This was a rare sight at Browns practice in the rain on Monday -- a receiver, Donovan Peoples-Jones, making a catch. Sloppy day for Browns offense. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Day 3 of Browns training camp …
One hour prior to the first Browns practice of the Kevin Stefanski era in full uniform and pads, the rookie coach expressed concern about the defensive players playing with too much aggression and adrenalin.
“We had that conversation last night,” Stefanski said on a Zoom call. “The pace of practice should look exactly the same as it did yesterday in shells. They have to understand how to practice hard and take care of each other regardless of the dress or the attire that they are wearing.”
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Second-year linebacker Mack Wilson was overzealous in taking down running back Nick Chubb with a borderline horse-collar tackle after a swing pass to the left flat.
Chubb’s left knee buckled and Wilson’s clothesline hit with his right arm at Chubb’s neck apparently flung Chubb’s head into the ground, which, fortunately, was softened by a steady rain. Chubb immediately rose to his feet and then walked into the Browns’ facility with a trainer.
Afterwards, the Browns reported Chubb was being evaluated for a concussion.
Wilson was immediately chastised on the field by teammates and coaches. Tight end David Njoku and left guard Joel Bitonio got in his face with some words. When Wilson trotted to the sideline, he heard from defensive coordinator Joe Woods. After a break in a “thud-“ tackling period, Stefanski had a one-on-one conversation with the Browns’ probably best linebacker.
If Chubb is unable to practice on Tuesday, he would join pass rusher Myles Garrett (hamstring) and center JC Tretter (arthroscopic knee surgery) on the sideline. They are not only three key starters but also three players who rarely miss practice time with injuries.
Although they might be regarded as relatively minor ailments, any missed practice time in this training season truncated by the coronavirus pandemic is extremely costly. The season opener in Baltimore is 27 days away. The Browns have only 13 padded practices remaining.
Wet and sloppy
Unlike Sunday, when a forecast for thunderstorms caused Stefanski to reschedule practice to avoid lightning, the coach practiced his team in a steady rain for 90 minutes – the time allowed by the union on the first day of wearing pads.
The result was a sloppy day for the offense.
The defense was fired-up and constantly poking out slippery balls. The offense was tentative, off kilter and plagued by negative plays.
In a 15-play sequence in team drills, the offense had approximately seven plays for positive yards – and most were minimal.
The defense, famously unheralded and overshadowed by the star power on offense, made negative stops in the run game on Chubb, Dontrell Hilliard, D’Ernest Johnson and Kareem Hunt. One Case Keenum pass was deflected and almost intercepted. Another for Donovan Peoples-Jones was incomplete when the rookie slipped and fell. Baker Mayfield had a short completion to Taywan Taylor and another one to Austin Hooper.
A deep Odell Beckham Jr. receiver option pass for Rashard Higgins was broken up by two defenders.
In other drills, Chubb had the ball poked loose from behind by cornerback Greedy Williams, tight end David Njoku dropped a 5-yard pass in the middle of the field, and Mayfield overthrew Beckham sprinting behind the secondary.
Defenses are normally ahead of offenses early in camp, especially on the first day of live hitting. But this lame offensive performance had to be disheartening to Stefanski. And the Chubb injury was worst of all.
Cool rookie
Rookie fifth-round draft pick Nick Harris is not panicking about being thrown into the fire with the first team after Tretter needed a knee scoped.
Harris said he experienced something similar at University of Washington when he was expected to redshirt his freshman season but played in 12 games. Harris wound up starting 43 games in four college seasons.
“Obviously, it is a great opportunity to get thrown in the fire,” he said. “That is how you learn the best. That is how you get the best reps is going against ones on ones. I am definitely fortunate to have the opportunity to get my feet wet and get out there with the guys. As for me, this whole process is not new.
“Going into college, I kind of was thrown into the fire too as a true freshman so I know how to handle these situations. You are going to make mistakes. Just minimize those mistakes being made, learn from the guys around you that have played a little bit and at the end of the day, just play fast. If you mess up playing fast, at least you are showing that you care about what you are doing. That is kind of the mindset I have going about training camp so far.”
Brownie bits …
Harris’ draft status may have been hurt by his 6-1 height. He sees it as an advantage. “I think it helps me … with leverage. It helps with my hands and hat placement. I have natural knee bend to where guys have to be coached to bend their knees when I can just already do it. It helps my lateral quickness,” he said. “On paper, if I was 6-4, it would sound better, but I think functionally, if you really know the intricacies of playing this position, I have the ideal build, I think, and I think other people also would think that.” …
Count veteran defensive end Olivier Vernon among those believing the Browns learned a valuable lesson during their 6-10 season last year. “You have to earn, scratch and claw to get a win,” Vernon said. “It is not going to come easy and no teams are going to just fold for you just because you are projected to make freaking run to the damn Super Bowl. If anything, it is going to be even harder for you. As far as the maturity level and having those expectations, too, I feel like that kind of got misconstrued so when the season did start and did not start off the way we wanted it to, especially when I remember one of the first games, I do not know how many penalties we had [18], but I had never been a part of any football like that in my life. Seeing that, we needed a lot more discipline.” …
Stefanski confirmed that offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt communicates the scripted plays to the quarterbacks at practice, but he fell short of saying that Van Pelt would be the play-caller on game days. “We are working through that and will announce that when it is appropriate,” Stefanski said.