Ward,Berry developing at saftey

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An interesting article about TJ Ward and Eric Berry, a guy alot of us were lobbying for us drafting. Via Browns.com
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By Matt Florjancic, ClevelandBrowns.com Staff Writer
Posted 8 minutes ago
Browns rookie safety T.J. Ward and first-year Chiefs defensive back Eric Berry are developing their skills and showing the coaches what they can do on the field.

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Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry was a highly-sought-after talent during April’s NFL Draft, as evidenced with the facts that he was taken with the No. 5 pick and the Browns were one of the teams showing interest in the former University of Tennessee standout.
In their pre-Draft meetings with Berry, the Browns were impressed with what they saw and were not surprised that he was a starter in the Chiefs’ secondary from Day One. Berry was second on the team with six tackles in the team’s 21-14 win over the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football.
“I really liked him personally,” Coach Eric Mangini said. “He was all football. He had a very mature, professional approach to pro football and the things that were important to him weren’t the contract, where he was drafted or any of the other things that can sometimes creep into high draft picks.
“It was, ‘Where am I going to be?’ ‘How can I start?’ ‘How can I contribute to that team?’” he added. “It wasn’t ‘Made-for-interview’ conversation. That’s who he was and I think because he has those characteristics with his natural ability, he’s going to keep getting better as a player.”
Much like the Chiefs, the Browns had a rookie starter at safety in T.J. Ward.
Ward, a second-round pick from the University of Oregon, led the Browns with ten total tackles, including seven solo stops in the team’s 17-14 road loss to Tampa Bay. Late in last Sunday’s game, the Buccaneers were driving inside the Browns’ five-yard line. Running back Earnest Graham took the handoff on third-and-one from the two-yard line and Ward stripped him of the football.
Linebacker Eric Barton recovered the fumble at the Browns’ three-yard line with 2:16 remaining in the game.
“The thing that I really like about T.J. Ward is even if he’s unsure of where he’s going, he’s going there fast and when he gets there, someone’s going to get hit,” said Mangini. “Sometimes, you’re going to be wrong, but if you’re wrong and you’re doing it as quickly as you can and someone gets hit at the end of the play, those types of mistakes sometimes actually have a way of working out.
“When you’re unsure and you sort of get stuck in mud, that you have bigger issues,” he added. “He’s confident. He backs that up with the way that he works. He’s bright and he likes to hit people, which I appreciate.”
Ward and defensive back Joe Haden became the first rookie tandem to start a Browns season opener dating back to the 1970 season. Ward also became the first rookie to start at safety in a season opener since Brian Washington accomplished the feat in 1988.
Though there were some growing pains in the opener against Tampa Bay for Ward and Haden, as well as when Berry matched up against Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, the Browns are expecting big things from all three defensive backs.
“There’s going to be bumps and you try to limit them as much as you can,” Mangini said. “You try to do as much during the week to prepare them for those different situations. There are habits that they’ve developed over time. You have to train them to get out of it.
“It’s an understanding that every single guy that lines up across from you can do things,” he added.
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS
The Chiefs scored 21 points, but struggled mightily on third down, converting just 1-of-11 chances. They got five rushing first downs and four passing first downs during the win over the Chargers.
“Charlie (Weis) is creative and I think they do a good job of identifying what the defense is in,” Mangini said. “Matt (Cassel), he’s a really smart guy, so they’ll present some challenges. In addition to that, they have quite a variety of guys that can make plays in those situations.”
CONTROLLING EMOTIONS
On July 25, 2007, the Chiefs undertook a $375 million dollar renovation of Arrowhead Stadium. In all, 10,850,299 linear feet of steel rebar and 115,096,950 wet pounds of concrete were involved in the process.
Though it took 1,147 days and 1,978,000 man hours of labor to complete, Arrowhead Stadium was ready for the team’s Monday Night Football game with the Chargers. The Chiefs did not disappoint their fans, as they earned an emotional victory in a rainstorm.
“Their hangover is better than ours,” Mangini said with a grin. “Whether you play on Monday, any of those situational-type games, or play on Thursday, you play it a lot of different ways. Usually, there’s one day where you go through and clean up what happened that game. You’re conditioned to say, ‘That’s what happened, this is what we’ve learned and this is what we need to apply.’ Then, you move to the next team.
“For most guys, they’ve done it so long that it doesn’t tend to linger,” he added.
HOME OPENER
More than eight months have passed since the Browns last played a regular season game in front of their home crowd. In addition to it being the home opener, the Browns will hold their Ring of Honor dedication ceremony at halftime.
“I’m a big fan of playing at home, just the crowd, the energy and all the things that come with it are a real plus. When you’re on the road, it’s you, your group and the 200 people, friends and family, that came out to see you play. When you’re home, you’ve got the fans, the city, all of those things helping to feed the energy of the moment.
“This is a special weekend, too, with the Ring of Honor,” he continued. “I think it’s great; I think it’s exciting.”
Though the Browns are at home Sunday, should they have been on the road, the goal at the end of the day does not change.
“We want to win them all,” Mangini said. “We wanted to win last week; we want to win this one. These are guys that work; these are guys that care deeply about what they’re doing and now, it’s a function of going out and getting the wins to reinforce that.”