Brownshirt Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 Shaun Rogers resumes knack for disruption in scrimmage By George M. Thomas Beacon Journal sports writer Published on Tuesday, Aug 11, 2009 CLEVELAND: No matter how you look at Browns defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, he is large. He stands 6-foot-4 and the media guide lists him at 350 pounds. Even his casual wardrobe includes a massive necklace of what appears to be a wrestler with Rogers' face on it. Rogers, who made the Pro Bowl last season, continues to play big this season, causing havoc for the offense during the Browns' intrasquad scrimmage Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium. During the opening moments of the scrimmage, Rogers burst through the offensive line as if he had jet engines strapped on his back. Official stats weren't kept, but Rogers, who is entering his second year with the Browns, had at least two quarterback sacks. If he's able to play in regular-season games the way he has in practice, opposing linemen and quarterbacks should be on notice. He flashed that Pro Bowl form despite suffering a minor injury at the beginning of training camp. And Rogers appears particularly plucky when it comes to his level of satisfaction with the Browns. ''It's swell,'' he said. ''It's my second year in this type of system. I am still learning and getting acclimated to the new regime. It's just been fine.'' Rogers got off to a rocky start with the new regime of coach Eric Mangini. Rogers felt Mangini snubbed him, and Rogers skipped some spring workouts as a result, so his seeming satisfaction now is significant. And it probably can be taken at face value, given that any discontent a player has often manifests itself on the field. But Rogers appears to be having fun in camp, even yukking it up when he has to run one of the new coach's infamous laps for a mental lapse. But the fun ends when talking about the game. Coming off a Pro Bowl season during which he had 81 tackles and 4.5 sacks, Rogers looks forward to improving a defense that was mediocre on its best Sunday last year. Early signs point to a defense that will attack more, a fact that's not surprising when considering the gene pool that produced new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. Ryan is the son of Buddy Ryan, who designed the 46 defense that propelled the 1985 Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl championship. ''I can't call it so far,'' Rogers said. ''Rob Ryan has a lot of history in this league of good defenses. I am just looking forward to performing in the defense. Whatever he calls, I am going to run to the best of my ability. Hopefully, it has much more of an impact.'' Performance isn't something that Ryan worries about with Rogers. ''I think I'm pretty familiar with what a good [defensive lineman] looks like and Shaun Rogers is tremendous. He is absolutely tremendous,'' Ryan said. ''Any system that he plays in, he is going to be dominant. It's fun to see him move around and do some things.'' Rogers said that Ryan has the Browns paying close attention to details, especially fundamentals. Last season, the number of tackles the Browns missed on defense bordered on criminal. To say there were problems would be an understatement. ''We are really concentrating on a lot of the idiosyncrasies of our defense and just trying to make sure everything is perfect,'' Rogers said. ''After that, you let your players play.'' Still, he doesn't expect a lot of things to change. The Browns played the 3-4 defense under Romeo Crennel and will continue to do so under Mangini. ''The 3-4 is always going to be a 3-4. If anything, maybe there are a few hiccups here, but mostly on the second level with the linebackers, safeties and corners. The technique is still the same,'' he said. Quinn's rifle Quarterback Brady Quinn never had any doubts about his arm strength. For anyone who did, his first play during the Browns' scrimmage, a 51-yard bomb to Lance Leggett, might have erased them. ''[The media] are the guys who have been saying that,'' Quinn said. ''I've never shied away from throwing a deep ball. I just try to be smart with the football. I take what the defense gives me and I'm not going to force a throw.'' Helping his cause Most of the running back talk has centered on Jamal Lewis and rookie James Davis, but Noah Herron, a free-agent pickup during the offseason, made an impression with a 39-yard run for a touchdown during Sunday's scrimmage. ''Individually, it felt good, but it was better because it put us up 14-0,'' Herron said. ''As a team, we really wanted to win this game. It kind of felt like we lost the Super Bowl. We played hard and things didn't work out in our favor.'' Schedule update After having Monday off, the players return to training camp today with a morning workout beginning at 8:45 and a 5:45 evening practice. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/. Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Shaun Rogers grabs a pass while waiting to participate in a drill during minicamp at their training facility in Berea. (Ed Suba Jr./Akron Beacon Journal) View more photos>> CLEVELAND: No matter how you look at Browns defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, he is large. He stands 6-foot-4 and the media guide lists him at 350 pounds. Even his casual wardrobe includes a massive necklace of what appears to be a wrestler with Rogers' face on it. Rogers, who made the Pro Bowl last season, continues to play big this season, causing havoc for the offense during the Browns' intrasquad scrimmage Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium. During the opening moments of the scrimmage, Rogers burst through the offensive line as if he had jet engines strapped on his back. Official stats weren't kept, but Rogers, who is entering his second year with the Browns, had at least two quarterback sacks. If he's able to play in regular-season games the way he has in practice, opposing linemen and quarterbacks should be on notice. He flashed that Pro Bowl form despite suffering a minor injury at the beginning of training camp. And Rogers appears particularly plucky when it comes to his level of satisfaction with the Browns. ''It's swell,'' he said. ''It's my second year in this type of system. I am still learning and getting acclimated to the new regime. It's just been fine.'' Rogers got off to a rocky start with the new regime of coach Eric Mangini. Rogers felt Mangini snubbed him, and Rogers skipped some spring workouts as a result, so his seeming satisfaction now is significant. And it probably can be taken at face value, given that any discontent a player has often manifests itself on the field. But Rogers appears to be having fun in camp, even yukking it up when he has to run one of the new coach's infamous laps for a mental lapse. But the fun ends when talking about the game. Coming off a Pro Bowl season during which he had 81 tackles and 4.5 sacks, Rogers looks forward to improving a defense that was mediocre on its best Sunday last year. Early signs point to a defense that will attack more, a fact that's not surprising when considering the gene pool that produced new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. Ryan is the son of Buddy Ryan, who designed the 46 defense that propelled the 1985 Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl championship. ''I can't call it so far,'' Rogers said. ''Rob Ryan has a lot of history in this league of good defenses. I am just looking forward to performing in the defense. Whatever he calls, I am going to run to the best of my ability. Hopefully, it has much more of an impact.'' Performance isn't something that Ryan worries about with Rogers. ''I think I'm pretty familiar with what a good [defensive lineman] looks like and Shaun Rogers is tremendous. He is absolutely tremendous,'' Ryan said. ''Any system that he plays in, he is going to be dominant. It's fun to see him move around and do some things.'' Rogers said that Ryan has the Browns paying close attention to details, especially fundamentals. Last season, the number of tackles the Browns missed on defense bordered on criminal. To say there were problems would be an understatement. ''We are really concentrating on a lot of the idiosyncrasies of our defense and just trying to make sure everything is perfect,'' Rogers said. ''After that, you let your players play.'' Still, he doesn't expect a lot of things to change. The Browns played the 3-4 defense under Romeo Crennel and will continue to do so under Mangini. ''The 3-4 is always going to be a 3-4. If anything, maybe there are a few hiccups here, but mostly on the second level with the linebackers, safeties and corners. The technique is still the same,'' he said. Quinn's rifle Quarterback Brady Quinn never had any doubts about his arm strength. For anyone who did, his first play during the Browns' scrimmage, a 51-yard bomb to Lance Leggett, might have erased them. ''[The media] are the guys who have been saying that,'' Quinn said. ''I've never shied away from throwing a deep ball. I just try to be smart with the football. I take what the defense gives me and I'm not going to force a throw.'' Helping his cause Most of the running back talk has centered on Jamal Lewis and rookie James Davis, but Noah Herron, a free-agent pickup during the offseason, made an impression with a 39-yard run for a touchdown during Sunday's scrimmage. ''Individually, it felt good, but it was better because it put us up 14-0,'' Herron said. ''As a team, we really wanted to win this game. It kind of felt like we lost the Super Bowl. We played hard and things didn't work out in our favor.'' Schedule update After having Monday off, the players return to training camp today with a morning workout beginning at 8:45 and a 5:45 evening practice. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/. http://www.ohio.com/sports/52936737.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.