Going, going, Tomlin: Ball Played
August 11, 2016Kyrie Irving almost chose to play for Australia over Team USA
August 11, 2016Just over 24 hours from now, the Cleveland Browns will be in Wisconsin to take on the Green Bay Packers in their preseason opener Friday night. While many of the starters aren’t expected to play much, there are two key wide receivers — rookie and No. 15 overall pick Corey Coleman, and Andrew Hawkins — who will not play. Wide receiver Terrelle Pryor, who is expected to play a significant role in head coach Hue Jackson’s offense in 2016 (and is currently listed atop the depth chart as the starter opposite of Coleman), will play after sitting out the second half of Wednesday’s practice.
Here’s Jackson revealed following Wednesday’s practice:
“Yeah, well, Hawk definitely won’t play and Corey won’t play either. Those guys, we’re going to make sure that they’re exactly where they need to be. I think Terrelle will be fine. He was practicing and I made a decision to take him out. He wanted to stay out there. My job is to make sure that our players are OK, but I think he’ll be fine, till the doctors tell me so will I really know.”
While the starters will not receive significant time, Friday night would have given Coleman a chance to prove what he can do against another NFL team in an in-game situations, rather than just in practice against his teammates (who he’s been destroying, by the way). Whether it’s seeing a different uniform on the opposition or playing against different opponents, the preseason is very key for a rookie like Coleman, but his lingering hamstring injury has kept him out of practice recently and that will continue at least into the weekend. Whether it’s his speed, athleticism, or just his pure ability to make plays, the more practice and more time against different opponents Coleman has prior to the season, the better.
Hawkins on the other hand can afford to sit out of a preseason game or two because Jackson and the rest of the coaching staff already know what they have in the veteran, as long as he is 100 percent healthy by the start of the regular season. The more practice the better, but if he has to be on the sidelines for a week or two, that won’t hurt him much as long as he comes back fully healthy.
Pryor, who only caught one pass (in the season finale) and played in three games (two starts) after switching from quarterback to wide receiver prior to the 2015 season, is expected to receive much more playing time in 2016. In fact, he could even start in Jackson’s new-look offense. The head coach loves Pryor and part of the reason for that could be due to the fact that he helped convince him to become a wide receiver rather than remain a quarterback.
Whether it was the prior coaching staff or whatever the reason may be, Pryor stood on the sidelines for the majority of last season—at least in the weeks where he was on the roster. With his height, speed, and athletic ability, he can be a legitimate playmaker on the outside, one that the Browns need. Luckily, he sat out of Wednesday’s practice due to precautionary reasons and was nothing major. And let’s be honest, the fact that Jackson is playing it safe on potential injuries this early in the preseason is definitely a good thing.
Here’s Jackson’s reason as to why he pulled Pryor out of Wednesday’s practice:
“Yeah because he was laboring a little bit. I can tell. He’s willing to fight through it because guys want to have those opportunities that they’re getting, but at the same time, I have to be smart enough to tell a guy, ‘Hey, we need to back you down.’”
While Coleman and Hawkins will sit out of Friday’s preseason opener, being able to see what wide outs like Pryor and rookie (172nd overall pick) Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins can bring to the table with a whole new group of coaches and against an opponent will. Hopefully Coleman’s injury isn’t too serious and he will be back on the field sooner rather than later.
Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET, live from Lambeau Field.
5 Comments
Darn… I really wanted to see Coleman play, but at the same time this isn’t the worst thing for the Browns. They have an insane number of young receivers and the first preseason game is always about seeing those end-of-the-roster types play in a live game setting. Coleman probably would have only played a couple of series anyway.
So, we’re reading reports of Coleman being soft-tissue injury-prone NOW?
I’m looking at you HBT.
Yep, with the WR-palooza we have, they can afford to rest dudes.
McCown or Kessler getting bulk of snaps?
Kessler. McCown is a known quantity. And whether they want to preserve him for the season or give him a chance to get on a good team, it makes sense to let him sit.