CLEVELAND -- Veteran linebacker Mychal Kendricks believes he has plenty to offer teams, more than what he was able to show during his time with the Philadelphia Eagles, and is intent on proving so after signing a one-year deal with the Cleveland Browns late in the offseason program.
Signing a veteran player with a chip on his shoulder is music to the ears of the Browns’ coaching staff, specifically defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who sees Kendricks as a tone-setter for the entire defense.
“I think that he fits in perfectly here,” Williams said after the conclusion of the offseason program. “One of the things that we do here -- this staff will be better about this than they were last year because I kind of caught a couple of them off-guard -- is every player has to play more than one positon. That is how we have the flexibility of the ‘next man up’ during the season and how you play the next best athlete, not the next best on the depth chart. It is the next best athlete.
“Kendricks fits into that role. He is a multiple-position player. He is able to play inside and outside. He is able to play on the line of scrimmage, off of the line of scrimmage, and he will fit in with the packaging that we do.”
In 85 games over his six seasons with the Eagles, the 6-foot, 240-pound Kendricks registered 459 total tackles, including 343 solo stops and 116 assists, to go along with 14 quarterback sacks, 26 passes defended and three interceptions.
“I think you have seen several of the packaging things that we do or that we play,” Williams said. “Sometimes, linebackers look like D-ends in their positioning, but they are not. Sometimes, we play D-ends in linebacker positions when they are not.
“He fits in well. He is a very competitive, passionate, hard-nosed player. It is kind of the circle of life. I wanted to draft him when he was coming out, but we did not get him picked soon enough at the other place that I was at. This is going to be fun to have a chance to coach him this time around.”
In order for Kendricks to reach his goal of playing in the Pro Bowl, he will have to take snaps away from the likes of Christian Kirksey and Joe Schobert, the latter of whom earned a trip to the NFL’s annual all-star game last season.
Both Kirksey and Schobert finished top-five in the NFL in tackles last season.
“Very excited,” linebackers coach Blake Williams said. “Followed his career, watched his career. Very excited about that. I think that our linebackers, especially our veteran linebackers in the room, are excited about what he could potentially bring to not just the room but the defense.
“Culturally, kind of like Jamie (Collins Sr.) a couple of years ago, a guy who had just gotten off of a Super Bowl Championship, has won in this league, has played in multiple other systems under multiple different people and has had success in this league, being able to bring how to do that to a relatively young roster that has not maybe done that at this level.”