C-Cap Recap: The Two Trevors
August 14, 2015Video: Watch Maiya and Adriana Aviles throw out the first pitch
August 14, 2015“Nothing significant on the injury front to report,” Browns head coach Mike Pettine said to lead off his statement to the media after the Cleveland Browns completed their first preseason game of the 2015 NFL season. There might not be a better statement that a NFL head coach can make at the conclusion of a preseason game where the final score matters much less than the plays and performances that will be broken down on tape over the next few days.
There was one injury to a significant player for the Cleveland Browns. After earlier forcing a fumble as part of the punt coverage team (setting up the Browns’ second touchdown), wide receiver/gunner Marlon Moore was injured in the second quarter when he took a shot to his ribs. Fortunately, the injury does not appear to be on that will keep him down for long. As Pettine noted “(WR) Marlon Moore got dinged a little bit in the ribs. He’ll be evaluated, but we don’t think it’s anything serious.”
Of course, “nothing significant” in regards to injuries was meant for the game itself, as 18 players were withheld from playing at all during the game, including the leaders of both the offense (OT Joe Thomas) and defense (CB Joe Haden). Pettine said, however, that Haden likely could have gone had it been a regular season game. Thomas’ sitting was a coach’s decision, and odds are the Browns’ iron man could have gone if necessary.
Haden is one of several of the players to be held out with a hamstring issue. In addition to Haden, Duke Johnson Jr., Dwayne Bowe, Terrelle Pryor, and Pierre Desir all were held out with hamstring problems, which is an injury that can potentially linger.
The full list of players that were held out, starting with the hamstrung bunch:
- DB Robert Nelson Jr. (hamstring)
- DB Pierre Desir (hamstring)
- DB Joe Haden (hamstring)
- WR Dwayne Bowe (hamstring)
- WR Terrelle Pryor (hamstring)
- RB Duke Johnson Jr. (hamstring)
- DB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu (knee)
- RB Glenn Winston (knee)
- LB Barkevious Mingo (knee)
- DL Billy Winn (knee/ankle)
- DB De’Ante Saunders (calf)
- TE Randall Telfer (foot)
- RB Shaun Draughn (hand)
- FB Malcolm Johnson (shoulder)
- FB Luke Lundy (concussion)
- OL Andrew McDonald (concussion)
- OL Joe Madsen (concussion)
- OL Joe Thomas (coach’s decision)
The injuries led to more snaps for some players. Pettine said that it was “just a credit to some of the guys that got extended [reps] because the injuries we have. It was tough having 18 guys not dressing. I thought we had some guys that took probably more snaps than they should have, and they battled through it. It was good some coaching moments that come out of it, and hopefully, we can gain some momentum from this moving forward.”
One such player was rookie lineman Cameron Erving, who started in place of Joe Thomas at left tackle. “I keep an open mind to a lot of things. I feel like it’s making me a better player, being able to change my mindset from being a right guard to a left tackle,” Erving said. Erving’s versatility is considered a plus; at Florida State last year he started games at both left tackle and center.
Cornerback Justin Gilbert also received a ton of playing time as the Browns had prepared for him to do. “Yeah, especially with us holding (DB) Joe (Haden) and not wanting to give Tramon (Williams) a ton of work and with Pierre (Desir) being down, We knew Justin was and we knew that corner group was going to get taxed some from a reps standpoint.”
Gilbert had a less than sterling game. Washington receiver Pierre Garcon blew past him on the game’s opening series — Gilbert was caught looking into the backfield — for what would have been a long touchdown reception had Garcon not dropped it.
Finally, tight end E.J. Gibbs was also required to fill-in at fullback with both of the Browns expected fullback contributors out of this game.
The Washington Redskins were not nearly as fortunate on the injury front, as tight end Niles Paul went down for them after being rolled up on from behind. “Niles has an ankle fracture and dislocation,” head coach Jay Gruden said. “It’s a huge loss for us. One, he’s a great player who has worked so hard to get where he is, and two, he’s a great leader for this football team. The staff and players are sick about it right now.” It is expected that Paul will miss the entirety of the 2015 NFL season.
13 Comments
Some very amateur, less than Bode-esque observations…
…Maybe it’s just me, but Bowie is a very large man.
…Pullard looks like he could be a contributor.
…Bademosi should never see significant time as a safety. Zero time would be even better.
…Shelton is going to get some sacks. Pocket passers, you have been warned.
…Kirksey’s range will get him the nod over Robertson.
Haha….did you see the Shelton quote about being mad that Xavier was the first rookie to record a sack? Love the fire in that belly.
Re Gilbert getting beat by Garcon: I just watched the first half this morning, and based on his interaction with Gipson immediately after the play, I don’t think he was “looking into the backfield” so much as he got his coverage confused. It looked like he thought they were in a cover 2, but Gipson was not playing that coverage (or at least not the same cover 2 wrinkle that Gilbert was playing). My money’s on Gipson being right. The good news is that’s a mental mistake. The bad news is that’s a mental mistake.
Re hamstrings: I’m no strength and conditioning coach, but it would appear to me that there might be something wrong with their training regimen. Although the listed knee injuries are non-specific, the conjunction of hamstring and knee injuries in the quantities seen on this team makes me think they might be over-working their legs in the weight room. But again, irrespective of the number of stays I’ve had at a Holiday Inn Express, I probably have no idea what I’m talking about and probably should not have said anything.
Oh, and the “Browns” on the legs is not as terrible as the uniform reveal indicated, but still, it needs to go.
And the “Cleveland” on the shirts, is completely high-school, and definitely needs to go.
Other than that, the unis looked ok.
I surprisingly liked the All-Whites. The orange stockings did much to break up the mono-chromatic look.
Agreed on the Browns on the legs though. It stood out much more in pictures than video, but the piping is still the classic (and for a reason). I don’t really have an opinion one way or another on the chest writing. Doesn’t really matter to me.
Or maybe the coaches are just looking for any reason to not play guys because they’re aware that “just cuz” isn’t a good explanation for a League office that desperately wants to keep people believing that the preseason is something worth getting excited about rather than an archaic inconvenience that needlessly ends careers and submarines seasons while providing negligible benefits?
JoeT got the “coaches decision” though and outside Joe Haden, which player would the coaches want to keep out of the game for that purpose alone?
Also, those players (including Joe) have been missing practice time with these injuries.
I would love if that was true, but many of these injuries have been verified.
All of them? I honestly believe that coaches would opt of having their guys play preseason games. Maybe one…
Fair enough. I still wonder how many of these guys would be playing/practicing if this was four weeks in versus four weeks out. Bill Belichick has taught me to question the legitimacy of ever injury report.
The all-whites have always been my faves.
https://espncleveland.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/webster-slaughter-reggie-langhorne-pdhstjpg-b20f5ca56a62b697.jpg
Jason Taylor taught me to question the legitimacy of active players not on the injury report.
It’s just that some of these guys simply can’t miss a pre-season game. Pryor, Desir, Johnson – those guys have to play if they’re healthy.