Browns resilient drive to playoff berth has roots in Greenbrier trip

CLEVELAND — The Browns' path to their first playoff berth since 2020 has been marked by an ability to stay in the now.

That mindset has allowed them to overcome what has been a steady stream of body blows in the form of injuries that would've left some teams — including many past Browns teams — incapacitated. Instead of dwelling on the proverbial spilt milk, they focused on phrases like "next man up" or "1-0 this week."

Those phrases have translated into wins, lots of them. The Browns (11-5) head into their regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals with a shot at their first 12-win regular-season since 1986.

“It just kind of shows the bond that we have with each other and our coaching and what's being instilled in us," running back Jerome Ford said after a playoff-clinching win Thursday over the New York Jets. "And I feel like resiliency is one of the things that is. And from Greenbrier up until now, we've been jelling together, staying, keeping each other back, stuff like that.”

The Greenbrier was a Kevin Stefanski brain child. The coach has said multiple times when asked about the decision to spend the first nine days of training camp at the posh southeastern West Virginia resort that it was rooted in his days with the Minnesota Vikings, who would go to University of Minnesota at Mankato for camp.

Stefanski has deflected credit for his brain child just as many times as he has talked about its roots. That includes in the moments after his team clinched the franchise's third playoff berth since rejoining the league in 1999.

"I give credit to the players," Stefanski said. "They used every opportunity that we've had over the course of the season and, like you mentioned at the Greenbrier, to get to know their teammates and be around their teammates. It's a strong bond in that locker room and it's something we talk about. It's something that I talked about last night about this team, how close they are and they got each other's back."

The time in West Virginia was different than the other preseason trip the Browns made, when they spent most of a week in Philadelphia while holding two joint practices and a preseason game. Obviously, the biggest difference is just locale: one's a resort in the middle of nowhere and the other is one of the five largest cities in the nation.

The other is how Stefanski approached the Greenbrier trip. From the start he called it a "team-building" trip, and he used it as such.

"We all had, not 'come to Jesus' moments at the beginning of the season, but just kind of telling your history," Pro Bowl right guard Wyatt Teller said Thursday. "What your hopes are, all this different stuff, your heartbreaks, all these different things that we were trying to communicate to each other, come together as a team. It was like almost everybody's hope was to win the Super Bowl, right? Coach kind of started with, if we win the division, then we get to go to the playoffs, then we get a chance and then we'll get to make our own destiny."

What's been most interesting about the impact the players have placed on the week-plus spent at The Greenbrier is the number of key contributors down the stretch who weren't with the Browns at that time. Some of their biggest contributors were either in someone else's camp or not in a camp at all.

Quarterback Joe Flacco? At home in suburban Philadelphia. Running backs Kareem Hunt and Pierre Strong Jr.? One was at his home while the other was with the New England Patriots. Kicker Dustin Hopkins? Still out in Southern California with the Los Angeles Chargers.

The same can be said of left tackle Geron Christian, quarterback P.J. Walker, punt return man James Proche II and defensive tackle Shelby Harris. However, what's been evident is the way, even when a new player enters the locker room, there's almost an immediate buy-in.

The players who were there from the start attribute that to what was developed in West Virginia.

"We have a good group of guys that is committed to the goal," All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio said. "I think some of the pieces we brought in this year and just have built that culture with are really connecting and have been here through the, since Coach Stefanski has been here, and guys enjoy each other. We're playing for each other, and I think winning helps that as well."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns resilient drive to playoff berth has roots in Greenbrier trip