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Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski summed up his thoughts on the team’s left tackle position quite succinctly.
When Stefanski was asked during Saturday’s Zoom press conference with reporters if rookie Jedrick Wills will be the team’s starting left tackle when the Browns travel to Baltimore for the Week 1 opener on September 13th, Stefanski made it clear with one word.
“Yes.”
Stefanski believes the rookie is ready, even though he’s making the move from right tackle at Alabama and has had some unsavory moments during Cleveland’s training camp. It’s part of the process. And when the follow-up question came, asking Stefanski if anything that happens between now and then on the field would change his mind, Stefanski was equally blunt.
“No.”
Wills has been squaring off against Olivier Vernon and Myles Garrett for most of camp. That’s a trial by serious fire, and Stefanski believes that a player getting beat is valuable to the developmental process. The perceived struggles really don’t seem to faze Stefanski,
“Every position, it is an occupational hazard that you are going to get beat. Whether you are a safety, a corner or a tackle, it just happens in this game. I have not noticed that specifically from Jed, but I just know every player, young and old, is going to get beat and then you have to bounce back.”
The confidence Stefanski is showing in Wills is reassuring. It must be tempered with the knowledge that the primary backups are Chris Hubbard and Kendall Lamm, who have not played well in Cleveland when given chances.
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