Cousin-Adams duel highlights Browns battles

By TONY GROSSI

Coach Romeo Crennel has few positions to fill.

BEREA — At this relatively serene Browns training camp, the closest thing to a high-profile position battle is being waged at the nickel cornerback spot.

Such is the merry state of the Browns that just about everything else is set, except for the last roster spots.

Terry Cousin was supposed to be the man to cover the slot receiver in three-receiver formations, but so far Mike Adams is holding him off.

Adams inherited the role after Daven Holly suffered a season-ending knee injury in offseason workouts in May. Cousin was signed by the end of that month and promptly proclaimed himself one of the best nickel backs in the NFL. He has been doing it off and on for 10 NFL seasons. But Adams, a backup safety who joined the Browns a year ago, is not giving up his chance for increased playing time.

“I’m the ’dog. I’ll always be the underdog,” Adams said. “I’ve been counted out. Nobody thought I could be where I am today.”

Undrafted out of University of Delaware — he said he made the former Division I-AA school famous before quarterback Joe Flacco, the Baltimore Ravens’ No. 1 draft pick — Adams was told by a doctor he would never be able to play again after suffering a freak hip injury his last college season.

“They said I wouldn’t run the same, that I’d be in the 4.7, 4.6 range. Well, my pro day, I ran a 4.32 — three times,” Adams said.

That competitiveness drives Adams. He cherishes his role as one of two gunners on the punt team. He and Josh Cribbs are the outside men who battle double teams at the line of scrimmage and race down to pop opposing punt returners. It’s a role often reserved for entry-level players.

“I don’t care if I’m in my 10th year, I’m going to still try to play the gun,” said Adams, who is beginning his fifth NFL season. “Why? I like the competition. I get the drive when somebody grabs me and I fight them off and I win. I wouldn’t give it up. I was a starting safety in San Francisco and I still played gunner.”

No surprise that Cribbs and Adams compete among themselves for the team lead in special teams tackles. Cribbs bested Adams last year, 23 to 18.

“Cribbs is in trouble this year,” Adams vowed.

The underdog mentality suits him in the nickel back role, too.

“I love it. It’s action. You get all the action. You get to stick the best receiver — arguably one of the best receivers — on the field. It’s something I enjoy,” Adams said.

“There are no secrets [to playing it]. The difference is you’re sticking the wide receiver probably three yards off the ball, which is one of the hardest things to do. They’ve got that cushion because they’re already off the ball. So you’re already at a disadvantage.”

Leigh Bodden played the nickel back position last year and received mixed reviews in his first season in it. He did lead the team with six interceptions, but his reward was being swapped to Detroit in the trade for defensive tackle Shaun Rogers.

Like everyone else, Adams sees the addition of Rogers and Corey Williams from Green Bay as the key to everything on defense.

“Stopping the run will be the biggest difference this year,” he said. “We’ve got some players, some studs, up there [on the front line].”

In theory, stopping the run will force offenses into third-and-long, which will bring a third receiver on the field, which will make that nickel back more crucial to forcing punts.

Coach Romeo Crennel said this week that Adams, indeed, is holding his own, “but as you look at Cousin, he’s a heady player, as well. So I think that’ll be a good battle.”