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Chase Winovich looks like a completely different person with Cleveland Browns

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BOSTON -- A little more than two months have passed since Chase Winovich was sent by the New England Patriots to the Cleveland Browns, in a one-for-one exchange for linebacker Mack Wilson. The fourth-year edge rusher has apparently used that time to turn into a different person.

Now in Cleveland, Winovich looks like someone making a fresh start. He is sporting a new jersey number -- No. 69 -- and an entirely different look up top. The trademark long blonde locks flowing atop Winovich are gone, giving way to a short, dark haircut.

Allegedly, this is the same person.

Winovich has had the new look and new number for a little while now, but it's certainly coming to the forefront a bit with teams hitting the practice fields for OTAs.

A third-round pick, Winovich popped early in his career with the Patriots, recording 5.5 sacks while playing just 29 percent of New England's defensive snaps in his rookie season in 2019. The snap counts increased in 2020, with Winovich again recording 5.5 sacks while starting nine games. But he fell out of favor with Bill Belichick, reduced to playing just 14 percent of New England's defensive snaps in 2021.

Now with the Browns, Winovich has sky-high hopes for where his career can go.

"In life, we're very quick to assign things as good or bad, success or failure, this or that," Winovich said in an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal. "But I think ultimately that removes any possibility, and the possibility is that it could be the best thing to ever happen to me."

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