Jason McCourty on Browns: ‘It doesn’t feel like a 1-15 team’

Jason McCourty likes the vibe around his new team, the Cleveland Browns.

The cornerback who recently signed with the Browns as a free agent doesn’t sense that the players are living under a cloud of losing after last season’s 1-15 finish. In fact, he feels that just the atmosphere is just the opposite.

‘It feels like a team that feels like it’s going in the right direction’

“Being in that building … it doesn’t feel like a 1-15 team,” McCourty told Bob Papa and Solomon Wilcots on The Opening Drive. “It feels like a team that feels like it’s going in the right direction. They’re adding the right pieces and they’re eager to get on the field and see what the finished product is going to look like.

McCourty was impressed with all that he saw and heard during his visit to the Browns’ training facility in Berea, Ohio. That isn’t to say that he is oblivious to the enormous challenges the club faces in trying to improve.

‘Just to feel the energy they have going forward into this upcoming season is what really sold me on the organization’

“The whole visit was awesome,” McCourty said. “Just to get around the people in their building, from administration, the coaches to the players, and just to feel the energy they have going forward into this upcoming season is what really sold me on the organization. Obviously, they’re coming off a 1-15 season, so you know there’s work to be done.

“But to see the excitement that everybody has with the new things going on. Obviously, (defensive coordinator) Gregg Williams, I played for him for a year in Tennessee, so there’s familiarity there. So I was just eager to get there and get things going and to be a part of that organization.”

‘I tried to always lead by example’

McCourty is looking forward to fulfilling a leadership role, just as he did as a member of the Titans.

“I’m excited about that,” he said. “That’s what I take pride in. I think, when I first came in the league, I had the right guys in front of me that showed me how to do it and I think the way you kind of pay those guys back for helping you along the road is now doing the same thing for a young guy so when I was in Tennessee, I tried to always lead by example, talk to those guys about whether it was getting in the cold tub, massages, how to watch film or just preparing them to try to have long careers in the league and I look forward to doing the same thing in Cleveland.”