Observations of the minicamp Browns 2019, Day 2

Beckham said it best Wednesday.

"We talk a lot about this offense but this defense is something special," he said. "This team is really coming together."

Many believe in the Browns' locker room that the best-kept secret of the team is actually the guys wearing the brown minicamp jersey. And with all the attention given to the guys who throw, run with and catch the ball, maybe that's right. Based on Wednesday's performance, this seemed to be the case.

The potential of the defense starts at the front when one simply looks at the defensive line. Myles Garrett, Sheldron Richardson, Larry Ogunjobi and Olivier Vernon occupy the four starting positions. Three already have a Pro Bowl to their credit, and Garrett said last month that he expected Ogunjobi to become the fourth. It's threatening on paper and just as imposing on the ground, even without tampons.

The experience of veteran linebackers, Christian Kirksey and Joe Schobert, will be paired with additions from Sione Takitaki (who had an apparent illness, only to return a few games later on Wednesday), Mack Wilson and Adarius Taylor, as well as the return of Genard Avery and others. It will be a group reinforced by its numbers.

But the strongest part could be in high school, which was giving Brown all the trouble, starting with Denzel Ward.

Ward's strengths coming out of college were his fat hips and his ability to stay in a receiver's pocket. This last part was a major element when he was invited in early 2018 to describe his strengths. He had both hands in Beckham's pockets Wednesday, following him closely along a complex road to the sideline before bridging the remaining gap and preventing a pass. These words do not quite do justice.

Baker Mayfield had fallen back, approached and dragged to his right before emerging from a pocket that collapsed and running sideways, eyes downcast. It was fluid, smooth and seemed to be the beginning of a nice finish for Beckham, who was painting his own masterpiece with his feet near the numbers on the right side of the field.

Then Ward sliced ​​the canvas and ruined everything.

"Personally, I think it's going to be a top-corner," Beckham said of Ward after Wednesday's training. "After what I've seen, we're going to take care of it every day and we'll get better, and that's what we're talking about when we're talking." I tell him, "You have questions, no matter what, you just ask me, I'm going to do the same thing. I will walk up to you and be like what you saw on this road? What made you do that? Quote, iron sharpens iron or whatever you want to call, all I know is the competition. There is no resentment, we get caught. He may be caught by a room, I could push on the next room. It's about competition. That's what will happen. "

Although Ward was in his rookie season, he looks so much better in the second year. The best opposition of the game is to notice after three practices together.