LT Duane Brown
OTA #7
June 4, 2018
(On new O-line coach Mike Solari) “I’m learning a ton from him. Mike is a great football mind. He’s very big on attention to detail, very big on technique. Me, being going into my 11th year, I feel like there’s some things that I need to sharpen up to continue to play at a high level and he’s definitely hammering points down for me. I think he’s going to be very great for the younger guys. He coaches everyone the same. No one’s a favorite. If you mess up a rep, you’re doing it over. If you mess it up again, you’re doing it over. I’ve got a lot of respect for that. I think we’re going to be a very sharp O-line, very technically sound, and play with a lot of aggression.”
(On schematic differences with Solari) “I think in the running schemes, we ran a lot of zone last year, and I think we’ll continue to run some zone but we also want to get more downhill. We’ve got a lot of big bodies up front and you want to utilize that power. We’re also being big on pad level and playing with great leverage in order to run downhill, so power schemes, double teams – thinks like that I think we’ll implement. But like I said, zone scheme is still around as well so just a mixture of different running schemes to throw defenses off.”
(On the idea of more power schemes with the big bodies on the O-line) “That’s what it’s all about. I love the zone scheme as well. It gets defenses moving sideways but when you have the ability to switch it up and run downhill when they might be expecting that and you get them on their heels and you can knock them off the ball, there’s no greater feeling for an offensive lineman, when you can put your guy five yards, six yards off the line of scrimmage and if you can do that repeatedly, it demoralizes a team. That’s the mentality we have going into this year. We definitely want to be better in the run game to take pressure off of Russ and having to drop back a lot. Last year we weren’t as good as we wanted to be so we’re taking that upon our shoulders.”
(On being here during the offseason program) “…I’m very excited at the opportunity to get to work with these guys at this time of the year. I think this is when you build that comradery, you start to gel as a unit, especially up front on the offensive line, as a team as a whole. I think they got a glimpse of what I could do and the ability that I brought to the team, but now being able to work day-in and day-out, I’m getting to learn everyone, they’re getting to learn me more, and it’s just a better feeling. I feel more a part of the group and being able to lead more right now in the offseason – in meetings, in practices, in workouts, doing everything – it’s a great feeling.”
(On his relationship with Germain Ifedi) “Yeah, Germain—I think just in the short time I’ve been here, he’s matured a lot and I expect a big season from him. He’s a guy that is going to benefit a great deal from Mike [Solari]. Just polishing up his technique more. He has all the tools – big, athletic guy, you know, great length – so just trusting things and having good technique, I think he’s going to be great. I really do feel that. First thing is just getting healthy and all that but we talk all the time and I think he’s going to be good this year.”
(On if it’s exciting for the O-line to see a running back drafted and some blocking tight ends and see the re-commitment to the running game) “For sure – you know, everyone sees everything that’s said about the run game and lack of it. As a competitor, you don’t want to see that, you want to improve on it. So we all individually looked at ourselves this offseason to see what we could do. The front office did a great job of bringing in some guys to assist us in it. [D.J.] Fluker is a big guy, a very aggressive guy so I’m looking forward to adding him to the mix. And Rashaad [Penny] has looked great so far. We don’t have pads on but from what I’ve seen, he has great vision, runs behind his pads well. Taking him in the first round just shows a commitment to wanting to improve the run game, improve the offense as a whole. So we’re very excited.”
