After giving up 33 sacks in the first eight games of the 2018 NFL season, the Cleveland Browns have given up two in the past three games and turned in their first back-to-back sackless games since 2007.
What’s changed in the Browns’ offensive line? Left tackle, where Greg Robinson, who had played two snaps in 2018, has taken every snap the past three games. Cleveland’s other four starters on the offensive line have played every offensive snap this season.
A former No. 2 draft pick from Auburn, Robinson considers Cleveland his “third chance” in the pros and realizes it could be his last, too.
“Ever since I came in the league, I was just waiting on my moment to really sit back and say, ‘Oh, I got this,’” Robinson said. “I feel like this is that moment, and I don’t want to let go. Just continue to grind and take advantage of the opportunity.”
Another change for Cleveland’s offense has been the coordinator. Running-backs coach Freddie Kitchens became offensive coordinator when the Browns fired head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley after a 33-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 28. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams took the interim head coach title.
The new regime didn’t come in with the intention of installing Robinson at left tackle. Desmond Harrison, an undrafted rookie, had manned the position all season. But when he was sick before the Nov. 4 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Williams and Kitchens put Robinson in and have stuck with him.
“Greg’s performed very well,” Kitchens said Wednesday. “He’s stayed hooked up as far as his knowledge and stuff and learning and continuing to work. We feel comfortable with Greg right now at left tackle. He’s playing at a pretty high level. He probably had his best game to date (on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals). He certainly is going to need it this week.”
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On Sunday, the Browns square off against the Houston Texans, who have one of the toughest set of pass-rushers in the NFL, led by J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney, the only player picked in front of Robinson in the 2014 NFL Draft.
“It’s make or break,” Robinson said. “They’re good players. It’s going to be a good challenge. I’m up for it.”
Some of Robinson’s previous coaches didn’t think he was.
Robinson started 42 of 46 games in three seasons with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. But they signed Andrew Whitworth away from the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency before the 2017 season to replace Robinson, and he was traded to the Detroit Lions for a sixth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Taylor Decker, Detroit’s left offensive tackle, had had surgery to repair a torn labrum 10 days before the Lions made the trade. Robinson beat out former Alabama standout Cyrus Kouandjio and Storm Norton to start at left tackle for Detroit last season. But six games into the campaign, he suffered an ankle injury that sent him to injured reserve for the rest of the year.
“Things didn’t go the way I planned the last two places I was at,” Robinson said.
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A free agent this year, Robinson remained unsigned until June 19, after Cleveland had finished its offseason program. The Browns needed to replace 10-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas, who had retired.
Another former Auburn standout, Shon Coleman, got the first shot at the job after playing right tackle for Cleveland in 2017. Robinson missed practice time with a concussion early in the preseason, and the Browns eventually decided on Harrison for the job, trading Coleman to the San Francisco 49ers.
“I didn’t really like sitting on the bench,” Robinson said, “but that’s the situation I was dealing with. … I’ve always had confidence in my ability. I feel like at times I was given the short end of the (stick), but all I can do is show up each day, continue to get better and work my butt off.”
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Williams said he thought Robinson had seen the light.
“His focus has been good here, and sometimes — and it’s always this way, I believe this with all of my heart — sometimes there’s a light that clicks on in the head and it becomes more important to them than to all of us in the room,” Williams said. “You have a better chance that way, and it has to be important to you because there are good players here competing every day you have to compete against.
“He’s done well. He’s handled the whole situation here well.”
The Browns and Texans kick off a noon CST Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston.
At 8-3, the Texans are the first team in NFL history to lose its first three games in a season, then run off an eight-game winning streak.
Cleveland has won its past two games to improve to 4-6-1, giving a team that won one game over the previous two seasons a tingling of playoff hope coming into December.
Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Greg Robinson is introduced before an NFL game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 4, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane) Ron Schwane
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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