'I'm still grasping everything': Cleveland Browns' Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah seeking constant growth

BEREA – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, like most rookie players, had things he didn't do well in his first season. Part of the growth from year one to year two is identifying those things.

Except that the Browns outside linebacker takes issue with the wording of that process.

"I'm not necessarily keying in on what I didn't do well," Owusu-Koramoah said Friday. "More so, it's what I have to work on, necessarily. That's how we phrase it just to conceptualize it."

OK then. In that case, what was it that Owusu-Koramoah believe he needed to work on after his first season in the NFL?

"For me, it was being patient," Owusu-Koramoah said. "Knowing there's a time and a place for everything. I always speak on the tempo, knowing when to use my speed, when to use my quickness and things like that. The more I do it, the more I get better at it."

Not that Owusu-Koramoah was too bad as a rookie. In 14 games, he finished second on the team with 76 tackles to go along with three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and four passes defensed.

That kind of production is a fine jumping-off point for a player's career. A career, though, isn't defined by one season.

That's why Owusu-Koramoah refused to characterize himself through some of the traditional labels used in sports to define experience.

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“Somebody asked me if was I on my eighth year the other day," Owusu-Koramoah said with a laugh. "No, I don’t feel like a veteran. I’m still in the beginning stages, I’m still learning, I’m still grasping everything that I can and I’m still a student. I don’t necessarily just tag myself as a veteran, but more so as a student.”

As with any student, it's as much about the mind as it is the body. Owusu-Koramoah has done the usual physical things to get himself ready for the upcoming season.

However, the 2021 second-round pick out of Notre Dame believes it's not in the weight room where his biggest growth has taken place. Nor is it where he believes it needs to occur in order to unlock whatever is his peak potential.

"The first part of improving my game is the mental aspect first," Owusu-Koramoah said. "I did a lot of things in reference to my mental, keeping myself balanced. Again, your entire life is about balance. Football's about balance. Like I just spoke about, not being able to turn it on, turn it off, that's a balance. That's something I want to master."

That balance has led Owusu-Koramoah to seek interest that aren't just confined to the football field. Even some of those interests on the field have extended well beyond it, such as the two trips to Africa he has made over the last six-plus months.

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The most recent trip was part of an NFL project trying to bring the game of football to Africa. The trips have given Owusu-Koramoah, who is of Ghanian decent, a chance to pay it forward, while also giving himself a chance to find a deeper connection with himself.

"We have talked about the trips that he takes," head coach Kevin Stefanski said. "He has a lot of interest outside of football. That does not mean he does not love football. He loves football. He just loves some other things, too, and that is OK. I think we can all do that. With his trips to Africa, those are really important to him. Those are really important to who he is so I encourage him in that regard."

What allows Stefanski to feel that way is the balance which Owusu-Koramoah brings to wanting to reach his very high ceiling on the football field. That ceiling is why he was one of the draft's most intriguing prospects a year ago, and why his fall to the No. 52 pick left people believing he was one of the biggest steals.

Despite having a bit of a choppy start to his first year in the league, from a delayed start to training camp to missing three games in season, Owusu-Koramoah's performance left defensive coordinator Joe Woods believing the floor for the linebacker only raises what that ceiling can be eventually.

"I think his level’s pretty good where he’s at," Woods said. "I think him, it’s just more him understanding his responsibilities and letting his keys take him to where he’s supposed to go. I think he’ll be more consistent that way this year, but you’re still going to see the speed and the quickness."

That speed and quickness makes Owusu-Koramoah an ideal candidate to be one off the Browns' biggest disruptive forces on defense. While individuals such as Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney occupy blockers up front, it opens the door for him to be able to swoop in from the second level to clean things up.

Owusu-Koramoah's natural instincts agree with that notion. The part of him that is trying to preach personal patience, though, isn't going to push the issue.

"It depends what the call is," he said. "If it's a call that I can shoot the gap, I’m going to shoot the gap, but if it's a call that I can’t necessarily shoot the gap, I have to rely on instincts, I have to rely on what I already know. And the repetition out here will allow me to understand when to and when not to."

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The balance for Owusu-Koramoah's growth is to find the right mix. No one in the Browns organization wants to take the aggressiveness away from him. That's what's part of his attraction.

It's about finding a way to harness the best parts of that power and using them wisely, Then, Woods believes, a truly great player could emerge.

“He’s kind of a see-ball, get-ball type of guy, but you have to go through your key progression," Woods said. "We want the fast trigger in terms of executing your run gaps and your responsibilities, but you have to be patient and make sure your key takes you there. So he just got ahead of himself a little by playing fast, but that just comes with experience."

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ