Maurice Hurst’s signature celebration quickly became a fan favorite in Cleveland.
After a sack or a big run stop this season, you’d see the Browns defensive tackle authoritatively marching, rubbing his stomach with both hands — an effort to show that he was hungry for more.
It’s a fitting move for a player who plays with that starving mentality — always eager for his next opportunity on the field, going hard in every practice drill or game snap.
Signing with Cleveland this offseason, Hurst got his opportunity to eat. More than one actually. He went from a bubble guy in the spring, brought in to help test the depth of the interior D-line, to one of the key rotational pieces on arguably the best unit in the league in Jim Schwartz’s scheme.
And now, with his season over due to a torn pectoral muscle that required surgery, his absence has preemptively become a huge blow — something not many would have expected a few short months ago.
“He was the example of next man up mentality,” Myles Garrett told cleveland.com. “Whenever he came in, he made an impact, whether through his tenacity on the field, physicality, or just making plays. So I mean just saying that he goes down, but what he exemplified, that next guy up, we got to point to that as the example and have the next guy fill that role as best as he can.”
Hurst initially signed with the Browns on March 18, agreeing to a one-year, $1.24 million contract. It wasn’t the kind of free agent deal he envisioned for himself, but after two seasons with the 49ers in which he only played in two games due to injuries, it’s the one he got.
It’s also been a big source of motivation for him this year.
“It’s very motivating,” he told cleveland.com before his injury. “I mean, anytime that I get to get out there, I know that teams weren’t really interested in me or didn’t believe in me, so that just drives a little bit of extra motivation. Anytime you feel like someone kind of slept on you or didn’t really want you as part of their program, it just adds a little extra fuel to the fire. For me personally, it just helps me keep going and knowing that I’ve got a great opportunity here and to be able to prove those people wrong means a lot to me.”
He quickly made an impression in Cleveland because of his knowledge of Schwartz’s system, with Dalvin Tomlinson even calling him one of the “biggest technicians” on the team.
While he didn’t play much for the 49ers during his time there, Hurst still learned a lot from D-line coach Kris Kocurek — who happens to be a Schwartz mentee. Kocurek coached the defensive line under Schwartz from 2010-13 while the latter was serving as the head coach of the Lions.
It’s an understanding that translated in his on-the-field production this year.
Hurst ends his season with 1.5 sacks, one interception and three batted passes. Pro Football Focus also has Hurst ranked 15th among qualifying interior D-linemen in their pass rush win rate metric at 14.1%. They also have given him their second-best defensive grade on the team at 81.0, just behind Myles Garrett.
“I feel like I’m starting to understand some of those things that I can work on and get better and kind of understanding offenses more and the game’s kind slowing down a little bit after having some time off,” Hurst said. “So I feel like a lot of things are starting to come a lot easier and I’m just starting to see the game a lot better.”
He has also been a great locker room addition, a reputation that has followed him since his college days at Michigan.
“Mo gave us some great reps,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “And as good as the reps were on the field, he’s a great person, who’s awesome for our locker room. We’ll get him back in here ASAP so he can be around our football team, but really good veteran presence. I know he’s not the oldest player, but he’s been through a lot.”
And that’s the unfortunate timing of Hurst’s injury.
Everything was coming together for him on the field and in terms of his preparation. After two lost seasons due to ankle and calf injuries and a torn bicep, he had his off-the-field routine down as well — utilizing acupuncture and other preventative modalities.
His work ethic has been one of his biggest strengths, whether its with injury prevention, practice reps or games snaps. It’s one of the first things his teammates point out when talking about his success this year.
“He does all the dirty work that nobody wants to do,” Ogbo Okoronkwo said. “He’s the first guy in, he’s a film junkie. He does all the right things. He plays the game the right way. So to lose him, we’re already sad about that. But like we said, it is a next-man-up mentality. He’s set an example for the rookies so they have a good mold to follow. So we’re really sad that we’re missing Mo, but he’s done enough for our team that his impact has been left. So I think Mo did a really good job this year and he has nothing to be sad about and the team’s going to continue to play well, guys are going to step up and hopefully he gets to hold up the Lombardi (Trophy) with us.”
But then there’s the big-picture timing of Hurst’s injury for the defense.
On Wednesday the team announced that Grant Delpit will miss the final four games, heading to IR with a groin injury, and that Okoronkwo may be lost for the season with a pec injury of his own. He’s second on the team with 4.5 sacks.
Those absences in the secondary and up front pave the way for younger, untested guys on the roster. On the interior D-line in the absence of Hurst, that likely means snaps for Siaki Ika, the rookie tackle Cleveland drafted in the third round.
“I feel like I’ve just kind of been waiting for this opportunity this whole season,” Ika said. “It sucks to have to have it come from the falling of one of our own, but I’m excited for the opportunity and I’m excited to showcase what I can do.
“I’ve seen it a lot in these past, maybe the past four or five weeks. Just taking notes up close from the vets, Dalvin and Jordan (Elliott) and Mo, for example, Shelby (Harris), they’ve been a big part in helping me for sure, preparing for when my time does come. I feel like because of all the reps and stuff I’ve had with them and watched them do, I’m ready.”
Even though his season has been unexpectedly shortened, Hurst still accomplished a lot of the short-term goals he set for himself.
And for a guy on a one-year deal, the hope is that they can go a long way.
“For me, it’s just putting together a good bit of work just to show those guys that I’m someone that they’ll want to keep long term,” Hurst said. “And I think that’s the biggest thing is doing enough to make them feel that way and make them have to make a decision on that once that time does come.”
It feels like he did as much as he could in this regard.
He showed he still has more belly rubs in him — now it’s a question of if the Browns will be hungry for more Hurst.
