CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Browns outside linebacker Paul Kruger came into 2015 on the heels of a career year where he registered 11 sacks for 79 lost yards on a team that went 7-9, and at one point in mid-November, had sole possession of first place in the AFC North Division, but that success was not mirrored this year.
In 16 games, Kruger registered just 2.5 sacks and spent most of the season playing out of position at strong-side linebacker where he had to drop back into coverage rather than being allowed to pin his ears back and rush the passer on an every-down basis.
"Depends on who you ask," Kruger said when asked recently if he was used properly this past season. "Personally, I probably wouldn't say so. I don't have too much more to say about it, but I don't put everything this year on that, but I don't think I was utilized in the best way.
"I think everybody's intentions are in the right spot, but obviously, we didn't figure out what we needed to do to be successful. It is a bottom-line business. Coaches, leaders always say it in this industry and that's a part of the game. You've got to find a way to win, you've got to find a way to be successful and you have to do it in a hurry. We didn't get that done this year."
Kruger classified the 2015 season, one in which the Browns won just three games and resulted in the firings of their head coach, Mike Pettine, and general manager, Ray Farmer, and a non-football personnel man, Sashi Brown, placed in charge of the 53-man roster, as difficult and frustrating.
"It's been really tough," Kruger said. "It's been really tough. I just haven't had the production that's expected of me and that I expect of myself, and so, that has nothing to do with coaching. It's got nothing to do with effort. I just haven't had those big plays that put our defense in a good situation, and that I put on my own shoulders.
"It's just been a different year in that way. The opportunities you do get when you're out there, you have to take advantage of them, and unfortunately, it was a tough year in that way. I haven't felt so close yet so far away so many times. I think this has been the toughest year in my career that way. Just been really, really different in a lot of different ways, but yeah, it's been tough."
Although playing out of position and not able to register as many sacks as he had in past years, Kruger was among the league leaders in quarterback hits, which makes the lack of sacks all the more frustrating.
"You're right there, and sometimes, it is hard when you feel you can get there a lot, but there have been just a lot that have slipped away from me and I've let go and there's just been a lot where it's been a quarterback that can scramble or get rid of the ball quick," Kruger said.
"That's just what you face in this league. You still have to be able to make those plays, and I didn't get as many done this year as I could have, for sure."
Heading into the offseason, one rife with change for the third time under the direction of owner Jimmy Haslam since he purchased the team in October of 2012, Kruger wants a coaching staff that is able to adapt to their opponents rather than continuing to run similar calls from week to week when the team allowed the fourth-most points, third-most rushing yards and 30 or more points in nine games.
"Off the top of my head, I think the biggest thing that we can do better is just playing the style of defense that we need to for a particular team," Kruger said. "You can't play the same every game and expect to have the same result because offenses are different. They have key standout players at different positions. I think that's one thing. Other than that, we have been in good situations. It's just a matter of us going out and getting it done.
"That's a per-week type of deal. We've competed a lot this season, been in a lot of close games with really good teams. I don't think there's any team in this league that's extremely far off the benchmark. It's just such a little room for error type of a deal where if you can't figure it out week to week and put all those pieces together, you're going to be faced with a tough outcome like we have been."
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