Odell Beckham Jr. is healthy and happy so far in his second Browns training camp. (Bloomberg)
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Day 10 of Browns training camp …
Rookie safety Grant Delpit’s first season with the Browns is over before it started. The team confirmed Delpit will have surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon and will be out for the year.
Three other prominent players remain out indefinitely. The club had no updates on center JC Tretter (knee) and linebacker Mack Wilson (knee). Cornerback Kevin Johnson (lacerated liver) did watch practice in uniform on Tuesday, offering some hope that he might return soon.
Still, there was a slew of others who missed the last practice before the players’ second off day of camp. When they return on Thursday you wonder what frame of mind the team will be in.
Injuries are demoralizing.
“I think we have a resilient bunch,” said coach Kevin Stefanski. “I think that they have all been on teams throughout their lives where injuries occur. It does not make us like it. I feel awful for guys that have long-term injuries. Then other guys, you are going to get nicked up, you push through it, you get your treatment and you are back out there. I do not worry about the mentality though of our team.”
The injuries – plus a batch of false-positive Covid-19 results on Saturday – have disrupted the rhythm of camp. Perhaps those are the main reasons the new offense has appeared slow in materializing. The day before, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said, “We are still trying to figure out who we really are. We did not have that time in spring.”
Through 10 practices – four of which were in full pads – the offense still has not run a full-speed two-minute drill. The next 10 days will be the most important because after that, the calendar shifts into regular-season mode the week of the Sept. 13 opener in Baltimore.
Prior to that, Stefanski hopes to stage two practices in FirstEnergy Stadium to better simulate game conditions and game energy.
Asked to assess the evolution of his team, Stefanski said, “I would say we are 10 days into it, 10 practices into it. You hit these rhythms and these beats of training camp. You get hot days out there like it was today and yesterday, you get a day off then you tell the guys, ‘Hey, we are right back out here after the off day in pads for another hard one.’ There is an element of the dog days of training, which everybody knows what that feels like and what that looks like.
“We just have to push through it. We are where we need to be from an installation standpoint. Guys are pushing through and getting into football shape as it may come in these next few weeks. I can’t peg it necessarily, but I can just tell you that we are kind of hitting all the mileposts.”
OBJ upbeat
Although his body language on the practice field reflected another halting practice day for the offense, receiver Odell Beckham Jr. expressed a degree of comfort about his second Browns camp. A year ago at this time, Beckham was still shaken by the trade from the Giants and was stymied by a difficult-to-diagnose core muscle injury.
“Definitely feeling a lot better than last year,” Beckham said in his first Zoom call of the summer. “Really had a great offseason as far as preparation and work. Just thankful to be able to be back out there and practice and do the things that I love. Most importantly, just taking it one day at a time, finding a way to attack and win each day and just be 1-0.”
Beckham said he is comfortable being able to work on his home in Olmsted Falls, feels good that chemistry with quarterback Baker Mayfield is improved, and is looking forward to running Stefanski’s offense, which he admired from afar.
“The things that they have done for years [in Minnesota], it is truly impressive,” he said. “I always was kind of wondering who was the one behind this, and we end up getting the guy. There is definitely something to look forward to.
“I would love to sit here and be like, ‘Oh, the offensive is going to do…’ Until Week 1, 2, 3, 16 and until you have seen what it does, I can’t sit here and tell you what is going to happen. As far as hopes and expectations for it, I am very excited for what we have in front of us.”
Brownie bits …
In a team two-minute drill against the No. 2 defense run at half-speed, the No. 1 offense was stalled without a field goal try after four Mayfield incompletions and a false-start penalty. Then in a red zone drill, Mayfield needed only one play to connect with Rashard Higgins breaking into the end zone …
Strong safety Karl Joseph had two interceptions. He picked off a deflection off Jarvis Landry’s hands thrown by Mayfield and Case Keenum throwing deep on the last play of his two-minute drill …
The Browns put Delpit on injured reserve and filled his spot with defensive end Curtis Weaver, a fifth-round draft choice of the Dolphins who was waived/injured with a foot injury …
With the threat of the coronavirus incapacitating players from all position groups, the Browns worked rookie tight end Harrison Bryant and backup fullback Johnny Stanton as long snappers after practice.