Camp thoughts Vol. XI

 

Won’t be long now until Browns fans learn whether Jedrick Wills Jr., the rookie left tackle who never played on that side of the offensive line until now, can make a successful transition.

 

With the season-opening game in Baltimore looming, the only action Wills has seen is in training camp, where he plies his trade against teammates. That’ll be it until the real games begin.

 

No OTAs, no rookie minicamps, no full-team minicamps, no exhibition games. It’s one-on-ones against teammates. Basically, Wills will enter the professional ranks with no practical game experience whatsoever.

 

It’s hard enough to make the transition from one side of the offensive line to the other side in the National Football League. Doing it this way places unfair pressure on the young man from Alabama.

 

In order to give Wills a feel of what it’s going to be like, Browns coaches have slotted Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon, two solid pass rushers, opposite him in practice. That’s nice, but it no way replicates the speed at which the games will be played starting Sept. 13.

 

Wink Martindale of the Ravens is one of the shrewdest and most innovative defensive coordinators in the NFL. He is no doubt licking his creative chops at the prospect of welcoming Wills to the league with an assortment of tricks.

 

Browns offensive line coach Bill Callahan, who persuaded General Manager Andrew Berry to select Wills with the club’s first pick in the college draft with Tristan Wirfs still on the board, dismissed the suggestion by the media that Wills was having trouble with the switch.

 

“I wouldn’t say that,” he said. “I’ve gauged his rate of improvement. You’d love to have it much higher like at the veteran level, but let’s be realistic. That’s just not going to happen in this day and age because of the tardiness of techniques of not having the offseason and things of that nature.

 

“I do think players learn more once they get into games. They are really more in tune to what is going to occur and what they can expect. The rate of improvement is key.” And that is what awaits Wills.

 

What Callahan is looking for is steady improvement. “I want to see his technique get better and want to see him graduate to a level where he can handle just about anything,” he said.

 

What I think Callahan is saying is do not judge Wills from what you see in the first few games (because he probably will have typical rookie problems). See how he’s doing, say, midway through the season and compare him to how he looked in the early stages.

 

In the meantime, head coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt had better adjust to the likelihood of Wills struggling and design quick-developing pass plays or designed runs by Baker Mayfield to the opposite side of the formation to avoid possible problems.

 

Callahan said Wills will alternate two- and three-point stances depending on the play call. “We have given a little more flexibility . . . to the open side of the formation where there is no tight end (next to him) because that’s where their best defensive player is located,” he explained.

 

In this case, Wills can expect to see a lot of wizened veterans Calais Campbell, Mathew Judon, Pernell McPhee and Derek Wolfe. Wolfe and Campbell are new to the Ravens defense, which recorded only 37 sacks last season.

 

What Wills must learn quickly is developing a very short memory, especially when he encounters trouble and is responsible for the failure of a play. Failing to do so could easily affect the outcome of the next play.

 

“We have worked hard at trying to get a mind-set for Jedrick and all of our players of getting on and getting forward with the next play,” said Callahan. They key word in that sentence: Mind-set.

 

Wills rarely had bad plays, let alone bad games, during a terrific career at Alabama. It’s his performances the last two seasons that enabled him to rise in the eyes of scouts and elevate him to the top of draft boards.

 

Now it’s a whole new game and he has to do it all over again. He is going to see the professional game in a way he probably only envisioned. It most likely will be startling at first. How he adjusts is what Callahan is anxious to find out.

 

The past is, or should be, ancient history to Wills. He is playing the second-most important position on the offense. How he handles that responsibility is what many fans will be watching closely this season.

So, too, will Stefanski and Callahan.