Second-year safety Sheldrick Redwine has been active in social justice dialogue, and now has a chance to be more active on the field. (Cleveland Browns)
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 12 of Browns training camp …
Abnormal continues to be the norm in 2020.
Usually, the days of training camp blend together as the routines of drills turn into repetitive drudgery. This year, no day is like the one before.
Capping off the end of a tumultuous week, the Browns were forced indoors when storms ravaged Berea. This was the first exposure of the new coaching staff to conducting a practice in the fieldhouse.
The inconvenience this time was cramming an 80-player roster into the cramped confines of a 50-yard field reduced further by the conversion of approximately one-third of the space into a temporary weight room due to facility Covid-19 protocols.
Like everything else he has confronted, Kevin Stefanski made the best of a bad situation.
“I thought we got more done than I anticipated,” he said. “That place got bigger all of a sudden. I do not know how that worked. The tempo was high. They were moving around. It helped that we had some goal line, some red zone and some backed-up [periods], so we really were using that end of the end zone because there is a weight room on the other side. I really was pleased with what we were able to get done.”
The indoor practice was not open to media.
According to the team’s post-practice notes, the following players did not practice: linebacker Adrian Clayborn (groin), cornerback Kevin Johnson (liver), safety Karl Joseph (foot), receiver Jarvis Landry (hip), cornerback M.J. Stewart, (hamstring), center JC Tretter (knee), cornerback Greedy Williams (shoulder) and linebacker Mack Wilson (knee).
Receiver KhaDarel Hodge returned after missing a few days for undisclosed personal reasons. Also participating was receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, who walked off late in Thursday’s practice.
Pick party
Despite major losses to injury to three projected starters and assorted nicks that cost at least four defensive backs to miss several practices, the defense has consistently produced interceptions.
Not counting Friday’s closed session, the defense has picked off passes every day.
The offense says, “Who’s keeping score?” The defense might respond, “We are.”
“We track [interceptions] by the day,” said Jeff Howard, pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach. “But it is almost like next day, next opportunity mentality with the group, and it is like what have you done for me lately. We kind of keep that in the front of their minds that we are always hungry for more.
“We have done a good job of attacking the ball, and it has been something that we stress. It is something that I have been trying to teach. Looking for opportunities, and the more you search them out and the more you are looking for them, you tend to find them.”
Safety Sheldrick Redwine said, “We pride ourselves on tips and overthrows. There have been a lot of tips and overthrows that we got our hands on. Just relentless effort to the ball, and then just knowing if you keep running to the ball, eventually those players are going to come and they are going to fall into your hands. Just really running to the ball and just giving effort.”
Taking the next step
Redwine has shown growth in his second season, both on and off the field.
The John Dorsey fourth-round pick from Miami was appointed to the team’s social justice leadership committee by Stefanski because of the passion he showed for the subject.
Redwine said he learned stories of racial injustice from his grandfather, who told him of a relative who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan.
“Growing up hearing his stories about stuff, over time it just resonates with you, and then starting to see stuff myself as I got older, it is just something that I feel like change has to be done,” Redwine said.
Redwine has been an active and outspoken participant in the ongoing dialogue of the social justice committee to formulate a plan to effect change in racism and police reform.
“Being black in America is tough,” he said. “I go to the store – I have dreads and tattoos – and I get followed around stores. I have had run-ins with the police where I felt like I have been treated unfairly. I just feel like this time, it is something that we all deal with our entire life, and it is unavoidable and it is out there. I just want to bring knowledge to the situation.”
On the field, Redwine has an opportunity to get extended play time as a result of Grant Delpit’s season-ending Achilles injury.
“I feel like my rookie year was a good springboard for me,” he said. “I just feel like it is upon me to take the next step. It is really my time where I feel like I have to take the next step to where I can jump out on film and where I am moving like a blur, faster than everyone, being able to diagnose plays and being able to do that type of stuff because I know I have it in me. It is just time to show it.”