During the off season, the Cleveland Browns obtained Juan Thornhill as a free agent. This is certainly an exciting acquisition for the Browns since Thornhill has won two Super Bowls as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Thornhill began his career with the Kansas City Chiefs when he was drafted in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
The former University of Virginia Cavaliers standout was with the Chiefs for four years playing in 65 regular season NFL games.
In four seasons for the Chiefs, Thornhill averaged a little more than 56 tackles per season. In addition, throughout his career he has eight interceptions and also has returned an interception for a pick six.
In this year’s 2023 Super Bowl, Thornhill had five tackles in the 38-35 Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on February 12.
Thornhill Discusses Importance of Red Zone Defense
During the Browns training camp over the past few days there has been a focus on red zone drills.
After Friday’s practice, Thornhill was asked his thoughts about the importance of stopping opponents from scoring when they get into the red zone.
Thornhill emphasized that this was very important for the defense and that focusing on stopping the offense in this part of the field was crucial.
“We always take pride in that,” said Thornhill. “One thing you do is eliminate points when they get down in the red zone. If you can get a third down stop and make them kick a field goal, you just save four points. You have to take pride in that and try to win each and every down.”
In addition to emphasizing how important red zone drills are during pre-season training, Thornhill discussed how the Browns defense evaluates their success in the red zone during practice.
“We all take pride in it. We even have it up on our board,” said Thornhill. “We have a certain percentage that we’re trying to win each and every day. We don’t want to give up a red zone touchdown because it’s on you, know what I’m saying? Everyone’s going to see it, and that allows the offense to get points. What we’re going to do is just try to keep you out of the end zone.”
Thornhill was asked about the goal the defense is trying to achieve in stopping the offense when they have the ball in the red zone.
Thornhill said that trying to stop a team from scoring when in the red zone 50 percent or less of the time was important to try to achieve.
“We want to stay at least a little less than 50%. 48%? 49%? We’re happy with it.”
So Browns fans something to watch throughout the season will be how the Browns perform in the red zone.
If the Browns offense can score more than 67 or 68 percent of the time in the red zone and the Browns defense can hold opponents to three points or less when they are in the red zone 50 percent or less of the time, we might just have an exciting 2023 season of Browns football here in Northeast Ohio.
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