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Cleveland Browns: Tramon Williams talking, Mike Pettine should listen

By Peter Smith

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There is both personal pride and frustration in the message being sent by Tramon Williams after the Cleveland Browns’ humiliating loss, but he is not speaking for Tramon Williams. Instead, he is speaking up for the young players who cannot afford to speak up for themselves currently. Williams is both voicing many of the concerns and frustrations of young players trying to earn their way into the league while also speaking to the best interests of the team and head coach Mike Pettine should listen to him.

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Williams is 32 years old and on his last contract in the NFL. He is taken care of in terms of his career and could easily be in a position to just sit back and get his direct deposit on the 1st and 15th of each month, looking ahead to life after football.

The fact that he isn’t is a positive.


Tramon isn’t talking about Tramon. He’s talking about players like K’Waun Williams, Pierre Desir, Justin Gilbet, and the rest of the players in the defensive backs room. Young players that have their careers still in front of him, they hope – players that cannot afford to be overly critical in public, worried they will be labeled and shunned here as well as in the rest of the league.

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Williams is talking to defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil and head coach Mike Pettine. Specifically, he’s going public pointing at the issues that O’Neil is causing in hopes that Pettine will act to correct them. This is not a new issue, but Williams is taking a new tactic with it in hopes of getting through to Pettine, because nothing has worked to this point.

Obviously, Williams wants to win, wants to succeed, be a part of something special, but he’s also at a point in his career where he can look out for the next generation too. He wants to be able to have left an impact on young players and leave a positive legacy when he retires.

Behind the scenes, Williams has been doing more than most Browns fans realize. He’s been operating as an advocate and a support system in addition to being the team’s top sideline corner this season. This just happens to be the public’s first look at what players admire and appreciate about Williams has since signing as a free agent from the Green Bay Packers.

The Browns play man coverage. That is who they are and what they do. And most corners love that. It is man on man and constantly competing, seeing who the better man is in a given matchup. That is one of the reasons Williams came here in the first place.

However, Williams is referencing two big complaints.

First, messing around with where guys are playing in man coverage.

For example, trying to have a slot corner move outside and become a sideline corner to facilitate a particular matchup. The Browns have specific techniques for their sideline corners in how they line up, punch and use the sideline while slot corners tend to be more inclined to outside in and if they press, press to the inside where their help is.

There are certainly corners that are capable of just going anywhere, but it is difficult to make that transition within the course of a single week and expect it to be carried out effectively. Mostly, it just puts players in a position where they feel like they are going to get hung out to dry.

Second, while corners like to compete and want to win in 1 on 1 matchups, they really hate having to do it consistently without any help over the top.

This week, this season under O’Neil, the Browns have played an incredible amount of Cover 0, meaning that everyone is playing straight man coverage without any safeties dropping into zone. This week in particular, that ended with the Browns playing Cover 0 with Johnson Bademosi lined up across from Antonio Brown with no help behind him.

Aug 13, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive back Tramon Williams (22) in a preseason NFL football game against the Washington Redskins at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Whatever feelings any critic has for Bademosi (I don’t think he’s a good corner myself), Brown is in the argument for the best receiver in the league and the Browns do not have any corner that inspires confidence in a pure 1 on 1 matchup with Brown. Even Joe Haden at his best has struggled with Brown consistently.

As one might expect, the ball found its way to Brown and he scored a touchdown easily. Bademosi looks awful because Brown makes the great play, but the fact is the coaching staff was putting Bademosi in a losing position. This is what Tramon Williams is addressing in his comments.

Williams was quick to point out that the players need to do their part and play better in his media availability, but simply put, he is tired of his guys being in positions to lose. And with O’Neil showing no ability to change or improve upon the situation, Williams is trying desperately to get Pettine to step in to make changes that would give these guys a fighting chance.

To some, Williams will sound disloyal or like he’s speaking out of turn – that he’s hurting Pettine by speaking out on this matter. The reality is Williams may be one of the biggest allies Pettine has. Had Pettine listened to players like Williams earlier, this would not have been necessary.

Williams also would not be speaking up for young players if he did not think they were capable of being productive players that could help this team. He thinks they can help and does not want to see this team and specifically O’Neil potentially kill their earning power with bad football.

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The fact is Williams is right in what he’s addressing and with everything he is doing both on the field as well as in the locker room, Pettine would be wise to listen. He simply cannot afford to lose support from players like Tramon Williams that are doing as much as possible to help this team win, improve, and keep guys engaged. In the event he does, the rest of the team will not be far behind.

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