After winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year award last season, Cleveland Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger wants to accomplish more in Year 2.
With a handful of NFL teams beginning voluntary offseason workout programs this week, Schwesinger has a different mindset for his second season after an impressive rookie campaign.
"Yeah, that was pretty cool," Schwesinger said on Wednesday, via Cleveland.com. "My whole family was there, which was cool to share that with all them and just to be able to see that's a great honor. But now I guess the mindset is just what's next? Keep building off of it."
Schwesinger, a second-round pick out of UCLA, was a perfect fit in Cleveland's defense next to star pass rusher Myles Garrett. The Browns' stingy defense ranked fourth in total yards per game (283.6) while Garrett set the single-season sack record with 23 sacks and won Defensive Player of the Year.
In his rookie campaign, Schwesinger had 156 combined tackles -- sixth in the NFL -- including 11 tackles for loss, nine QB hits, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions and three passes defended in 16 regular season games.
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However, there will be a change for Cleveland's defense in 2026. A few days after new Browns head coach Todd Monken conducted his introductory press conference in February, Jim Schwartz resigned after three seasons as the defensive coordinator. Mike Rutenberg will serve as the Browns' DC for Schwesinger's second season.
Despite the coordinator change, Schwesinger is seeking ways to take his play to another level for Cleveland's defense.
"There's a lot of things to get better at, whether it's just the preparation throughout the week, game week and figuring out really what to watch, how to watch film and things like that," he said. "But even just at this time, whether it's improving the football knowledge football intelligence, right? Or just finding better ways to attack the ball and really get those punch outs.
"I think that's something really going to work on this year. Just continuing to grow in terms of patience behind the ball and being able to see things and being ready by the snap."
Schwesinger and the Browns will begin preparing for Monken's first season in Cleveland when organized team activities on May 19.