Browns coach Hue Jackson previously hinted about the use of a siren at training camp. On Sunday, the siren will make its first appearance.
“Oh boy,” Jackson said Saturday about the looming use of the siren on Sunday.
He made it clear that the siren will entail a period that includes tackling to the ground, with only one limitation.
"[W]e won’t hit the quarterback,” Jackson told reporters. “No, we don’t do that. We won’t hit the quarterback. No, not that. So that’s a good question. We won’t take the quarterback down. We won’t touch the quarterback, but everybody else can go on the ground. That’s OK. I even went on the ground today. That ground is hard in there. I said it a while back and I think our players understand. We’ve talked about it. In order to become a really good football team, we have to play football. Football is blocking and tackling, and the only way you get better at those things is doing them. We’ll do them in a situation to where they don’t know -- I’m being very honest -- but at the same time, I think they understand that we’re also trying to take care of each other. They know that they need to improve their skill that way and we need to become a hardened football team so we’ll set on that march tomorrow.”
Jackson explained that the siren sessions also won’t include the use of Oklahoma drills, a tactic that the other team headquartered in Ohio has used -- the team Jackson previously worked for.
“I think there are a lot of other ways to do things that way along the football lines of tackling and hitting,” Jackson said. “We won’t use that tomorrow, but we’ll definitely bump into each other.”
Ultimately, it’s football. Despite the various limitations on contact during training camp, coaches need to get their players ready to play football. On Sunday, that process will begin for a Browns team that hopes to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2002 under a head coach who may be able to take the Browns as deep into the NFL playoffs as they’ve ever been, if not deeper.
If/when that happens, Cleveland will be celebrating something far bigger than a basketball championship. Finally, the Browns could be contending to get to the Super Bowl, and to win it.
