Carson Schwesinger Says Browns’ Defense Needs To Fix One Thing

The Cleveland Browns are preparing to unveil a revamped defense in Week 1 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. With Myles Garrett heading to Australia with the Los Angeles Rams, and Jim Schwartz spending time away from the game, the Browns are hard at work trying to remain one of the NFL’s elite units.

Fortunately, the Browns still have Carson Schwesinger. The linebacker missed significant time during training camp, but the 2025 Defensive Rookie of the Year deemed himself ready to roll for the regular season.

Schwesinger recently revealed the mindset driving the Browns’ defense in 2026, and that is to force more turnovers after a recent drop-off.

“That’s what happens when you preach that type of mindset. It gets drilled in and when guys are out there it doesn’t matter, maybe you miss your assignment (and) all this, but at the end of the day, at the end of the play, all you got to be thinking about is the ball,” Schwesinger said. “You got to be thinking about the ball and going and getting the ball. And that stems from that mindset is (about) all those turnovers.”

The Browns looked to be on track to accomplish that goal during training camp, as they notched an impressive number of interceptions. Of course, the flip side of that meant it was bad for the Browns’ offense, especially as it was conducting a quarterback competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders.

Under new coordinator Mike Rutenberg’s system, Cleveland forced three turnovers in its three preseason games. Undrafted free agent cornerback Michael Coats Jr. made an interception in the opener against the Chicago Bears, which, combined with a very strong training camp, earned him a spot on the 53-man roster on cutdown before eventually landing on the practice squad.

After failing to get a turnover in the second game against the Buffalo Bills, backup linebackers Justin Jefferson and Easton Mascarenas-Arnold each had an interception in the finale against the New England Patriots. Cleveland had 11 interceptions last season, which was tied for 16th in the NFL.

In 2023, Schwartz’s first season as defensive coordinator, the Browns tied for the fifth most takeaways in the NFL, and they made the playoffs. In 2024 and 2025, they tied for 30th and 22nd in takeaways, respectively, and combined for eight wins over those two seasons.

So, the importance of creating turnovers is clear, and if the Browns’ defense can limit scoring opportunities and create good field position, it should help the offense considerably as that side of the ball looks to improve.