The Cleveland Browns may be without starting offensive tackles Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills for Thursday night’s game against the Denver Broncos. Von Miller certainly took notice.
Denver is riding a three-game losing streak after a 3-0 start, while Miller has only half a sack and two quarterback hits during that stretch. Miller is hungry to get his sack count back up, no matter who he faces on Cleveland’s offensive line this week.
“I’m going to have a great game. I’m going to go out there, and going to have to play well and get a couple sacks,” Miller said, via Aric DiLalla of the Broncos website. “And if I do that then we will win…If I can play well and I can get sacks and I can find a way to disrupt the game, we’ll win. The pressure is on me to play well.
“I don’t know who the tackle is that I’m going against, but I’mma kill him. I’mma kill him. And the other guy too, on the other side. I’m going to play extremely well and make plays for my team. I’m going to set us up and win this game for sure.”
Miller also mentioned how productive he was in the first three games that helped the Broncos to victory — and he’s right. Miller had four sacks, six quarterback hits and six tackles for loss in that stretch, also having 15 pressures. On the season, Miller has 25 pressures and 4.5 sacks with eight quarterback hits.
As for the Browns tackles, head coach Kevin Stefanski won’t rule on Conklin and Wills yet. Cleveland’s backup tackles are James Hudson and Alex Taylor, as both would be projected to start if the starters can’t go. Hudson has allowed six pressures in 65 pass blocking snaps this season while Taylor has yet to record a snap in the NFL.
There’s a lot of respect for Miller in the Browns’ organization. They know he’s still a force on the edge.
“A lot goes into planning for him. He is a special, special player,” Stefanski said. “Extremely disruptive. He gets a lot of attention from opposing offenses. Incredible bend. Just the physical skill set and traits, I do not see any difference from five, six or seven years ago with him. It is really, really impressive.”
Miller won’t put the pressure on the Broncos to win. He’ll deflect that onto himself, knowing a victory will come if he’s the difference maker he knows he can be.
“I’ve performed well in all types of games, and I got to perform well in this game,” Miller said. “I will play well in this game. I’m going to go off. It’s going to be a good game for me. I’m not going to guarantee a win for my teammates, but I’ll guarantee you I have — I don’t want to put the pressure on the guys this time. I’ll put the pressure on me.”
