Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney made his Browns practice debut a successful one. (Cleveland Browns)
Perfect attendance on a near-perfect first day of Browns minicamp
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from the first day of Browns minicamp and interviews …
All in all, Day 1 of Kevin Stefanski’s first-ever mandatory minicamp as Browns coach was as close to perfect as football in June can be.
* On his first day in uniform since suffering a torn ACL on Oct. 25, Odell Beckham Jr. participated in position drills and caught a few passes “on air” – without a cornerback in pursuit. Stefanski wouldn’t officially proclaim Beckham Jr. ready to practice fully for the first training camp practice in six weeks, but it’s rare for a player coming off injury to be cleared to practice in minicamp but not at the start of training camp.
“I think we will see. He looked good today,” said the ever-careful coach.
* On their first days in Browns uniforms, ends Jadeveon Clowney and Takk McKinley participated fully and showed no signs of restraint after their respective injuries last year. Clowney had surgery in September on a torn meniscus and McKinley missed most of last season with a Grade 2 groin strain. Not only were the two free agent pickups extremely energetic in position drills, they actively engaged with their new teammates after skipping voluntary OTA workouts.
“They were meeting some guys for the first time today,” Stefanski said. “I thought it was really good for those guys to be around each other. Particularly the defensive line, I think it is a competitive group. [Assistant coaches Chris Kiffin and Jeremy Garrett] push them, and I think you see in their individual drills they are having fun. It is a high-energy group.”
* Prior to the two-hour work on the field, running back Nick Chubb and cornerback Denzel Ward disclosed in Zoom room interviews that their agents have engaged in early talks with the Browns about contract extensions. Chubb is entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract and Ward is eligible for an extension after the Browns picked up his fifth-year option for 2022.
Both players expressed their desire to stay with the Browns and said they would let their agents handle business so they can concentrate on their jobs.
“I know whatever happens will happen for the best of me, and I trust and believe in that,” Chubb said. “Cleveland drafted me [three] years ago, trusted me and put their faith in me to come here and help build this culture of this team I have been a part of it. I feel like, yeah, Cleveland is where I want to be and hope everything can work out in that direction. I do not like uncertainty, and I know here in Cleveland what I have with the players and coaches.”
Ward said, “Perfect world, I would definitely want to be a Brown for my entire career. I am from Cleveland. The team that drafted me. The team that believed in me coming out of college and I take a lot of pride and respect into that. Just want to give my all to this team. It is definitely a place I would want to be. I enjoy being a Cleveland Brown and giving them everything I got.”
* Center JC Tretter, the NFLPA president who urged players not to attend voluntary camps across the league in order to promote a better way of preparing teams in the spring, commended Stefanski for listening to his players and modifying his offseason program with less physical work.
“I think what we did really well is we had really good communication throughout,” Tretter said. “I would not really classify anything as a ‘negotiation’ with what we did. Kevin came to us with his plan laid out. We had never had an offseason with Kevin so we did not know how Kevin usually holds an offseason program. Kevin laid out a plan, especially to the leadership and the older players asking questions just for clarifications.
“After that, we let everybody know that this was a decision that each individual player was going to make. We are not making or we are not telling anybody that they can’t go; we are not telling anybody they have to go. This is a voluntary program, and … you make the decision on what you feel is right. We made it clear to everybody when we get back here in person for mandatory stuff, you have to be ready to go.
"If you feel like you are going to be more ready to go by staying where you are, training where you are and doing it on your own time, then do that because that is better for the team. If you feel like you want to be in the building doing things here and that is what is going to get you ready to go when we get to mandatory stuff, then do that.
“There was no – I do not think – pressure to do either. We know the type of guy Kevin is and this organization so we knew he was not going to kill us; he was going to have a pretty good program put into place. Once we saw it, it was just each person’s decision under the CBA to volunteer to go or volunteer not to go.”
Brownie bits
* Tretter said he considered it a “win” for the union that 20+ teams had high attendance in OTAs after negotiating lighter work schedules with their head coaches. “Our goal and our hope is to make the offseason better,” he said. “We know that the vast majority of players realize and understand that the offseason is kind of an archaic model and it is not in the best interest of the health and safety of the players. I think you see that when these teams agreed to walk-throughs only, sandals for walk-throughs, no helmets, no competitive periods, less time on the field, no meetings, less meetings or cancelled minicamps, those are all positive things for players. I would say that is a win. It seems like the coaches are at least aware of the issues at hand. If we want to talk about success, I think this is the first time in a long time players felt like they actually had a choice. I think we created an environment that allowed guys to make a clear, honest decision of whether they should [participate].” …
* All 90 players on the roster were in attendance. The only four working out with trainers due to previous injuries were offensive lineman Chris Hubbard (ACL surgery), wide receiver Anthony Schwartz (leg), linebacker Tony Fields (foot) and defensive lineman Malik McDowell (soft tissue) …
* On the Zoom call, Stefanski formally was presented the Pro Football Writers of America coach-of-the-year award by PFWA president Lindsay Jones of The Athletic …
* Stefanski is dealing with adapting the pace and intensity of spring practice to the changing times. “We are trying to be really smart about our pace, particularly when we are in team periods,” he said. “I think the days of going full speed in those periods, it just does not make sense. There is injury data to back that up, and just thinking about helmets and shoulders, the guys are not wearing shoulder pads so it is hard to protect themselves. We feel like we can go full speed in individual to work on our technique, and we can go full speed in seven-on-seven and take care of each other and stay away from collisions. When we get to those team drills, we are really putting an emphasis on alignment, assignment and communication, and then we are just going to slow it down post-snap.” In team drills, Baker Mayfield threw no passes; he just called the play, made his dropback and held the ball.
