BEREA — People love to look in the sky on Fourth of July and admire the show.
Receiver Amari Cooper wants fans to have the same sense of amazement when watching the Browns offense this year.
“Hopefully it’s going to be fireworks,” the four-time Pro Bowler said Thursday. “We definitely have the talent on this side of the ball to be everything that we want to be. I would just say wait and see. Why not? It’s right around the corner.”
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The Browns open the season Sunday on the road against quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers. The most important question involving the Browns is whether they can pass the ball well enough with quarterback Jacoby Brissett replacing Deshaun Watson, who’s suspended for the first 11 games, and a receiving corps unproven outside of Cooper.
“Obviously Deshaun’s a phenomenal talent, a great quarterback,” Cooper said. “But we believe in the guys who are going to be playing on Sunday. Listen, we know what we have and we’re just ready. We’re preparing, we’re ready to go out there and win a football game.”
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Coordinator Alex Van Pelt shares Cooper’s confidence and excitement in the offense.
“I feel good about it,” he said. “I did look at Amari’s comments, I feel the same. We’re a good group on offense. I really like our men, they work hard, a bunch of smart guys, talented guys.
“It’s hard to come out and predict where we’ll be, but we feel pretty good about who we have in the room and where we’re heading.”
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Van Pelt said he hopes people are underestimating Brissett’s ability to throw deep — he’s averaged 6.4 yards an attempt in his six-year career — and the plan is to take shots downfield off play-action. But with Watson out, it’s reasonable to doubt the explosive capabilities of the passing game.
The Browns may rely less on their version of rockets, Roman candles, fountains and Catherine wheels that fill up the sky, instead generating oohs and aahs on the ground.
“We obviously established that we’re a team that can run the football. We know that’s something we can hang our hat on, it all starts with the run game,” Van Pelt said. “That’s fireworks to me, man, 20-yard plus runs, I think we led the league in that, those are pretty cool fireworks.
“They might be sparklers, but they’re still fireworks. We’ll take it.”
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The Browns had 18 rushes of 20 yards last year, finishing one behind the league-leading Colts. They did that with Nick Chubb missing three games and Kareem Hunt missing nine.
They’re healthy and expected to carry a large load as the offense searches for its footing with changes at quarterback, receiver and tight end.
“I am excited to see them play,” Brissett said of Chubb and Hunt. “I have been on the opposing side of it. It is a good feeling when they are back there. I am excited to watch them play.”
The backfield depth doesn’t stop there. D’Ernest Johnson averaged 5.3 yards a carry as a fill-in last year, and rookie fifth-round pick Jerome Ford impressed in the preseason. Van Pelt said it’s the best set of running backs he’s been around.
“It’s a great group. The closest would have been in Buffalo, I had Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson, but behind that there wasn’t two more runners that can produce for you, as well,” he said.
Cooper was the most significant offensive offseason addition not named Watson. He was acquired in March in a trade with the Cowboys, has five 1,000-yard seasons in seven years in the NFL and is arguably the league’s best route runner.
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He’s the only wideout with more than two years in the league and is followed on the depth chart by Donovan Peoples-Jones, David Bell, Anthony Schwartz, Demetric Felton and Michael Woods II.
Cooper has a vision for how the season will go but knows those expectations aren’t always met.
“It all depends on how hard you’re practicing and what you can bring to the game on Sunday,” he said.
His expectations include defenses shifting their coverages to focus on stopping him.
“I feel like that’s earned. You got out there and you put your skills on display and teams will start to feel like that they’re not comfortable with one guy just covering you,” he said. “So definitely looking forward to earning that respect, and it’s earned yearly.
“Yeah, I expect it, because I expect to do some great things.”
#Browns WR Amari Cooper expects to draw lot of attention from defenses. pic.twitter.com/1WuYb1IJU6
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) September 8, 2022
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Does Cooper set statistical goals before each season?
Does he care to share them?
“Of course not,” he said.
He thinks all the discussion of the perceived weaknesses at wideout is myopic. Tight ends David Njoku and Harrison Bryant and Hunt must be included when considering the passing game.
“Everybody who knows football understands that tight ends are a huge part of the passing game, sometimes even more effective than the wide receivers can be,” Cooper said. “(Hunt’s) been real effective in the pass game. The passing game includes all pass catchers, so try to get everybody involved obviously.”
Brissett will be the guy distributing the ball and has developed chemistry with the starters after taking over the bulk of the first-team reps from Watson on Aug. 14. He’s started 37 games, winning 14, and the experience gives Van Pelt peace of mind.
“I know he has been through this before,” Van Pelt said. “He has started plenty of games in the NFL where I think he will comfortable going in and we will feel comfortable with him, as well.”
“We have all the faith in the world that he can go out there and help us win games,” left guard Joel Bitonio said.
And light the fuse to the fireworks.
“I know we have a lot of weapons that we can distribute the ball to and I’m excited to see how it works out, how we distribute it,” Bitonio said.
Browns writer for The Chronicle-Telegram and The Medina Gazette. Proud graduate of Northwestern University. Husband and stepdad. Avid golfer who needs to hit the range to get down to a single-digit handicap. Right about Johnny Manziel, wrong about Brandon Weeden. Contact Scott at 440-329-7253, or email and follow him on and Twitter.
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