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Browns continue installing systems as OTAs resume for second week

The Cleveland Browns will continue installing their systems as the second week of OTAs resumes in Berea.

BEREA, Ohio — Even in the offseason, the work never stops in the National Football League, and the Cleveland Browns are back at it on the practice fields outside of team headquarters in Berea.

The Browns began their second week of organized team activities practices Tuesday and continue their on-field work Wednesday.

The Browns’ coaching staff is taking this time to install systems and schemes on both sides of the ball.

“We continue to have installs and build our installs each week,” coach Freddie Kitchens said prior to the 2019 Cleveland Browns Foundation Golf Tournament Monday. “This Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will be different from last as far as plays and the situations that we’re working on will be different, and then, the following week will be different than that.

“You’ve kind of built your library of situations, plays that you’ve installed and defenses that you’ve covered and game-type situations. You build, and then, go back and hit some other ones during the mandatory minicamp, and then, take a break and come back and everybody feels like they have a base of everything we’re going to do.”

At 2-5-1 following a 33-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 28 and in the middle of the unprecedented midseason coaching upheaval with eight games left to play, the 2018 Browns did not look like a team capable of the greatest year-to-year turnaround in franchise history.

But a 5-3 record over the second half of the season and a three-game winning streak in December secured the Browns’ greatest turnaround in team history, as they finished plus-7.5 in victories over the winless 2017 campaign.

Under Kitchens’ direction, quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 180 of his 263 attempts (68.4 percent) for 2,254 yards and 19 touchdowns against eight interceptions. Mayfield averaged 281.75 yards and 2.375 touchdowns per game with Kitchens calling the plays.

Running back Nick Chubb finished the 2018 season, one in which he saw limited time in the first seven games, with 996 yards and eight touchdowns on 192 carries. Chubb had 11 20-yard runs, four 40-yard bursts and 47 first-down conversions.

Chubb rushed for 788 of his 996 yards and five of his eight touchdowns on 140 carries under Kitchens. After the changes in the coaching staff, Chubb averaged 5.63 yards per carry and became a contributing member in the passing game as well.

“I think we’ve got a really quality head coach here,” general manager John Dorsey said to participants in the 2019 Cleveland Browns Foundation Golf Outing. “I think Freddie did an outstanding job in terms of the experienced coaching staff he put together, and just to watch these guys work, day in and day out, selflessly attacking this thing for the 2019 season, it’s really awesome. We’re into the second week of OTAs and I can’t wait to get back and watch these guys.

“The one thing I always like to do is go to training camp. To me, training camp is where teams begin to establish our identity. That’s where the guys here today, you guys establish those goals and those standards for this organization moving forward. You guys set the bar. At the end of the day, you know what? When you have single-mindedness of purpose and goals, you can fight through any adverse moment that’s going to happen in the fall.”

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