Myles Garrett has emerged as a vocal leader of the Browns' social justice movement. (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 11 of Browns training camp …
For a few hours Thursday morning, it appeared the Browns could lose another valuable work day to circumstances out of their control.
False-positive Covid-19 results ruined Sunday’s practice. A slew of injuries disrupted Monday’s. Wednesday was an off day. And now, profound anger and grief over the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosh, WI, took over the team’s mindset.
League-wide, players took a cue from their brethren in the NBA, which canceled games on Wednesday night. Nine NFL teams canceled practices out of protest and pure grief. The Browns had to decide what to do.
In the morning, coach Kevin Stefanski met with the team’s social justice leadership committee of 11 players, including Myles Garrett, Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. After a walk-through, the entire team met on the outdoor field without Stefanski. The meeting lasted so long that water and Gatorade was sent out to the players.
“We were standing there just chopping it up and seeing what we can do, how we are going to move forward, what is the plan for the day and how are we going get better,” said Myles Garrett. “Do we want to practice today and what are we going to do today to make this dialogue continue and make change, increase its rate of change?”
Ultimately, the players decided, yes, they had to practice – they can’t fall further behind. They chose to cut the practice in half – to about 65 minutes – followed by more dialogue on furthering their efforts to effect change in their community.
“I am really proud of those guys,” Stefanski said. “I am proud of the leaders on this football team.”
Prior to practice, I asked Stefanski if all the interruptions and disruptions in this training camp is causing him concern about getting his team properly prepared for the opener in Baltimore on Setp. 13.
“I am in the moment,” he answered, “and what this moment calls for is dialogue and unity. I think we are getting that in a bunch of ways from this football team. That is what I really appreciate about the guys we have.”
Then the Browns went out and had perhaps their finest practice of the summer. It was only 65 minutes long, but the offense finally made more plays than the defense.
Myles in charge
Garrett has emerged as the outspoken, if soft-spoken, vocal leader of the Browns’ social justice movement.
After a morning of considerable dialogue on the course of action the team would take, Garrett volunteered to represent the players on the daily Zoom call with media. He was solemn and thoughtful and visibly shaken by yet another incident of police brutality against an African-American male. Blake was shot seven times in the back by a police officer, leaving him paralyzed.
“You do not know if justice is going to be served,” Garrett said. “All of that is going through your mind, and we are thinking how we can make a difference here and keep that from happening. That is kind of why we have abbreviated [practice] and why we are trying to all sit down in a group and brainstorm how we can keep things like that from happening and what can we do.”
Garrett said he intended to personally reach out to Blake’s family to express the Browns’ intent to see justice served.
“Right now, just looking around the sports world and what people are doing and just standing in solidarity with them because we want to have a unified message,” he said. “I believe it is our privilege as athletes to go out there and play in front of millions and have this platform. But I believe it is our responsibility as human beings to go out there and do our best for the people around us. I say do our best, I mean taking care of our community and using our platform to spread awareness and to spread information on our local governments and our local officials.”
Brownie bits
On the third play of a team drill, Garrett chased Baker Mayfield and got close enough to probably earn a sack. Mayfield kept the play going and his pass was deflected and intercepted by linebacker Sione Takitaki …
On the first play, tight end Austin Hooper was tripped by linebacker Tae Davis. Hooper limped early on, but shook it off. Another time, a play was wasted on a false start. But the offense finally started clicking as practice wore on …
Case Keenum connected on a deep post to rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones in the end zone. Peoples-Jones continues to work his way up the receiver depth chart with catches on various routes. He also added kickoff return reps on Thursday …
Keenum had a good day and squeezed in several completions through tight windows during his reps …
In red zone drills, Mayfield had a classic look-right, throw-left TD pass to Rashard Higgins, who has come on of late …
Another day went by without an update on center JC Tretter, who’s recovering from knee surgery. More indication that Tretter can’t possibly make up lost practice time before the opener came when the Browns added center Jon Toth. Toth spent time on the practice squads of the Eagles (2017-18) and Jets (2018) and played in the XFL (2019). Toth will audition for a roster spot as rookie Nick Harris seems on track to start at center until Tretter is ready …
Kicker Austin Seibert nailed 7 of 8 field goals, including one from an estimated 50 yards with the team trying to distract him. His miss appeared to be from about 43 yards …
Stefanski is hoping to take the team to FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday to simulate game situations and conditions.