'Working that chemistry': Browns using minicamp to have fun while developing together

BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns have plenty of work to do as the 2023 season approaches, but as they get their offseason work in during minicamp in Berea, they're having fun as they develop chemistry on the field.

In the first few days of Browns minicamp, quarterback Deshaun Watson has had that chemistry top of mind. Working with his new receivers and returning weapons alike, Watson has been taking note of routes his receivers run, who likes the ball where, who can do what, and all of the other inner workings of his offense.

During 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s, Watson has looked much more poised. His accuracy has been prominent, and some of the throws he's been able to make have been reminiscent of his days with the Texans.

For Watson, developing chemistry with his teammates starts with him getting back to his former self and growing his confidence—which is something he believes is already happening early into offseason workouts.

"I'm pretty far ahead of where I was last year. Last year, it was, as far as football, being on the field, just learning a new system, trying to adapt to different teammates, different players, how guys run routes, how Kevin [Stefanski] calls the plays, and just being able to process the game at the speed I know," Watson said. "And being a year in and being able to talk to Kevin and AVP [Alex Van Pelt] about what we want to do and being confident about it, it allows me to play a little bit faster when I'm on the field.”

His teammates have seen his connections form and his confidence increase—and they're having fun with it.

"Boy, he's slinging that ****...He's slinging that," said tight end David Njoku of Watson, all the while smiling. "He's locked in. The energy's there. He's so far, I think every single ball he's thrown is precise on the money, so that excites me, as well as the rest of the team, the offense. So we're all excited."

Watson has celebrated some of his passes with his bow and arrow pose, a Tiger Woods-esque fist pump and lots of love from his teammates.

The thought among the team is that as Watson elevates his game and fosters chemistry with his teammates, the entire roster can feed off that.

"Even on the defense—I know obviously we're not working against each other here—but they see the accuracy in him, the precise, everything's calculated with him, and it makes them even go harder. I feel like as long as he's going up, everybody's going to go up," Njoku said.

While the offense has their fun with Watson growing more confident, on the other side of the ball, the defense is also working to develop their chemistry—and is having fun along the way.

During position drills, the defensive line is perhaps the most energetic of the team. The group holds competitions amongst each other, fighting to win matchups during reaction sled, get-off and bag drills. Some have a best-of-three series and a defined winner. Others split up the group into two teams and keep score.

All of the drills allow the players to hone in on their competitive nature while developing their skills and enjoying themselves while they do.

"When you win a matchup, everybody gets to talking junk and everything. You want to re-challenge somebody, and then, just, it keeps going back and forth. I feel like it makes you better as a player, too, because you're going your hardest every single rep," said defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson. "When we get chippy, we're all competitors out here, and we kind of compete every single play. And I said that competitiveness is going to make us better as a team and each player better with each play."

Tomlinson had a front-row seat to some of the competition during minicamp Wednesday. From Myles Garrett and Za'Darius Smith giving each other a run for their money and fighting a little harder each matchup to win it to rookie Siaki Ika celebrating his win with plenty of energy, all of the moments have inspired growth on the field and within their connections off the field.

"I feel like if you don't have that, you're not going to build chemistry all along. But with the younger guys, we just bring them in as little brothers and stuff and just teach 'em the ropes, and we all just keep working that chemistry and, just, having fun out here is the biggest thing. So as long as we're having fun together, sweating together and grinding together, the chemistry's going to come along great," Tomlinson said.

Minicamp is all about hard work, learning and growing. Fun is not a requirement—but for the Browns, this offseason has been about incorporating all of those important aspects of the workouts while enjoying getting to know—and work well with—each other.

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