BEREA, Ohio — On any given day at Cross Country Mortgage Campus, three words can be heard echoing across the practice fields.
"POWER!"
"EXPLOSION!"
"CONTROL!"
These three words are both crucial to the conditioning and fundamentals of the Browns' running backs room—and often the bane of the players in the room.
The words are shouted out by running backs coach Duce Staley as he's putting his room through a resistance band drill. The drill itself is simple: the running backs pair up and split roles. One player serves as the base for the drill, wearing the resistance band around their waist while they kneel on the ground. That band is attached to a ball that is carried by the other back, who is standing and working in the drill.
With the ball in hand, the standing running back is then given commands from Staley to start. With each word of the drill, the running back lunges forward one step and holds until the next command.
"POWER!"
A lunge forward and hold.
"EXPLOSION!"
A lunge forward and hold.
"CONTROL!"
A lunge forward and hold, then a slow and steady back step to the start of the drill.
The drill is one that Staley uses to both build upon conditioning and to hone the fundamental skill sets of his ball-carriers. It's one of his favorite drills to put his players through—and one he knows they don't exactly enjoy because while it may look simple, it's strenuous every time.
“They hate it. I love it, of course, because one of the things with the resistant bands you’re getting is ball security, because the band is pulling the ball. What people don’t know, those balls are like 20 pounds. So, they got the band in the ball. So that’s why, when you see them done, they start crying a little bit because their arms are hurting," Staley said, laughing.
Staley is correct in his assessment of his players' feelings on the drill. Jerome Ford will be the first to make it known how little the drill is enjoyed.
"Between me and Duce, I feel like we need to retire the drill. It's a little heavy on the legs," Ford said, in fun.
The drill might be tough on the players, and they may dread it every single day, but they understand why Staley has them go through it.
"He's big on just, he does nothing extra. He says what we do is what we do, and it's not going to change. So it's a repetition thing. I just think the combination of everything, just back-to-back in [individuals] every single day, is what gets you. Go from the band, to the sandbags, and everything we do is weighted to put power in that, have an explosion and stuff. What he does, he does what he knows works," said rookie running back Dylan Sampson.
While Ford was the first to admit how grueling the drill is, he also appreciates what it's getting out of them.
"In all honesty, it's a great drill. It helps us get ready for collisions. It helps us get ready to use weapons when we're out in traffic, helps us with ball security. And it's a little bit of conditioning, too. And I think it's a great drill. It is tiring. It can be hell sometimes, but I think it's one of those things that's gonna get us better in the long run," Ford said.
And those three words that drive the drill—power, explosion and control— have planted their roots in the players, and the messaging of the drill follows them through practice and beyond.
"Sometimes I hear it in my dreams," Ford said, smiling.
