Browns’ Orchard making strides

By NATE ULRICH

Akron Beacon Journal

BEREA

NFL training camps are almost always stressful for rookies, and Browns outside linebacker Nate Orchard had more to worry about this past summer than a typical first-year player.

Orchard left camp for a couple of days and missed a practice in late August for personal reasons. Fans and media didn’t think much about it at the time.

But Orchard revealed Thursday he was absent because his wife, Megan, fell ill during the early stages of her pregnancy. She had to be treated at University Hospitals. Orchard said his wife is well now, and the couple is due to have their second daughter in April. But the situation was worrisome for some time.

“She’s good, as happy as could be, on the proper medication, has her routine down,” Orchard said. “So she’s taking care of herself and handling it like a champ.”

Her husband should be commended, too.

“Everything’s good right now,” said Orchard, whose daughter, Katherine, is 2. “I’m just taking it one day at a time. Like they say, happy wife, happy life. She’s good. Everyone’s good at home. It hasn’t been the season we wanted it to be record-wise. But it’s a team sport. We’re going to lean on one another.

“I don’t focus too much on the social media or the media, but everyone’s going to have their own perspective and opinion on why he missed 1/8time 3/8 or this and that. But at the end of the day, folks in house know what’s going on. My teammates know what’s going on, and that’s all that matters.”

The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Orchard has become more productive in the second half of this season as his situation at home has become more stable. He also has managed to overcome some minor injuries, including a back problem that caused him to miss the final two exhibition games and the regular-season opener.

According to ProFootballFocus.com, Orchard has pressured the quarterback five times in the past two games and seven the entire season. The recent production is what the Browns (3-11) expected from Orchard when they drafted him in the second round out of the University of Utah, where he had 18.5 sacks last season.

After Orchard tallied the first two sacks of his NFL career in a 24-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 13, he said, “Words can’t describe it. It is a huge monkey off my back. It has been a long time. I work so hard, and it is such a long season, but to finally get those 1/8sacks 3/8, not the first, but my second one as well, was a great feeling.”

It wasn’t a thrill just for Orchard, but for his wife as well.

“She’s my No. 1 fan,” Orchard said. “So she was proud of me.”