JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Ronnie Harrison, a native of Tallahassee, was upset when he got word on Sept. 3 that the Jaguars had traded him to the Browns for a fifth-round pick, but he’s already established himself as a long-term answer at safety here and could be rewarded with a extension in the offseason.
“Really, I was kind of heartbroken at the moment just because of how fast everything happened,’' Harrison said Friday. “I didn’t really know what to expect up here. I just knew it was cold. I knew they had a couple of good guys on offense and they had a couple players, especially on defense, as well. Really, I was kind of shocked in the moment. I really was not even putting too much thought into Cleveland.”
Since cracking the starting lineup in Week 6 against the Colts, Harrison, the Jaguars’ third-round pick in 2018 out of Alabama, has played better each week and will pair well with 2020 second-round pick Grant Delpit (out for the season with a ruptured Achilles) as the Browns’ two starting safeties of the future.
“God had his hand on this one,’' Harrison said. “It’s been great. I couldn’t even imagine a better place or a better fit for me. I feel comfortable, and I like it here.”
Once the salary cap situation in the wake of COVID-19 becomes clear, Harrison will likely be one of a handful of players the Browns will try to extend as soon as possible. The 2021 salary cap was originally projected to be about $215 million, which would’ve been good for the Browns in a year in which Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward are eligible for 2018 first-rounder extensions. But with massive revenue shortfalls from the pandemic, the salary cap floor has been set at $175 million for next season.
If it goes that low, the Browns would be over it this season by about $8 million. So they’ll have to be much more judicious with their money. Still, Harrison is exactly the kind of player the Browns are looking to extend: tough, smart and accountable.
He’s under contract through 2021 at $920,000, but he stands to get a lucrative new deal when the cap is picture is clear.
As for Sunday’s game, he was happy to dodge a bullet with what looked like could be a significant knee injury early on in Sunday’s 22-17 victory over the Eagles. It turned out to be a bone bruise, and he feels 100% to face his former team.
“I didn’t think it was going to be too bad because I kind of knew what happened,’' he said. “The amount of pain I had was unmatched to what I felt before with something like that. That’s what kind of scared me a little bit.’'
As for why the Jaguars traded him?
“They said that they felt that I was the player who they could get the most value for out of the safeties,’' he said.
Myles Garrett expected back for the Titans game next week
Garrett, who’s tied for the NFL lead with 9.5 sacks, is expected back for the Titans game next week from his two-game absence after testing positive for COVID-19.
Garrett is feeling much better, but must first pass a cardiac screening and then work out for three days under the supervision of the Browns medical staff, with increased intensity each day, before he can participate in a full practice or play in a game. Ideally, he’d get the three days in and then be able to practice at least a few days before heading to Nashville for a game that will have AFC playoff implications.
Against the Titans, Garrett won’t have to face Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan for the second straight season. Lewan suffered a season-ending torn ACL last month and underwent surgery.
Denzel Ward should know more this week
Ward, out for the Jaguars game with his calf strain, will have a better idea this week when he can return to practice. It was initially expected to be several weeks, possibly up to three or four like guard Wyatt Teller with the same injury, but much will depend on how Ward healed in the first 10 days after the injury. If he’s a fast healer, he might return sooner than expected. At this point, the Titans game seems like a long shot, but the Browns should know more around midweek. The fact the Browns haven’t put Ward on injured reserve (minimum of three weeks) is a good sign.
In the meantime, Kevin Johnson will likely move to the outside to replace Ward, with Tavierre Thomas and M.J. Stewart replacing him in the slot.
Wyatt Teller and Andrew Sendejo expected to play
Teller (calf) and Sendejo (groin) are both listed as questionable for the Jaguars game, but both are expected to play. Teller is still working his way back from the calf injury and gets sore after he plays, and Sendejo suffered a groin injury against the Eagles. But after sitting out Wednesday and Thursday, he returned to practice on a limited basis on Friday, so he was trending in the right direction.
With Sheldrick Redwine ruled out Friday with his knee injury suffered Sunday, the Browns need Sendejo. Karl Joseph will also pair with Harrison.
Jedrick Wills Jr.’s return a relief
The Browns were relieved that Jedrick Wills Jr., who was kept home with an illness on Wednesday and Thursday, tested negative again on Friday and was able to return to practice and be eligible for the game.
There was some concern it might be like Garrett’s situation the week before, when he was kept home on Wednesday and Thursday despite negative tests, and then tested positive on Friday.
Fortunately for the Browns, swing tackle Chris Hubbard was activated off the COVID-19 reserve this week and was ready to step in if necessary.
Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are like Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield
Offensive Alex Van Pelt nailed it when describing the one-two punch of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, who hit the Eagles with the vicious Chubb stiff-arm and then the athletic Hunt hurdle for the 5-yard TD run.
“It’s like having two fighters in your corner,’' Van Pelt said. “You have Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, and they both come out in different rounds and you’re facing the fresh guy that can knock you out with the homerun punch every time. That’s how it really feels. Both of those guys are elite backs. To have them with the ability to keep them fresh at times and spell them with each other, it’s a good problem to have for us.”
It will be incumbent upon former Browns linebacker Joe Schobert and his Jaguars teammate Myles Jack to try to slay the two-headed monster.
“Joe is a very consistent vet,’' Van Pelt said. “Having played against him in Cincinnati for two years, obviously know what he brings to the table. He’s a smart guy. He’s going to be in the right place. You see that on the tape. He’s a solid, very good linebacker for them. That’s probably in my opinion the strength of that group is the linebacker corps with him and Jack.”
Baker Mayfield’s no-INT streak
Mayfield has gone three full games and 94 passing attempts without an interception, and the Browns are 3-1 in the that span. The streak dates back to his first pass in the 37-34 victory over the Bengals, when Darius Phillips picked him off and Odell Beckham Jr. suffered a season-ending torn ACL trying to chase him down.
It’s been tough to evaluate Mayfield over these past three weeks with the weather, but the no-INT streak goes on the positive side of the ledger.
“We talk about it a lot, just making great decisions and being OK with an incompletion,’' Van Pelt said. “I’ve said it before, there’s always a guy that is open – I was taught this a long time ago – and that’s the tuba player. If anything bad happens, the tuba player in the second row is always open so we can always throw it away and save the play.
“You see that now. I think he had three throwaways in that game where he was under duress or things didn’t work out how we planned, and he protected the down by throwing the ball away as opposed to earlier in the season trying to do too much and trying to make a play when it was not there. Just save the play.”
Former Browns coach Sam Rutigliano preached the same thing, but he always said “throw it to the blonde in the third row.”
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