Dawand Jones continues adjustment to 'freshman year' as Cleveland Browns rookie tackle

BEREA — Dawand Jones had the perfect metaphor to describe the Browns' fourth-round pick's transition from Ohio State to the NFL.

“It kind of feels like my freshman year over again," the offensive tackle said during rookie minicamp in mid-May. "You know what I mean? Just the next step is just, it's all football, it's no school. You know what I mean? Go home, you're going do football. I love it and I just can't wait, honestly.”

Jones' love of football was something several NFL executives and scouts questioned during the pre-draft process. The Browns obviously didn't, or they had any of their questions assuaged by the time they made him the 111th overall pick on the third day of the draft.

The bigger questions the massive 6-foot-8, 374-pound tackle has had to answer both before the draft and once he's been with the Browns have centered around his physique and his conditioning. The questions about the former are never going to completely go away, but the goal is to make the latter less of a talking point.

Jones struggled during the rookie minicamp with that aspect. After one drill on the first day, he threw up and spent significant time talking to an athletic trainer, and spent much of the minicamp watching more than participating.

"I mean in terms of his conditioning, I think it was a little bit of a rude awakening for him the first day when he got out here," assistant offensive line coach Scott Peters said on June 8 following the Browns' veteran minicamp. "Because I think obviously the tempo, the pace, the drills, our drills, we challenge our guys in those drills. So I think that was a little bit an eye opener for him. But he's adapted to it, so he’s continued on, which is great. So we're hoping that he'll just continue to get better and hopefully during this break he'll come back in better shape."

Peters spoke a month after Jones' eye-opening introduction to the NFL. The rookie tackle remained as much spectator as participant, but that was as much a by-product of circumstance than it was an indictment of him.

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That minicamp provided Jones with an opportunity to watch All-Pro offensive linemen such as right tackle Jack Conklin and left guard Joel Bitonio work on their craft. That, to expand on Jones' own school metaphor, is like pairing a freshman with a senior.

"You got those players who are great, and then you got all the guys below them who are also doing the same things," Peters said. "So when you get a rookie to come in and he's like, 'wow, every last guy does exactly the same way, that's the objective, and then you start to get those kind of guys that understand that they have to adapt and they do. It's kind of like learning a foreign language; you can't do it by going to class once a week. You got to immerse yourself."

So how had Jones progressed in the month between the rookie and veteran minicamps?

"Dawand, he’s coming along," Peters said. "I mean, he's a rookie so he’s got a lot to learn and I think learning our system. But he's made some strides there, so it's just going to be a process for him cause like any rookie, it’s tough. But he's a big, powerful man. If we can get him on track, I think it'll be a great thing for us."

The problem for Peters is that he and offensive line coach Bill Callahan can't do anything with their massive rookie project for the moment. The day Peters spoke was the last day of the Browns' offseason program, which started a month-plus-long break for the players.

The next time the Browns are guaranteed to see Jones is July 19, the day rookies and quarterbacks are scheduled to report for training camp. However, the real test begins on July 22, when the team starts practice at The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.

Do the Browns have expectations of what they want to see of Jones when he returns to the facility? Sure.

Do they also have an understanding there's a learning curve upon which rookies inevitably ride? Absolutely.

"I think as long as they're kind of growing in the sense that they can understand what they're doing and then the game slows down a little bit as you learn more," Peters said. "So that was a goal for the offseason. We try to get these guys to understand obviously their assignments, so we got to get them going in the right place. There's no shortcut for getting the physical pads on. and that's where we'll see, but every rookie goes through it."

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' Dawand Jones transitions from Ohio State to the NFL