BEREA, Ohio - New Cleveland Browns running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery has a unique view of his new team after spending the last six seasons coaching the running backs with the Baltimore Ravens, an AFC North rival of the Browns.
In a chat with reporters following Monday's training camp practice, Montgomery talked about changing attitudes in the locker room -- and in doing so revealed more than a little about how past Browns teams have been perceived by those who have seen them up close.
"The thing I like about this team here, we have no guys with big heads," Montgomery said. "You find that you have a good little mix (of players) and you're trying to make them believe that they can be winners.
"They see it. They talk about how they can be good and (be) better than other people. There's talent here and it's at every position. So it's about now playing together, and not for 59 minutes. (It's about) the whole 60 minutes and not finding a way to lose the game at the end.
"They've been in a lot of ballgames. When I was in Baltimore, we faced this team twice every year. And my expectation was (that the Browns had) a great defense. A great defense, but they'd always find a way to give it up on offense."
Asked to clarify and/or expound on his thought that the Browns would always lose the game on on offense, he said the Ravens viewed their annual games with the Browns as such: "It's going to be a tough ballgame, but if we hang in there, hang in there, they (the Browns) are going to find a way to lose the game."
The Browns beat the Ravens in Cleveland last November, marking the first time in Montgomery's six years that the Browns beat the Ravens.
That stands as the Browns last win, too, which is part of the reason everything is new with the Browns again as they point toward the 2014 season and beyond. Montgomery said early in camp he's soon good competition, good spirits and a team that believes it can finish games and change its fortunes.
"We all know talk is cheap," Montgomery said. "We're at the baby stage."
