BEREA, Ohio -- Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams attributes Denzel Ward's back spasms from the Eagles game to the 'stupid' way he's tackling and hopes that the injury is a wake-up call.
"I was glad to hear (it wasn't serious) and maybe he'll finally listen to me and stop doing those stupid things the way he's trying to tackle and tackle the way I tell him to tackle and he won't get hurt,'' Williams snapped in his podium press conference Sunday.
What has he been telling Ward to do?
"You can ask that to Denzel,'' he said.
In this case, he was referring to the 190-pound Ward trying to wrap up 250-pound Eagles tight end Zach Ertz and take him to the ground after a 7-yard catch in the first quarter of the 5-0 Browns victory.
In the process, Ward got twisted like a pretzel and crumpled to the ground face down with his arm clutching his back. After a few minutes, he walked gingerly to the sidelines and then to the locker room, where he was done for the night.
An MRI the next day revealed no structural damage, just painful spasms. But Ward was back on the practice field for the next session two days later.
"I think this was a good enough shock that maybe he thinks that I might know what I'm talking about,'' said Williams.
Williams said the 5-11 Ward should've cut the 6-5 mountain of a tight end on the short pass to the right, on which Ward stopped him short of a first down.
"It depends on the size of the person, and also I'm not worried as much about the wrap-up part of it,'' said Williams. "It's about getting the guy to the ground. A lot of times what you do is you cut the guy. He should have cut the guy at that time right there instead of a 290-pound man running over his face."
The Browns can ill-afford to lose the No. 4 overall pick, so they're not messing around. Ward missed time with a hip flexor in rookie minicamp and an ankle in training camp before the spasms that Hue Jackson said "flares up from time to time.''
Were those two injuries related to poor-tackling technique?
"I'm not a doctor. I'm not a trainer,'' said Williams. "He needs to make sure he's doing all the things he needs to do to stay on the field. Otherwise, hey, he's not a football player."
Is it just bad habits by the former Buckeye?
"No, it's just all young rookies,'' said Williams. "Rookies have to understand this is not a scholarship league. You have to stay healthy and be on the field. If you're not on the field, then you're not helping us, and that's what you have to do. You have to be on the field and play."
Williams said Ward must do everything possible to stay healthy, including taking care of his body and proper technique on the field. The Browns have admired Ward's toughness and willingness to tackle. But more than anything, they need him healthy, especially with Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown and New Orleans' Michael Thomas, his fellow former Buckeye, up first and second.
"He's fighting through it,'' said Williams. "It's the next step. At this level, you have to stay healthy every day. As a pro, you have to understand there are so many things you have to do in a 24-hour day that it's your job to stay healthy.
"And I tell them all the time, there's two words that begin with the letter A they have to own to be a professional football player. One's accountable. The next one's available. When you're not available, you're working on your training room internships."
Williams calling Ward out for his tackling comes on the heels of coach Jackson noting that Ward's nagging injuries have been a concern.
"The thing with him will be durability,'' Jackson said Friday. "He's going to have to be out there on the field competing and playing, because when he's out there, it makes us a better football team."
Jackson added, "I feel very good about him. Obviously, he has the physical skillset that we want and he's tough. He'll tackle. He'll do all of those things. What he's got to do is be able to make it thought 16 games. Hopefully, we can earn another game and other games after that.''
Williams is also excited about his shutdown corner, as long as he does what he's told.
"He's come a long ways,'' he said. "He's done a very good job with what we've asked him to do and it's been a big learning curve for him on understanding some of the zone awareness-type things that he has to have because he hasn't had an opportunity to do very many things like that but locking down and playing man-to-man, that's why he's here.
"He can do those things. He just needs to stay healthy. He needs to tackle the way I tell him to tackle.''
Williams noted that Ward will be fine once he takes the coaching points here.
"The big thing is you've got to get him down whether it's a cut tackle, whether it's a wrap tackle, we talk about a gator tackle where we wrap and twist and get them twisted off their feet,'' he said. "We're a really good tackling football team here and I think we were in the top two or three in the league last year overall at not only that position but all positions.
"Sometimes, again, at the corner spot, it depends on what college you're at, you don't get much reps at that until you get up here at this level, and sometimes when you get trucked by a big man, you learn to get lower and do something different."
On a brighter note, Ward has done an exceptional job of playing the ball instead of the man, something the Browns wanted him to do considering he had only two interceptions at Ohio State. In camp, he's had multiple interceptions.
"He came here and has already shown some people,'' Williams said. "(Ohio State defensive coordinator) Greg Schiano did a great job in teaching some of those things there. And he's been an example from day one on how to play the ball in the air in the man to man, and it's kind of bled through the group.
"Denzel set that example pretty well back in the spring, and he still does a very good job of playing the ball. He has a very natural way of doing that."
He's also learned to backpedal well, something else he didn't do much of at OSU.
"Very good. Yeah, he's fine,'' said Williams. "All those things are good."
Now, if he can just get the tackling down.