MOBILE, ALA.: New Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams vowed Thursday to repair the motor of linebacker Jamie Collins if it ever sputters.
The Browns are ecstatic about retaining Collins on Monday with a four-year, $50 million contract because they consider him a young, talented, versatile difference maker on defense.
The critics of Collins, though, accuse him of taking plays off at times.
After the Browns traded what’s expected to be a third-round compensatory pick in April’s draft to the New England Patriots in exchange for Collins on Oct. 31, former Browns and Patriots executive Mike Lombardi called the 2015 Pro Bowl selection “very talented, but very moody, very inconsistent with his effort” on the Bill Simmons Podcast.
Williams isn’t concerned.
“You’ll love this: I’ve been hired to be a motor coach,” Williams said after coaching the South team in the final Senior Bowl practice. “We had that conversation the other day. I’m if not the top guy but one of the top guys in the league about motors. Yep.”
Collins visited Williams, coach Hue Jackson and other members of the Browns’ staff Monday at the Senior Bowl.
“That was very good [to] associate name, face, voice, exchange contact information, so we can talk more and make sure he understands what we have to do defensively from a leadership standpoint, from a culture standpoint and then from a scheme standpoint, and he’s on board,” Williams said.
“I’m a better coach when you sign up players like that, and now I’ve got to help him be the best he can be. He has some rare gifts athletically that hopefully schematically and concept-wise maybe I can help him be even better.”
Williams later stressed during a radio interview with 92.3 The Fan that he won’t hesitate to bench the team’s highest-paid defenders if they don’t play hard.
“We’re going to play with right effort again,” Williams told the Browns’ flagship radio station. “Just because all of a sudden you decide you’re getting paid too much and you don’t have to do that, I can’t cut you, just come over and stand by me. All the rest of the players want to see, ‘Do you mean that with the top dog, too?’
“Yep. The top dog’s going to be the hardest I’m going to be on when he comes in the door the very first day and everybody else is going to march to the same drummer once that guy starts marching to the right drummer. And the right drummer is me.”
A motivated and focused Collins can be dominant.
“He may be one of the better players I’ve had a chance to coach for a long time,” Williams said during the radio interview. “I’ve got seven or eight guys that are in the hall of fame right now that I’ve already coached.
“I affect a few things that he has to improve on, give him a little more tools in the toolbox to use in the right way in having checks and say in the scheme on the field, buying into the culture from a leadership standpoint and having the right kind of example set every single day. I can’t wait to get a chance to coach him. I can’t wait. I’m so excited about signing him.”
Discussing durability
Williams spoke publicly about Browns cornerback Joe Haden for the first time and expressed confidence he can help the two-time Pro Bowler succeed again if he can stay healthy.
Haden played 13 of 16 games last season but fought through groin injuries for most of the year. He had surgery earlier this month. He also missed 11 games in 2015 with two concussions and other injuries.
“I liked him when he was coming out [of college in 2010],” Williams told 92.3 The Fan. “The one thing that’s also genetics is injury-prone. That’s mom and dad’s fault. That’s not coaching. That’s not training. That’s not doctors. I just think he’s had a couple of tough times right now. I still think he’s got gas in the tank, yeah. I still think he can play.
“How you go about doing that is there are no down times of the year. Right now, he’s got to get ready for the season, so he’s going through the rehab process, and he and I have already and met and talked. When we start the first day of offseason [workout program] in April, he better be in great shape. And when is, he’s sending a message to me and everybody else that ‘I’m ready to go.’
“He’ll be fine. I’ve been able to morph and change scheme, techniques and fundamentals to match a lot of different people. I see some similar guys I’ve coached already with him. But he’s good around the ball. He can catch the ball. He can make plays on the ball. Some of them can’t, and he’s got to do his part on staying healthy.”
Voting defense
Browns 10-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas said Thursday on The Dan Patrick Show he thinks the franchise should draft a pass rusher first overall on April 27 instead of a quarterback.
“I would say you want to go defense. I think you need to get a pass rusher,” Thomas said. “I think you’ve got to be careful reaching for a quarterback at No. 1 because if they fail, they don’t help your team at all. Where if you pick a defensive lineman and maybe they don’t live up to the hype, you can still find a way to get them on the field and to have an impact.”
Thomas said last year he thought the Browns should draft a quarterback at No. 2 overall before they eventually traded the pick. Thomas obviously has different feelings about the 2017 draft.
Big spenders?
The Browns carried more salary-cap space over to next season than any other team in the NFL, and Williams expects them to be aggressive in free agency.
“I would be shocked if we’re not because one of the things [owner] Jimmy Haslam and Hue have talked about when we sat down and talked was that we’re going to be aggressive not only in scheme, not only how we play the game, but in personnel, too,” Williams said on 92.3 The Fan. “I’d be shocked if we weren’t doing the right things in that area, too, and I’ve been very impressed with some of the people doing the evaluations.”
Family affair
The Browns are the fifth NFL team to employ Williams and his son Blake, who’s coaching the linebackers. They haven’t coached together in a regular season since 2011.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am,” the elder Williams said. “He’s the best young coach I’ve ever had on my staff on any level. I’ve got 131 guys coaching in the NFL, NCAA and high school football. He’s the best I’ve ever had, but I can’t tell him that because he’s my son.
“We won’t keep him very long. He’s already had coordinator positions. He’s going to be a head coach or a coordinator in a hurry when we do what we need to do at Cleveland because people are going to recognize that. They’re going to recognize it’s not just me. There’s a lot of really good people on that staff and there’s good players, too.”
Dr. Erin Shannon, a sports psychologist and Gregg Williams’ wife, was on the field wearing Browns gear as she watched all three of the South team’s practices this week.
She’s not working for the team in an official capacity, but perhaps that will change.
“Hue’s working on some things there,” Gregg Williams said. “I don’t know where that is right now, and as you know, I’m on a need-to-know basis. I come to the office to fake being in charge, but I’m not in charge at home.”
Jackson said, “I’m just having her spend some time with us because she has a skill set that I really appreciate and want to learn more about what she knows and what she does.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.