Why Jowon Briggs arrived at Cleveland Browns rookie minicamp as epitome of professionalism

BEREA — As many University of Cincinnati football players scrambled from one meeting to the next during Bearcats training camp at Higher Ground Conference and Retreat Center in West Harrison, Indiana, Jowon Briggs remained calm, cool and collected.

UC defensive line coach Walter Stewart can still picture Briggs exuding purpose and organization amid chaos. Stewart explained Briggs would carry a glass jar of coffee and an “old man bag” filled with essentials.

“I just remember transitioning from the meetings, and some guys would have a notebook and papers and crap is all over the place or a book bag half open, and then here comes Jowon walking down,” Stewart told the Beacon Journal by phone. “He'd have one side of his hair braided. The other side of his hair is out. He'd have his little tackle box, and he'd have his coffee. He's not flustered. He's not shook. It's like practice nine, and he's still got that steely-eyed focus, and I'm like, 'Look at this dude! This guy is a business man!'”

When the Browns drafted Briggs in the seventh round (No. 243 overall) on April 27, they not only acquired a powerful defensive tackle, but also an old soul. The vitamins and Café Bustelo espresso instant coffee he toted around UC's training camp were reminders.

“I'm a little particular about my caffeine and my coffee, so I like my certain type of coffee and I had my prune juice and my high-fiber V8 there as well,” Briggs, who will turn 23 on Sept. 1, told the Beacon Journal. “So it was kind of just a matter of making sure that I had what would make me feel successful in that moment.”

Before Briggs practiced with the Browns for the first time Friday during rookie minicamp at team headquarters, the Cincinnati native and Walnut Hills High School graduate already had a reputation as a family man. He and his wife, Nyjae, met at the University of Virginia and will celebrate their third wedding anniversary in September. They have three children, son Jowon, 3, daughter Reine, who'll turn 2 in July, and son Zane, 8 months.

Stewart explained he is convinced Briggs being a married father of three is tied to how he comports himself as “by far the most professional player” Stewart has ever coached.

For example, Stewart said Briggs ensured throughout the year the Bearcats defensive linemen would share their training and film-study schedules with one another in a group text because he wanted everybody to be on the same page. Briggs said he wanted to ensure everyone would be on time and ready to work.

“I think having that responsibility of a wife and children made it easier, to be honest with you, for him to take the game as serious as he takes it,” Stewart said. “He wears his 'why' on his sleeve in a really good way.

“You can see it in how he works, his diligence, the consistency, the way he carries himself. He takes a lot of pride in his wife and his little ones. When you meet him, you have absolutely no shadow of a doubt how important family is to him.”

Briggs said he considers the opportunity to provide for and represent his family “everything.” He signed his four-year rookie contract, the Browns announced Friday morning. Briggs said he plans to move his wife and kids to Northeast Ohio, even though he's not guaranteed to make the Browns' roster and he may need to break a lease or two along the way.

“I have three little ones, my wife, not only that, but my progenitors, my grandparents, my parents,” Briggs said. “It makes me feel really good to be able to put our last name in light and just being able to do right by them. It means a lot to be able to do the right thing and have my support system really be able to love on me and be able to say they're proud of me.”

Briggs graduated from UC in December 2022 with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies and earned a graduate certificate in software development. He grew up in a musical family with five siblings, including four older sisters. He began his college football career at Virginia and showcased his talent for singing there, too. He performed in a student-run a cappella group and the University Singers, UVA's flagship choral ensemble. Piano, saxophone, flute, guitar and bass are among the many instruments he plays.

“Our house was like a cacophony of noise all the time,” Briggs said of his upbringing. “We were making bands in the basement. My sisters are upstairs playing instruments, practicing together.”

Briggs, listed as 6 feet, 1½ inches and 313 pounds, has experience with nearly as many positions on the defensive line. It's the main reason Stewart points out Briggs is “extremely intelligent, extremely versatile.” Those traits should be useful as Briggs embarks on a mission this summer to stick with the Browns.

After lining up mostly at nose tackle in 2019 and up and down the D-line in 2020 at Virginia, Briggs transferred to Cincinnati because his wife became pregnant with their first child.

In Cincinnati, the couple had more help from family, and Briggs picked up jobs in the offseason. Working as a manager at Chick’nCone meant early mornings and late nights with football practices and workouts in the mix.

“Pretty much just you make an ice cream cone and put chopped up chicken in it,” Briggs said. “It's the wildest thing. People loved it.”

At Cincinnati, Briggs played primarily five-technique (end) in 2021, nose tackle in 2022 and four- and five-technique (end) in 2023. He was also a three-technique (tackle) at times, and Stewart said he considers it the ideal spot for Briggs on a four-man front like the one the Browns deploy under defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

Cleveland Browns rookie minicamp: Nathaniel Watson, Myles Harden among those to watch

In five seasons, two at Virginia and three at Cincinnati, Briggs compiled 168 tackles, 21½ for loss and 12 sacks in 59 games, 44 of which he started.

Briggs earned a first-team All-AAC selection as a Cincinnati nose tackle in 2022, when he compiled 60 tackles, 4½ for loss, three sacks and a blocked field goal in 13 games. He was named honorable mention All-Big 12 as an end in 2023, when he tallied 27 tackles, six for loss and two sacks in 12 games while leading the Bearcats as a captain.

Briggs played anywhere from about 295 to 325 pounds depending on the position the coaching staff had in mind for him in a given season, Stewart said. Briggs is known for his strength. During the pre-draft process, he bench pressed 225 pounds 42 times (he received credit for 39 reps) at the Big 12 pro day. He appeared on The Athletic reporter Bruce Feldman's "Freaks List" because of his strength.

Still, Browns General Manager Andrew Berry revealed he identified “movement ability” as the greatest attribute of Briggs.

Stewart said Briggs has an “aura around him” and possesses the ability to add an “infectious” energy to a position group. Stewart said he can imagine Briggs helping Streetsboro High School graduate and fellow rookie defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr., a 20-year-old, second-round selection out of Ohio State, adjust to life in the NFL.

“It's going to impact your room,” Stewart said. “It's going to impact the guys around you, and that's what leadership is. It's influence.”

The Browns would welcome those intangibles, and Briggs said he has been on an “emotional high” ever since they drafted him.

“Now I'm riding high on those emotions and ready do attack camp with that same energy,” he said.

Cleveland Browns rookie minicamp: What to look for from Mike Hall Jr., Zak Zinter and others

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns rookie Jowon Briggs 'the most professional player,' coach says