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Browns defensive tackle carries heavy load
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 07:19 p.m. EDT, Sep 06, 2008
Shaun Rogers was the only man standing when the Browns began their first regular-season practice Monday with a prayer.
His action, or lack of it, probably meant nothing. Presumably, it was not a sign of rebellion amid his team's sign of solidarity.
Perhaps it was merely a sign that it's not easy for a 6-foot-4, 350-pound defensive tackle to kneel at a moment's notice.
Since Rogers joined the Browns in a March 1 trade with the Detroit Lions for a third-round draft choice and cornerback Leigh Bodden, the seven-year veteran has been happy, his fellow linemen have said. A two-time Pro Bowl player, Rogers battled weight problems and had his dedication to football questioned with the Lions, but Browns General Manager Phil Savage sprang at the chance to land Rogers when a trade that would have sent him to the Cincinnati Bengals fell apart over a $1 million roster bonus. Rogers promptly was signed to a six-year, $42 million contract with $20 million guaranteed.
With a season full of promise opening today at home against the Dallas Cowboys, the Browns hope Rogers will help turn around a defense that ranked 30th in the league last season, 27th against the run.
All seems well, but the Browns' management could still be holding its collective breath over Rogers. His ability to move has been amazing for a man of his size, but baggage remains. Eight days ago, there was what sounded like a hint of reservation in Savage's voice when he spoke about him.
''He's big, he's quick, he's athletic. He dominated the scene for the first week to 10 days of practices, and when he's gotten into the games, he has done the same thing,'' Savage said. ''He's been a real positive addition so far.
''So far, so good. On the field, in the classroom, as a leader with the young guys, he's done a nice job.''
But new Inside the NFL co-host Warren Sapp, a seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle, has his worries about Rogers. Sapp said he has talked to Rogers ''about losing weight and being yourself,'' the most recent conversation coming in Miami two weeks before training camp.
Sapp didn't like what he saw Aug. 18, when Rogers was on the sideline in the Meadowlands, sitting out a game against the New York Giants and sporting a mohawk.
Besides playing the same position, Sapp could relate to Rogers, because Sapp spent eight years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under Rod Marinelli, the Lions' coach the past two seasons.
''The biggest thing [Rogers] and Rod had problems with was Rod would [say], 'This is where I need you to be' and he wouldn't be there,'' Sapp said last month during NFL media day at CBS. ''Rod's whole thing is, 'This is a brotherhood of men. I ask you to do something, let's do it. This isn't a family. A family is walking down the street and the baby's lagging, everybody waits on the baby. Brotherhood of men, we go, we leave you standing.'
''That's why he got rid of him, I'm sure of it. He wouldn't conform to the system and close ranks and march. He'll be rah, rah, rah, woofing.''
Sapp said Rogers would help the Browns ''big time,'' but he also wonders whether their 3-4 defense will take advantage of Rogers' explosiveness the way Marinelli did running a 4-3 with the Lions. In Browns coach Romeo Crennel's scheme, nose tackle Rogers will occupy two blockers so teammates can make tackles.
''Once you leave a Rod Marinelli system — which is attack, get off the ball, take off, disrupt — when you get in a stance and you've got to go down the middle over a 6-7, 300-pound dude who is a beast of the O-line, the left tackle . . . They've got to let him get off the ball,'' Sapp said. ''That's his whole game, explosiveness. He can move. I know he can. If they're going to allow him to become a fat [slob], he's going to become like Ted [Washington]. He won't move.
''The 3-4 takes [away] all that aggressiveness, that get-off [and] you die. They don't allow you to use it unless they call a stunt.''
Playing Rogers occasionally at end would be no better, Sapp said.
''That's the worst. They did that to me in Oakland, and I wanted to die,'' Sapp said. ''Because you're playing the premier offensive lineman, the left tackle, and you're right down the middle. But Shaun's a bigger, stronger dude than me, so maybe he can do it.''
Sapp's playing weight was 300 pounds on his 6-2 frame.
CBS analyst Boomer Esiason said Marinelli's decision to give up on Rogers might be what Rogers needed.
''I guess he lost some weight,'' Esiason said. ''I guess when you ascend to being one of the better defensive tackles in football, and all of a sudden your original team doesn't want you anymore, it kind of wakes you up a little bit.
''I think [Browns running back] Jamal Lewis got woken up a little bit,'' Esiason said, referring to Lewis' coming to the Browns from the Baltimore Ravens. ''There's nothing wrong with taking someone else's reject, and hopefully they're young enough and hungry enough to want to become great again.''
Rogers' performance has been known to taper off at the end of the season. But last year, he had 66 tackles (his most since 2004) and a career-high seven sacks. His highlight was a 66-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Denver Broncos on Nov. 4.
Early in the Browns' camp, Rogers tipped a Brady Quinn pass, caught it and dashed around the end for about 10 yards, exciting his fellow defenders. Crennel saw more of that from Rogers on Aug. 23 at Detroit, when Rogers made five tackles (three solos) against his old team.
''He was moving around pretty good. He made some plays. He didn't intercept one and run it for a touchdown, so we still have to get that out of him,'' Crennel joked. ''He showed that he has the kind of ability we want and need to be able to control the running game on the inside. Now we have to get some pass rush from him and some interceptions.''
Rogers won't have to carry the load alone. The Browns also acquired defensive lineman Corey Williams from the Green Bay Packers for a second-round pick and signed him to a six-year, $38 million contract.
Savage hopes that what he called ''a fresh start, a new lease on life'' for Rogers will be without the controversy that plagued him with the Lions. Since they have gone 10-22 under Marinelli, Browns defensive end Robaire Smith believes that the reputation Rogers got there was undeserved.
''When you're the best player on the team, of course it's going to fall back on you,'' Smith said. ''He's a guy who makes things happen. Basically, he was the only one on that defense who was doing something. Who else are fingers going to get pointed at? The coaches or upstairs? All the blame had to go on him.''
When he arrived in Cleveland, Rogers was asked whether there were more Pro Bowl appearances in his future.
''That's a personal achievement that I feel like if I do my job, I can reach anywhere,'' Rogers said. ''But I'm looking to go higher than the Pro Bowl. I'm looking to try to win the big ring. I'm trying to have some hardware like the head coach here.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
Shaun Rogers was the only man standing when the Browns began their first regular-season practice Monday with a prayer.
His action, or lack of it, probably meant nothing. Presumably, it was not a sign of rebellion amid his team's sign of solidarity.
Perhaps it was merely a sign that it's not easy for a 6-foot-4, 350-pound defensive tackle to kneel at a moment's notice.
Since Rogers joined the Browns in a March 1 trade with the Detroit Lions for a third-round draft choice and cornerback Leigh Bodden, the seven-year veteran has been happy, his fellow linemen have said. A two-time Pro Bowl player, Rogers battled weight problems and had his dedication to football questioned with the Lions, but Browns General Manager Phil Savage sprang at the chance to land Rogers when a trade that would have sent him to the Cincinnati Bengals fell apart over a $1 million roster bonus. Rogers promptly was signed to a six-year, $42 million contract with $20 million guaranteed.
With a season full of promise opening today at home against the Dallas Cowboys, the Browns hope Rogers will help turn around a defense that ranked 30th in the league last season, 27th against the run.
All seems well, but the Browns' management could still be holding its collective breath over Rogers. His ability to move has been amazing for a man of his size, but baggage remains. Eight days ago, there was what sounded like a hint of reservation in Savage's voice when he spoke about him.
''He's big, he's quick, he's athletic. He dominated the scene for the first week to 10 days of practices, and when he's gotten into the games, he has done the same thing,'' Savage said. ''He's been a real positive addition so far.
''So far, so good. On the field, in the classroom, as a leader with the young guys, he's done a nice job.''
But new Inside the NFL co-host Warren Sapp, a seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle, has his worries about Rogers. Sapp said he has talked to Rogers ''about losing weight and being yourself,'' the most recent conversation coming in Miami two weeks before training camp.
Sapp didn't like what he saw Aug. 18, when Rogers was on the sideline in the Meadowlands, sitting out a game against the New York Giants and sporting a mohawk.
Besides playing the same position, Sapp could relate to Rogers, because Sapp spent eight years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under Rod Marinelli, the Lions' coach the past two seasons.
''The biggest thing [Rogers] and Rod had problems with was Rod would [say], 'This is where I need you to be' and he wouldn't be there,'' Sapp said last month during NFL media day at CBS. ''Rod's whole thing is, 'This is a brotherhood of men. I ask you to do something, let's do it. This isn't a family. A family is walking down the street and the baby's lagging, everybody waits on the baby. Brotherhood of men, we go, we leave you standing.'
''That's why he got rid of him, I'm sure of it. He wouldn't conform to the system and close ranks and march. He'll be rah, rah, rah, woofing.''
Sapp said Rogers would help the Browns ''big time,'' but he also wonders whether their 3-4 defense will take advantage of Rogers' explosiveness the way Marinelli did running a 4-3 with the Lions. In Browns coach Romeo Crennel's scheme, nose tackle Rogers will occupy two blockers so teammates can make tackles.
''Once you leave a Rod Marinelli system — which is attack, get off the ball, take off, disrupt — when you get in a stance and you've got to go down the middle over a 6-7, 300-pound dude who is a beast of the O-line, the left tackle . . . They've got to let him get off the ball,'' Sapp said. ''That's his whole game, explosiveness. He can move. I know he can. If they're going to allow him to become a fat [slob], he's going to become like Ted [Washington]. He won't move.
''The 3-4 takes [away] all that aggressiveness, that get-off [and] you die. They don't allow you to use it unless they call a stunt.''
Playing Rogers occasionally at end would be no better, Sapp said.
''That's the worst. They did that to me in Oakland, and I wanted to die,'' Sapp said. ''Because you're playing the premier offensive lineman, the left tackle, and you're right down the middle. But Shaun's a bigger, stronger dude than me, so maybe he can do it.''
Sapp's playing weight was 300 pounds on his 6-2 frame.
CBS analyst Boomer Esiason said Marinelli's decision to give up on Rogers might be what Rogers needed.
''I guess he lost some weight,'' Esiason said. ''I guess when you ascend to being one of the better defensive tackles in football, and all of a sudden your original team doesn't want you anymore, it kind of wakes you up a little bit.
''I think [Browns running back] Jamal Lewis got woken up a little bit,'' Esiason said, referring to Lewis' coming to the Browns from the Baltimore Ravens. ''There's nothing wrong with taking someone else's reject, and hopefully they're young enough and hungry enough to want to become great again.''
Rogers' performance has been known to taper off at the end of the season. But last year, he had 66 tackles (his most since 2004) and a career-high seven sacks. His highlight was a 66-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Denver Broncos on Nov. 4.
Early in the Browns' camp, Rogers tipped a Brady Quinn pass, caught it and dashed around the end for about 10 yards, exciting his fellow defenders. Crennel saw more of that from Rogers on Aug. 23 at Detroit, when Rogers made five tackles (three solos) against his old team.
''He was moving around pretty good. He made some plays. He didn't intercept one and run it for a touchdown, so we still have to get that out of him,'' Crennel joked. ''He showed that he has the kind of ability we want and need to be able to control the running game on the inside. Now we have to get some pass rush from him and some interceptions.''
Rogers won't have to carry the load alone. The Browns also acquired defensive lineman Corey Williams from the Green Bay Packers for a second-round pick and signed him to a six-year, $38 million contract.
Savage hopes that what he called ''a fresh start, a new lease on life'' for Rogers will be without the controversy that plagued him with the Lions. Since they have gone 10-22 under Marinelli, Browns defensive end Robaire Smith believes that the reputation Rogers got there was undeserved.
''When you're the best player on the team, of course it's going to fall back on you,'' Smith said. ''He's a guy who makes things happen. Basically, he was the only one on that defense who was doing something. Who else are fingers going to get pointed at? The coaches or upstairs? All the blame had to go on him.''
When he arrived in Cleveland, Rogers was asked whether there were more Pro Bowl appearances in his future.
''That's a personal achievement that I feel like if I do my job, I can reach anywhere,'' Rogers said. ''But I'm looking to go higher than the Pro Bowl. I'm looking to try to win the big ring. I'm trying to have some hardware like the head coach here.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
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