A Love Letter to the 2019 Cleveland Indians: While We’re Waiting
August 13, 2019Jason Kipnis, Same As It Ever Was
August 13, 2019With Cleveland Browns training camp in full throttle, WFNY is here to keep you up to date on all of the news, rumblings, quotes, and must-see highlights from each training camp session. We’ll do our best to have a Dawg Check every weekday morning to do just that. We’re ready for the Browns season to kickoff. Are you?
Heading into the last few open sessions of training camp, the Cleveland Browns still have plenty of work to do and things to figure out ahead of the regular season. While seeing the same faces on the opposite side of the line may be getting old for both the offense and the defense, luckily, they will have a little change of pace this week when they travel to Indianapolis for a joint practice with the Colts, which will begin Tuesday afternoon. It will be a good thing for both teams simply because they will be able to face different players and have different looks.
“It’s good to see what’s out there,” head coach Freddie Kitchens said of the joint practices that lie ahead this week. “It’s going to give us a barometer of where we’re at from a physical standpoint.”
Before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look at what happened during Monday morning’s practice, Day 14 of training camp for the Browns.
1. First and foremost, after a scary situation that saw defensive end Chad Thomas carted off the field on a stretcher, a moment where you could hear a pin drop in Berea. Luckily, it seems as though he’s alright and it was precautionary more than anything given that it was a neck injury.
Update on Browns DL Chad Thomas: He's out of the hospital and has been diagnosed with a neck strain. His practice status will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis.
— Andrew Gribble (@Andrew_Gribble) August 12, 2019
He even returned to the team’s facility after being released from the hospital, which is positive news as well.
2. It’s not a 6-to-13 highlight reel this time, but let’s be honest, watching Baker Mayfield throw touchdowns will never get old, no matter who is on the receiving end. It’s just such a beautiful sight every time.
https://twitter.com/Browns/status/1160944846477168641
https://twitter.com/Browns/status/1160986805610721284
3. The Browns wore pads once again during practice instead of just shorts, their 11th time doing so in 14 practices during training camp.1 There’s a reason Kitchens wanting to do this. It will not only make the team embrace the physical nature of practice in preparation for the season, but him making padded practices the standard during camp rather than just using them a day or two will only help the team in the future.
“(Our guys) have embraced the challenge of keeping the tempo up on a regular basis,” Kitchens said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are willing to pay the price. A lot of guys have bought into what we’re trying to do.”
“This is a tough game played by tough people, so sometimes you have to look inside yourself and make sure that you’re tough, and sometimes you have to demonstrate to make sure you are. I think they’ve embraced all of that.”
4. Myles Garrett is a big man that I would be downright scared of if I was an offensive lineman. Even though the defensive end didn’t even get to Baker Mayfield, Garrett still forced a safety when the ball slipped out of the quarterback’s hands and out of the back of the end zone.
https://twitter.com/RuiterWrongFAN/status/1160940598108610561
Jake Burns gave us some insight into the play, explaining that it’s the offensive line’s fault much more than Baker’s.
If the play-caller isn’t comfortable w this scheme in 2019, it will impact the #Browns.
They used this play:
Bomb to Perriman to open the Carolina game.
Higgins TD v Atlanta in 1Q, 2nd possession.
Bengals opening play screen gain.
I can go on. It’s an important scheme.
— Jake Burns (@jake_burns18) August 12, 2019
5. With the Browns releasing Orson Charles and signing Rico Gathers, they now have plenty of depth at tight end, the depth was showcased on Monday. Due to David Njoku missing practice due to a minor knee injury, others at the position stepped up.
Demetrius Harris, who the Browns signed in free agency this offseason, scored a touchdown and blocked well in the run game. He also got a chance to prove his athleticism as well. Pharaoh Brown also caught a touchdown. While the Browns wanted to see Gathers’ ability, given that he was signed less than 24 hours prior to practice, he saw limited playing time.
Even though the Browns no longer have a fullback on the roster, they aren’t worried. In fact, Kitchens stated that the team would even consider not even having a fullback on the roster once the season begins.
6. The kickers are continuing to improve, just like they did over the week. That’s always a good thing. Greg Joseph was a perfect 6-for-6 on Monday after hitting all five of his field-goal attempts on Saturday; Austin Seibert finished 5-for-6.
Eventually, one of the two will step up and secure the starting position, or at least that’s what the Browns and the Dawg Pound hope. With that said, the competition is still far from over, especially with three preseason games still ahead.
Open sessions throughout training camp:
• Thursday, July 25 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. ET
• Friday, July 26 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Saturday, July 27 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Sunday, July 28 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Monday, July 29 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 31 – 10 a.m. – 12 pm.
• Thursday, August 1 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Friday, August 2 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Monday, Aug. 5 – 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, Aug. 6 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Friday, Aug. 9 – 3:45 – 5:25 p.m.
• Saturday, Aug. 10 – 2:45 – 4:45 p.m.
• Monday, Aug. 12 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Tuesday, Aug. 20 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Wednesday, Aug. 21 – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
- The first two were Day 1 and 2 of training camp when the NFL didn’t allow them to wear pads. The other was less than 24 hours after the Browns first preseason game at the end of last week. [↩]