BEREA, Ohio — Denzel Ward had the barb ready to go when the topic of his old coach came up.
A year after former Browns defensive coordinator and interim head coach Gregg Williams called the cornerback out for his “stupid” tackling, Ward is preparing to face Williams and the Jets on Monday night.
“I know he’s definitely pumped up. Coming in, he’s going to try to beat us obviously,” Ward said Tuesday in the Browns locker room.
“I’m just hoping, me personally, I can avoid my stupid tackling when going against him,” Ward continued, with a big grin. “I don’t want him talking about me in the media talking about stupid tackles. So I’m going to work on that during the game. We’ll see.”
The fiery Williams is gone from the Browns, but his imprint is still left on his former players. He joined the team in 2017 as its defensive coordinator before being named the interim head coach in the middle of last season and leading the Browns to a 5-3 finish. It still wasn’t enough to land him the full-time job, which went to offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, sending Williams on his way to his current job in Florham Park.
While the way it played out may have been awkward, Kitchens said he considers Williams “a great mentor” and a “good friend.”
“Gregg and I have a bond that will always be that,” Kitchens said. “I respect the hell out of Gregg. I think Gregg is one of the best coaches in the National Football League and has been for a long time.”
Monday’s showdown at MetLife Stadium marks the reunion between the two sides, and the Browns know full well how Williams will be feeling.
“He’s going to be fired up,” wide receiver Rashard Higgins said. “He’s going to come out passionate, with a message to prove. We got something to prove as well.”
As for what Higgins thinks Williams’ message would be?
“That I’m a bad M — you already know the rest,” Higgins said. “Y’all know he always cussing and stuff, man. He’s a passionate coach. He loves what he do, so he’s going to come out with a bang. We gotta be prepared for it.”
Williams’ new defense played well in Week 1 before a fourth-quarter collapse against the Bills. His old one got run out of the building for 43 points in a loss to the Titans, meaning there will be plenty of motivation on both sidelines, regardless of Williams’ presence. The danger of falling to 0-2 looms larger than trying to prove anything in particular to their former coach.
“I’d rather get the win,” Ward said.
It was Ward who got injured while making a tackle during a preseason game last year, prompting Williams to tell reporters that he needed to “stop doing those stupid things the way he’s trying to tackle and tackle the way I tell him to tackle and he won’t get hurt.” The Pro Bowler said Williams “kind of” relayed that message to him after sharing it with the media first.
“It didn’t bother me too much,” Ward said. “At the end of the day, you just gotta listen in to the point they’re trying to get across. I understood it. He wanted me to get lower in tackling and maybe not wrap up but take the guy’s legs out. So he’s a good coach. He was just trying to teach me. He just had a different way of teaching.”
But it will be a useful reminder for his offensive teammates going up against Williams’ defense Monday.
“Watch your legs,” Ward said. “I know he’s going to be teaching to whack those guys and kind of take their legs out.”