BEREA: Shawn Lauvao realizes how easily a starting job in the NFL can slip away, so he has vowed to cherish his second chance with the Browns.
Lauvao appeared to be on the verge of becoming the team’s starting right guard heading into last season, but he suffered a left high-ankle sprain five days before the opener. The injury lingered, and Lauvao ended up starting just one game as a rookie while Floyd Womack and Billy Yates filled in at right guard.
Now Lauvao is in familiar territory again. He has held a spot on the first-team offensive line since training camp opened. His ankle has healed, and he’s more comfortable with the organization’s new coaching regime.
“After last year, I was just kind of spent mentally and physically,” Lauvao said Monday after practice. “One thing I would say that’s taxing is when you want to go and perform and your body’s not acting the way you want it to and it’s just breaking down. That in itself is just frustrating.
“There’s a difference between playing hurt and playing injured. There’s definitely a fine line. Just the whole atmosphere [here] is completely different from last year, and I can appreciate that from coach [Pat] Shurmur, just from the top to the bottom. It’s just a comfortable work environment. I just have an appreciation, so I definitely want to make the most of my opportunity.”
In an effort to rebound from last year, Lauvao focused on improving his flexibility during the league’s lockout. He trained in jujitsu at Lion’s Den Scottsdale in Arizona, a mixed martial arts facility owned by former NFL offensive lineman Scott Peters. He also worked out at his alma mater, Arizona State University, and took two classes there to finish his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.
When the work stoppage ended, Lauvao returned to the Browns’ headquarters on a mission. He has been steady ever since.
“I think he’s having a terrific camp,” Shurmur said. “We came into this thing thinking we wanted him to battle and become our starting right guard. Nothing to this point has said to us he’s not that guy. We hope he just progresses like he’s been doing, through the rest of this camp and then that will be the case.”
Left tackle Joe Thomas, left guard Eric Steinbach and center Alex Mack are among the Browns’ best and most reliable players. The right side of the offensive line, though, has not been nearly as dependable.
However, the 6-foot-3, 315-pound Lauvao believes he and Tony Pashos, the projected starter at right tackle, are capable of providing a solution.
“We need some stability ’cause’ definitely when it comes down to it, you’ve gotta have five playing as one,” said Lauvao, whom the Browns selected in the third round (92nd overall) of the 2010 draft. “Joe, Steiny, Alex, Tony, all those guys, their resumes speak for themselves. As a young guy, even though I’m only in my second year, I want to go that much farther. That’s always a driving factor because I’ve got these guys who have gone out and done it. I want to make sure I’m giving them my best because I already know they are gonna put everything on the line.”
Lauvao, 23, has been able to test himself against a formidable opponent in recent days. First-round draft pick Phil Taylor has been playing three-technique, meaning he has been lining up across from Lauvao, since he first joined the Browns on the practice field last Thursday.
“He has done a good job [against Taylor] and that’s a really solid battle in there,” Shurmur said. “When you look at the battle between Shawn and Phil … there’s quite a bit of good competition.”
Lauvao said facing the 6-3, 338-pound Taylor will help him improve. The memory of a missed opportunity can’t hurt, either.
“I just use it as motivation,” Lauvao said. “There’s a vision in my mind that I have set. There’s a standard and a precedent that you want to set.
“For whatever reason, [becoming a full-time starter] just didn’t really pan out [last year]. That’s just how life is sometimes. Some things don’t work out. But at the end of the day, you’ve gotta keep moving.”
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