Last week, a video of Browns safety Juan Thornhill circulated online as the safety was called out for a less-than-stellar effort against the New Orleans Saints, allowing wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling to score without putting up much of a fight to stop him.
It was a lesson learned for the six-year veteran.
After his poor showing against the Saints, the Cleveland safety was determined to not let that happen again, and his effort on Thursday night helped the Browns end an extended run by quarterback Justin Fields.
Following the Pittsburgh contest, analyst Spencer German caught up with Thornhill to discuss what changed over the previous contest.
Thornhill offered up his explanation in a video German shared on X, a clip that revealed his poor showing against the Saints inspired him to perform better on Thursday against Pittsburgh.
“That play is not me; I’m just going to be completely honest,” Thornhill said, adding, “I got a little lazy, and I own up to it. But that’s just not me. That will never happen again. That’s why when (Fields) broke out today, I was determined I was going to catch him. I was going to run him down.”
#Browns S Juan Thornhill owned his effort in the Saints game on Sunday, and used it to produced arguably the best game of his tenure in Cleveland four days later. He was flying around last night. pic.twitter.com/dXOY7809DZ
— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) November 22, 2024
The play in question was a fourth-quarter run by Fields as the mobile quarterback went up the right side of the field for a 30-yard gain.
X user Joshua Tully shared the video of the play on X as Thornhill comes from the bottom of the screen and closes the gap with Fields, eventually knocking him out of bounds on his 30-yard gain.
Justin Fields comes in on a special package play and takes it for 30 yards!
What a play! pic.twitter.com/Seq6mDbtDV
— Joshua Tully (@ThaJungleKiDD) November 22, 2024
For the contest, Thornhill had seven tackles to finish second on the team in this statistical category.
NEXT: Video Shows How Browns Celebrated After Steelers' Failed Hail Mary
