As training camp opens for the Cleveland Browns, the defense is facing a familiar question with a new twist: can it stay elite after losing Myles Garrett and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz?
The short answer is that things are going to look different. A defense doesn’t just shrug off a player like Garrett and keep moving exactly the same way.
But different doesn’t have to mean worse. Cleveland still has enough talent to field a top-tier unit, and the offseason additions could push the group into a new kind of identity.
That’s the real shift here. Last season’s Browns defense was suffocating, but it didn’t always carry the kind of edge that defines the classic nasty units fans remember.
The ‘85 Chicago Bears, 2000 Baltimore Ravens, and Legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks all had that brash, in-your-face reputation. Cleveland’s 2025 defense, for all its effectiveness, didn’t quite live in that lane.
That may be changing in 2026.
The new voices coming into the room bring a different temperature. Edge defender Jared Verse has already built a reputation as a trash talker just two years into his career, and he’s made it clear he wants to raise the nastiness level in Cleveland.
Inside linebacker Quincy Williams brings a similar vibe. The 2023 All-Pro, whose alter ego is The Joker - the DC Universe supervillain - has been impossible to miss, with clips of him screaming and talking trash to Cleveland’s offense during the offseason program.
The coaching staff is part of that energy too. Defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg, Schwartz’s replacement, has already shown he brings a different style. He operates with more juice than Schwartz, and that kind of presence tends to spill over onto the field.
At the top, Todd Monken is setting the tone for the whole team. His strength is on offense, but he’s also known as a trash talker, and there have already been stories about him getting Cleveland defenders riled up. That sort of culture starts at the top, and it’s not hard to see why the defense would follow that lead.
None of it matters, of course, if the Browns don’t remain one of the league’s better defenses. But if the talent holds and the intensity clicks, Cleveland could end up with something even scarier than what it had before: a defense that isn’t just good, but genuinely nasty.
In Other News...
Browns Quarterback Battle Just Became A Bigger Deshaun Watson Question
The Browns quarterback situation already had enough intrigue with Deshaun Watson working through early training camp and rookie Shedeur Sanders trying to make his case, but it picked up another layer when former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum floated a different direction on the Pat McAfee Show. His suggestion was simple enough: Cleveland should at least consider Sanders as the starter instead of continuing to treat Watson as the obvious answer, especially with Watson in the final year of his contract and the team still sorting out its long-term plan under center.
Sanders has the recent college experience and a small sample of pro-style pressure already behind him, having started seven games and gone 3-4, while Watsons status only gets more complicated as Browns coach Todd Monken works toward naming a starter soon. Monken has said the decision is coming, though he has not attached a firm timeline, and that leaves Cleveland in the kind of quarterback limbo where every practice rep seems to matter a little more than the last. [Read more 🡒]
Browns QB Battle Took A Sloppy Turn At Camp Friday
The Browns fourth training-camp practice on Aug. 1 offered another look at a quarterback competition that is still very much taking shape, with Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders both meeting with reporters before taking the field. The session had the usual camp mix of red-zone work, line play and player evaluation, but it also came with some early reminders that this is still a team sorting through rotation, health and execution as the quarterback battle unfolds.
Fridays work did produce some brighter notes, with defensive lineman Mason Graham drawing attention for a strong showing, but the overall tone of the practice was uneven. Several players were absent or limited, including guard Teven Jenkins, and the quarterbacks had their share of rough moments in a session that kept the focus on how quickly this offense can clean up the details while the competition remains open. [Read more 🡒]
Browns May Be Slow-Playing Spencer Fano At The Worst Time
Spencer Fanos first Browns camp has brought the kind of tug-of-war that usually says as much about roster building as it does about a single player. Cleveland has been rotating the rookie left tackle between the first and second units, alternating him with Dawand Jones as the staff tries to sort out where he fits and how quickly he can handle the jump into the mix with the starters.
Todd Monken has made it clear that rookies, even highly regarded ones, have to win their jobs rather than inherit them, and that approach puts Fano in a delicate spot at exactly the wrong time. There are already questions from some scouts about whether his frame and the move from right tackle to left tackle will complicate the transition, but the Browns still need a real look at him against the starting offensive line before they can know what they have. [Read more 🡒]