five seconds before finally answering.
“You could easily say that, but like I said, we all got to do our part,” Ward said. “It’s times where the quarterback could do well and other guys not do well. Or the quarterback (don’t) do well and the other guys do (well). We all got to click at the same time, and that’s not what we’ve been doing. Regardless of if it’s the quarterback position, receiver position, guys got to go out there, win their one-on-ones, do their jobs and execute once it comes game day.”
The defense hasn’t been blameless in the Browns’ struggles. Gabriel’s first career start came in Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings in London.
The Browns led 17-14 when the Vikings got the ball back with 3:05 remaining at their own 20. Minnesota marched 80 yards in 10 plays, including a 21-yard Justin Jefferson catch with Ward in coverage, to take the lead on a Jordan Addison 12-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left for the 21-17 Cleveland loss.
After the game, Ward took accountability for allowing the touchdown because he didn’t force Addison inside enough to help safety Ronnie Hickman. On Smith’s show, he reiterated the importance of that personal accountability from every player, including in the team meetings.
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing we all gotta take accountability for our own play on the field,” Ward said. “So I mean, if guys aren’t playing well, like we gotta call that out in these meetings. And we’ve been doing that, calling guys out. And I mean we gotta go play better. Guys gotta play better and step up, including myself. And we just gotta find a way to get the job done. You know, it’s a team game, but it’s a bunch of individual, you gotta win your individual one-on-ones in that game. So guys gotta go out there, win their one-on-ones, and we gotta do that to get the win at the end of the day.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Denzel Ward tells Stephen A. Smith Browns ‘being real with each other’ in ‘tense meetings’
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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