The defensive line has been pretty impressive for the Cleveland Browns through two games, but I'm sure many of you noticed something different this past Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts: our defensive ends were at different positions.
At first, I thought maybe we were trying to mix things up a little bit when I saw Jayme Mitchell rushing from the right side and Jabaal Sheard coming off the left side. But then, I saw them in those positions way too often for it to just be a temporary adjustment. Head coach Pat Shurmur confirmed on Monday that they will be sticking with those positions heading forward. "We flipped the ends as you saw," said Shurmur. "I think that is the way we are going to go with it now. Keep Jabaal (Sheard) on our defensive left/offensive right. I think they did a good job and they are getting better."
It paid off during the game. Mitchell finished with three tackles, a couple of which were nice stops. Sheard wasn't dominant, but he had a few clutch plays and finished the game with a great stat line: 5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 quarterback hit, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery. Regarding the switch for Sheard specifically, Shurmur stated, "We felt he was more effective playing on the left then he was on the right."
Both ends will have a chance to feast on the Dolphins' Chad Henne this Sunday in Cleveland.