RB Jerome Ford is ready to do what is necessary for the Browns to have success in the run game.
After being one of the top five NFL teams in rushing attempts in 2023, the Browns' running backs didn't see the same volume in 2024. However, heading into the 2025 season, they are hoping to improve the results from last season. The Browns are shaping up to emphasize the run again after finishing in the top half of rushing attempts during the preseason.
Even though the Browns are back to emphasizing the run game again, this season is just that – this season. And it's one that Ford will play a large part in.
"(It) feels like 2025, man. We're in the future right now. We can't look back on (2023)," Ford said.
Ford has carved out his spot in the running back room since being drafted in 2022, playing a variety of roles within the positional group. Ford filled in for former Browns RB Nick Chubb during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, playing in 34 games and starting in 18, running for 1,378 yards and seven touchdowns. He was also a target for quarterbacks in the pass game, catching 81 passes for 544 yards and five touchdowns.
Going into this season, he is excited to get back on the field. He played six snaps during the final preseason game against the Rams, recording two carries for 14 yards and two catches for seven yards.
With the Sept. 7 season opener against the Bengals less than a week away, he knows what it will take if he's called on to start. Even if he doesn't start, he's still ready to play.
"I really don't need (the starting job) for motivation," Ford said. "I'm ready to go at the gate, treat every day and everything like my number's going to be called and I'm just ready."
During Ford's four seasons with the Browns, he has been ready for his number to be called on in any situation, contributing wherever he can. He has been a backup to Chubb, the Browns' lead running back and a returner for kickoffs.
Ford said his willingness to take on any role Cleveland needed from him helped him make the Browns. With the coaching staff, that versatility has also helped him build good faith to know that Ford will make a difference for the Browns.
"He's a player who makes big plays. He has the speed to go the distance on any given time he touches the rock," head coach Kevin Stefanski said. "He has kick returned for us when he hadn't done it in the past and worked hard at that and developed into a good returner. So, he's a guy that we can trust in the run game, trust in the pass game, and has that elite trait of speed."
Along with Ford in the running back room is a pair of rookie SEC running backs, RB Dylan Sampson and RB Raheim Sanders, who are in line to help reestablish the run game. As such, Ford has taken on a leadership role in the running back room to help Sampson and Sanders, who was signed to the active roster on Aug. 27, acclimate to Cleveland.
A part of that acclimation process is learning running backs coach Duce Staley's style of conditioning, which Ford said has a high level of intensity. For a rookie running back still in his first week with the Browns, Ford noted that it can take time to get used to. Sanders, however, said he's feeding off Staley's energy.
"I just like the energy. I like the energy already," Sanders said. "He showed the energy today and I feel like, just having a coach with a lot of energy is going to hype me up every day."
Staley said Ford leads through his actions and is a teacher to the younger backs on the practice field. Through his play, Ford is showing the other backs what it takes to be a running back in the NFL and how to attack a Staley-led practice.
"He goes out there and he leads by example. He'll say a little bit here, say a little bit there, but not a lot," Staley said.
When it comes to practice, Ford leads the running back room by example; but when it comes to running the ball this season, he's making it a positional effort.
"I'm a running back. I love (the rededication to running the ball)," Ford said. "I love it. And all the guys in our room love it, and we're ready to do whatever it takes."
