Greg Newsome II: Browns defense buying into Jim Schwartz's emphasis on 'badassery'

BEREA — The question was about the intangibles in which new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz wanted the Browns to lead the league. Those include passion and effort and, well, let's allow cornerback Greg Newsome II to finish the sentence.

"Badassery," Newsome said after Sunday's practice.

Yeah, that. Of course, in many ways, that may be the most intangible of all of the intangibles.

So how, exactly, does one define "badassery?" Again, allow the Northwestern University product take a swing at providing that answer.

"What (Schwartz) said is, when you got little guys like me going out there and hitting, the (defensive) line has to follow suit," he said. "If I'm coming out there hitting, big guys got to be able to hit. When you got big guys out there in front, running to the ball, sprinting to the ball — that makes us feel like we got to sprint to the ball.

"But it’s more so celebrating your brother's successes. When someone makes a play, you should see everybody running over there to celebrate, and I think when you do that then you'll definitely see that you're a family.”

If that's how you define it, then it's much easier to see how you can gauge it as well. You just have to watch the way the Browns defense flies around in a practice, and how it reacts to every play it makes.

It was noticeable as early as the training camp practices at The Greenbrier how much importance Schwartz placed on that aspect. A pass break-up in the end zone or an interception would be followed by at least a half dozen Browns defensive players swarming to the point of the play and high-fiving the successful defender while also letting the offensive player know what had happened.

"I mean, when you got our two-deep and three-deep making plays like that, we're super excited for them," Newsome said. "And I think it'll definitely translate over. You see the sideline is just so happy for those guys, too. So I feel like with this team, everyone wants everyone to succeed, and I feel like around the league that's not the case everywhere. So I definitely think that energy will definitely translate to the real games.”

That's, actually, the plan. For Schwartz, part of the goal in practice is to establish the energy level he wants out of his defense on every snap.

So when the defensive players gather around a despondent offensive teammate sitting on the ground, celebrating whatever misfortune may have befallen him, just remember this point. That's every bit part of the process of getting this Browns defense to reach its potential.

"Well, we put an emphasis on that," Schwartz said earlier in training camp. "We're going to try to lead the league in effort. We're going to try to lead the league in passion for the game and things like that. And that doesn't just happen on Sunday. You got to practice it. And I think the guys have responded well to that message."

That hasn't just been against their own teammates. The Browns defense had a chance last week to showcase it against the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in two joint practices.

For the secondary, that meant matching up against Devonta Smith and A.J. Brown, the Eagles' stellar receiving duo. Unlike a year ago, when those pass catchers seemed to feast on Browns defensive backs, it turned into a fairly balanced fight with both sides having their moments.

That was just more proof of concept to Newsome about this year's defense.

"I think talent-wise, I feel like we've always had a lot of talent," Newsome said. "But I just feel like what we do outside of the building, always together, literally every single day guys are doing stuff together, getting food together. So I just think that camaraderie that we have, not only in a secondary, around the whole entire defense and the whole team, is just amazing. So I think it is definitely showing on the field."

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: Greg Newsome II says Jim Schwartz gives Browns defense 'badassery'