BEREA, Ohio — Dawand Jones is treating this like any other week.
But for the Browns’ new starting left tackle, it may be easier said than done given the tough test he’ll face in the season opener on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals and reigning NFL sack leader Trey Hendrickson.
“Just the same as any week,” Jones said on Thursday. “I got the best pass rushers. So I’m going to treat it like any other week.”
Indeed, after moving from the right tackle to the left tackle spot, Jones is bound to draw some of the toughest matchups against the league’s best. Hendrickson is only the start.
In order to get ready, Jones has spent most of training camp practices going up against Myles Garrett, the 2023 NFL defensive player of the year.
Garrett, of course, is also one of the league’s best and ended 2024 with 14 sacks. At times, it was a frustrating exercise for Jones amid the position switch, but as the season inches closer he’s thankful for those practice matchups.
“Really grateful I have Myles,” Jones said. “Like you said, just battle through it all. He just gets me better.”
For the Bengals, Hendrickson returns following a resolved contract dispute in late August.
In 2024, he ended the year with 17.5 sacks, tying his career-high from the year prior. Hendrickson’s 35 sacks over the last two seasons are 4.5 more than any other player.
“It’s his motor,” Jones said when asked what makes Hendrickson an elite player. “That’s the main thing that keeps him going is his motor. Obviously he has moves and stuff like that, but he’s relentless. He never stops, and so I need to match his motor, the whole game.”
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski agreed about Hendrickson’ motor.
“He never stops,” he said Wednesday. “And he’s powerful, he’s got speed, he can bend, he can play the run. So, he’s really a do it all player. It’s never going to be about one person blocking one person. This game does come down to matchups quite a bit, but it’s really incumbent on everybody to be about their business when you’re going up against a rusher like that.”
Hendrickson had five multi-sack games in 2024, and is also the only NFL player to record at least 15 sacks in each of the last two seasons.
Against the Browns in seven career games, Hendrickson has six career sacks and 23 quarterback hits.
“It’s a huge challenge,” said Joel Bitonio, who will man the left side of the line along with Jones. “I think we have to know where our help is. I think you’re going to try and get chips, you’re going to try and slide his way, you’re going to try and make plays for him.
“But it’s really focusing on our fundamentals. And knowing his premier moves, he’s going to power, he’s going to work inside, he’s going to work as edge, but he plays so hard, you have to match his energy as well. That’s kind of where it starts.”
This won’t be Jones’ first start at left tackle — he started three games there last year after Jedrick Wills Jr. was injured. But Jones suffered a season-ending broken fibula in November, making this likely his toughest test yet.
In 176 snaps at left tackle over the three games he started last season, Jones gave up no sacks and allowed only six total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus tracking data.
This offseason the 6-8, 374-pound Jones also adjusted his body composition, appearing by far the leanest he’s been in four seasons. On Thursday, he walked in the locker room dripping sweat after a pre-practice workout to really drive home that point.
His goal is to finish a season healthy for the first time in his three-year career, and Cleveland will need him more than ever over their six-game opening stretch when they will face some of the league’s best pass rushers.
Week 2 will bring a challenge against Baltimore’s Odafe Oweh and Kyle Van Noy. Week 3 now promises a matchup with the newest Green Bay Packer Micah Parsons after a blockbuster trade last week. The following week brings Aidan Hutchinson and the Detroit Lions on the road before playing the Vikings and Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. After that, Cleveland has to come back stateside and take on the Steelers and perennial nemesis T.J. Watt on the road.
It’s a gauntlet and it’s a test.
But it’s one Jones is ready to get right in the middle of, starting with Hendrickson and Cincy on Sunday.
“It don’t get bigger than that, so that’s what you ask for,” he said. “You come off injury, you want to be tested early and I feel like this game will definitely give me that.”
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