BEREA, Ohio — Browns safety Juan Thornhill heard the criticism of his effort against the Saints.
“I had no choice but to hear it, if I’m being honest,” Thornhill said on Monday. “If you have social media, you’re going to see it. But I definitely heard it.”
Thornhill felt the wrath of Browns Twitter — or Browns X, formerly Browns Twitter — on a 71-yard touchdown pass from Saints quarterback Derek Carr to wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling with 12:40 left in the second quarter to put the Saints ahead, 14-6, in Week 11.
Valdes-Scantling caught the ball at the Saints 37 and sprinted down the right sideline. When he caught the ball, Thornhill was at the Saints 43 on the opposite numbers and started chasing the play. Except it didn’t look like he was chasing the play as hard as he could have, especially as Valdes-Scantling maneuvered his way around Browns defenders to sneak into the end zone.
“I know that one play, it wasn’t me, that’s just not me as a player,” Thornhill said. “I never give up on plays.”
Thornhill said playing with Valdes-Scantling in Kansas City made him believe he wouldn’t be able to catch the speedy wideout.
“I knew his speed, if I’m being honest,” Thornhill said. “He caught it, broke away, I was like, there’s no way I’m catching this guy. But then he got to the point where he started weaving and I probably could have caught him maybe at the 1- or 2-yard line if I would’ve went all out. But that won’t happen again.”
His mistake was amplified, not just because of social media but because the eye in the sky doesn’t lie. Browns coaches noticed and talked to him about it, too.
“We talked about it and they were saying I need to give more effort on that play and I know it, they know it, everybody knows that I need to give more effort, so it’s nothing I can hide from,” he said. “It’s obvious I didn’t try as hard as I possibly could.”
He responded against the Steelers, living up to an Instagram story he posted earlier in the week, writing “Me Thursday” over a clip from the movie “Forrest Gump” of Tom Hanks’ character running as fast as he can.
Thornhill had seven tackles, his most since the opener against Dallas and, according to data from Pro Football Focus, allowed one catch in coverage for six yards.
“I thought all the safeties played well, tackled well, but Juan in particular I thought was good,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday.
“I felt like I was a part of a lot of plays, a lot of run plays,” Thornhill said. “Not a whole lot of passing action, but definitely a part of a lot of the run plays.”
Thornhill’s role is evolving in the second half of the season. Last year, Thornhill rarely left the field when he was healthy, playing every defensive snap in five games and more than 96% of the defensive snaps in three others. He missed five games while dealing with calf injuries and a sixth when he sat out the finale in Cincinnati.
This year, after playing 95% of the defensive snaps against the Cowboys Week 1, he went on injured reserve with a calf injury. He returned and played about half the defensive snaps in Week seven against Cincinnati and then more than three-quarters of the team’s defensive snaps against Baltimore and the Chargers.
Coming out of the bye, however, he started splitting time with second-year safety Ronnie Hickman, an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State who started four games as a rookie. Hickman played 28 snaps to Thornhill’s 23 in New Orleans and the two again split time against Pittsburgh, with Thornhill playing 33 snaps and Hickman 22.
“Ronnie earned the opportunity to be on the field,” Thornhill said. “He’s a really good player. He makes a lot of plays, so when they came down to me and told me that they wanted to see Ronnie play a little bit more, I mean, I understand. The guy, he’s made plays, so why would you have him sitting on the sideline when you know he can get on the field and make plays?”
The Browns signed Thornhill to a 3-year, $21 million deal in 2023, bringing him in from Kansas City to replace John Johnson III, banking on the two-time Super Bowl champion to add experience and play-making on the backend of Jim Schwartz’s scheme.
He has become an easy target during the Browns’ struggles this season as he has been unable to replicate the production he had with the Chiefs, where he had eight interceptions and 20 passes defensed in 65 games. In two years with the Browns, he has just two passes defensed and no interceptions.
“As a (defensive back), everybody wants to get an interception,” Thornhill said. “All of us want it, but you can’t start doing extra things, like going chasing plays. When you chase plays, that’s when bad things happen. It’s a little frustrating. I can’t even lie to you. I feel like any DB would be frustrated, but I think those opportunities will start coming soon.”
As far as fingers pointing at him outside the building whenever there’s a blown coverage or a big play, he’s not fazed by it.
“If you’re watching it on TV and you see me chasing the ball down and no one next to the ball carrier, you automatically assume it’s on me,” he said. “But I mean, that’s part of the game. I’m a free safety. I’m the last line of defense, so if something bad goes wrong, I’m there to make it up. If I don’t make the tackle, it’s similar to the quarterback. A lot of people are going to point fingers at you, but it’s fine. I’m able to take the heat and I’m cool with that.”
It doesn’t lessen the sting, however, from having his effort called out inside the building.
“It definitely hurt,” he said. “When you’re a competitor, a guy that takes pride in his effort, playing hard at all times. and then someone calls you out on the play, meaning you didn’t give enough effort, it hurts. It stings, for sure.”
Which is why he repeated three separate times in his media scrum some form of, “it just won’t happen again.”
Thursday night against the Steelers was a good start.
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