CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mack Wilson isn’t shy about soaking up as much knowledge as he can from Joe Schobert.

“I sit right next to him in meeting rooms,” Wilson said. “There will be three, four open seats next to me, I do my best to stay in his corner and see how he goes about his business.”

Schobert has noticed.

“Yeah, but he's been sick for the last month, so I try to keep him away from me in meetings,” he said. “He's definitely trying to soak in like a sponge.”

The Browns’ plans at linebacker took a turn early in the season, when Christian Kirksey suffered a season-ending torn pectoral tendon. It put the rookie Wilson, a fifth-round pick, in the spotlight. He and Schobert have played almost every defensive snap together since Kirksey’s injury.

Wilson even came up with a nickname for the two of them: Bash Bros.

“Joe kind of liked it because we both are gamers,” Wilson said, “so it sounded like some gaming type thing.”

“He's always posting about it, so I was either going to have to reprimand him or jump on in,” Schobert said, “so I decided it's a fun thing to do.”

Wilson and Schobert have played 11 games together. For Wilson, his first 11 games have represented a learning curve, but there has been steady improvement. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks is happy with his rookie’s progress.

“He has improved each and every week,” Wilks said. “I am excited about, No. 1, his work ethic and just his ability to really try to study the game. This guy is in here early. He is meeting with his coaches getting extra work in. You can see the improvements and things that he may have messed up on two weeks ago, that is not an issue anymore.”

A big piece of his progress has been working with Schobert, the quarterback of the defense, something Wilson could see right away when he arrived in Cleveland.

“I was able to tell that (Schobert) was the MIKE linebacker on the defense without us even going on the field and getting in position,” he said. Wilson’s relationship with Schobert has only grown since he was thrust into the starting lineup. The two have study sessions together and stay after practice.

“The most important thing is on the field, walking through stuff in practice,” Schobert said, “walking through, talking about things, how you see things and building that communication is what's the most key.”

“Joe has definitely taken Mack underneath his wing,” Wilks said, “really tried to bring him along and really tried to teach him the ins and outs as a rookie how to study at this level and how to prepare. They have built a strong bond.”

Initially for Wilson, the learning curve covered playing under control and not trying to do too much. Early on, his goal was to impress the coaching staff.

“(Schobert) taught me, in order to make plays, you’ve got to do your job,” Wilson said. “Sometimes in practice, when I first got here, I was always finding myself out of position, finding myself out of what I was supposed to be doing because I was trying to make a play, trying to catch the coach’s eye, so he always told me ‘if you stay in position, you do your job.’”

Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson has seen Wilson’s improvement, even if there’s still work to do.

“Coming in, his learning curve wasn't as deep as I thought it was going to be,” Richardson said. “He's covering guys that needed to cover, I don't see him getting beat too much in the open field as far as his routes. Run-wise, he needs to stop hitting me, that's for sure.”

Along with developing as a player, Wilson continues to work on developing his chemistry with Schobert. It’s something Schobert developed with Kirksey over their years starting, but it can’t be rushed.

“Me and Kirko played together for three, four years,” Schobert said, “so there are little things, as you grow and evolve playing next to a guy like that, you get more comfortable, you know exactly what they're going to be feeling.”

Wilson said linebackers coach Al Holcomb, who coached for the Panthers, has shown his room clips of Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis and Shaq Thompson playing together, how they play off each other.

“If you’ve got two studs in the middle who know what they’re doing, who are athletic, who can play sideline-to-sideline, defend the run, who can cover, that’s dangerous, that’s contagious,” Wilson said, “and I feel like that’s what me and Joe bring to the table in this defense, our ability to do multiple things.”

How long those two are together is still a question. Getting Wilson this early playing time is going to be a blessing long-term, but there are other factors in play.

First, there’s Schobert. He’s a free agent after this season. He has expressed his desire to remain in Cleveland, but said earlier this week he hasn’t heard anything about a contract at this point. Wilson would love to see his fellow linebacker get paid.

“I'd be happy as hell,” he said. “I wouldn't want to see Joe anywhere else. I feel like he belongs here. I feel like he can retire here if he wanted to.”

“I’d love to play with Mack (long-term),” Schobert said. “If I had to leave, that would be one of the saddest things, leaving guys like Kirko and Mack behind.”

Kirksey’s future is also in limbo. One of the longest-tenured Browns, Kirksey signed a contract extension before the 2017 season. This offseason marks the first in which the Browns could face a decision on his future, holding the ability to move on if they choose and save money. Kirksey was voted a team captain and remains around the team, a fixture in the locker room and traveling and participating in the pregame coin toss, even though he’s on injured reserve.

We’ll have all those answers soon enough. For now, there are three games left in 2019 and the Browns are fighting for their playoff lives every week. On the defensive side, in the middle of it all, it’s the newly-minted Bash Bros.

“We hit people and just make plays,” Wilson said. “That’s something hopefully we’ll stick with over the next couple of years.”

More Browns coverage