BEREA, Ohio - The Cleveland Browns haven't scored many points in recent years. As far as Joe Thomas is concerned, that's a big reason they haven't won many games.

"People want to say defense wins championships but I think maybe that was a quote from the '90s because in today's football you're going to win with offense," the Pro Bowl left tackle said on Wednesday. "You've got to score points to win. You can't expect to win games 10-7 all season long."

Thomas was talking specifically about his new head coach, Hue Jackson, who is also his new offensive coordinator and has brought his expertise on that side of the ball to Cleveland. Thomas went so far as to say he had been jealous of players in Cincinnati because they got to play in Jackson's offense.

Here are three ways the Browns coaching staff, based on what we've heard from them and from some players, is hoping to take their team's offense to new heights.

Pick up the Pace

There have been hints that the Browns want to play faster this season.

"In college (at Baylor) we were no-huddle, on the ball, here we're no-huddle, on the ball," rookie offensive lineman Spencer Drango said during rookie minicamp, "so there are a lot of similarities that I've picked up so far."

"As we play in a no-huddle offense, sometimes we say things and the (defense) knows exactly where the ball is going," Hue Jackson said last week in attempting to explain Robert Griffin III's accuracy issues.

Flippant remarks, right? Maybe not.

"It is our plan to put pressure on our opponent's defenses and to make sure that, not only we are a unit that can execute at a high level, but ultimately, we want to wear our opponents down," associate head coach Pep Hamilton said Wednesday. "You have to rehearse the things you plan on doing during the season."

"I think what we're seeing right now is a lot more no-huddle," Thomas said. "Calling the plays on the line of scrimmage and so I think that is probably why it feels a little bit faster right now versus last year where we didn't really play a whole lot of no-huddle on offense. I think you can either press the tempo in no-huddle and try to get the play off like Chip Kelly's offense where you're running a play with 15 seconds left on the play clock. I think our no-huddle's going to be a little bit more slow-it-down, take what the defense gives us but still calling a lot of the stuff at the line of scrimmage when we are in no-huddle."

Run the ball

Jackson loves to run the football. It's a key element of his offense. Just ask running backs coach Kirby Wilson.

"I think when you look at Coach Jackson's background, he is a 'quarterback guru,'" Wilson said. "He has done a tremendous job over the years with that, but if you look at his record, in terms of running the football and the amount that he runs it, you're going to find out that he really, truly does enjoy running the football. We are going to be a run-oriented football team, everything starts with the run game, our offensive line and our backs. As coach told us, we are going to be a physically dominant, running football team."

Jackson's offenses his last two seasons in Cincinnati and during the 2010 and 2011 seasons in Oakland were all in the top ten in rushing attempts per game. Jackson broke into the league as a running backs coach in 2001 with Washington.

Find your weapons

Need an example of a guy that causes problems for a defense? Defensive coordinator Ray Horton says to look about two hours to the southeast.

"I'll go to a guy in our own division, No. 84 over at Pittsburgh (Antonio Brown)," Horton said. "He creates mismatches and you have got to respect it. You have to game plan for that guy. You can't just say, 'Well, he beats everybody, but he's not going to beat us.' We respect guys' talent and ability in this league, and it is easy to talk about him because I was there with him. He's been dominating this league as a small receiver. So there are guys in this league that you have to handle with care and respect. How do you handle them? Sometimes, you keep them to minimal catches. You are not going to shut them out. He averages, I think, nine catches a game."

Who is that guy for the Browns? They don't have one.

As far as potential playmakers go, though, start with second-year running back Duke Johnson.

"He is what you would call an ultimate weapon for us," Wilson said.

Then there's the guy they picked No. 15 overall in April's draft: wide receiver Corey Coleman.

"He can score the ball," Hamilton said. "That's so important for any offense, but we need guys that can score the football, that can create their own yards, create their own yards after they catch the football, and we need playmakers. We need guys that, without calling the perfect play, if they get the ball in their hands, they can get more than what is prescribed. He is a playmaker."

There are three other rookie receivers in camp - Rashard Higgins, Jordan Payton and Ricardo Louis -- who will be expected to help form a group alongside Coleman filled with playmakers, much like what Jackson had in Cincinnati.

"They have a lot of work ahead of them," Hamilton said. "They have to work throughout the summer, between now and training camp, and get with the quarterbacks to find a way to develop better continuity. It takes time and it is a process, but our receivers coaches, (senior offensive assistant) Coach (Al) Saunders and (offensive quality control/assistant wide receivers) Coach (Bob) Saunders, have done a good job of really trying to make sure our guys have the right perspective. We do have a plan in place to accelerate that learning curve for all of the young receivers."

Leave it to Thomas to sum up what to expect this season.

"The thing that appeals on offense is we're going to make the defense guard every blade of grass on the whole field," he said, "because we're going to be throwing it from sideline to sideline, we're going to be running it inside, we're going to be putting tackles, guards in different formations all over the field."