For the second game in a row, Deshaun Watson led the cheers for backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs.
Joshua Dobbs is looking like a keeper after another good preseason showing
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
It’s mind-boggling that we would be extolling the virtues of one Joshua Dobbs with two-thirds of the Browns’ exhibition season in the books … but here we are. It could be worse.
Dobbs -- who prefers Joshua in print, but it’s OK to call him Josh – was highly credible again in his second preseason outing. He started at quarterback and, with all regulars sitting out, led the Browns second-team offense to two field goals and two touchdowns in four series.
The Browns lost the practice game, 21-20, to the Philadelphia Eagles when their No. 3 quarterback, Reid Sinnett, heaved a 55-yard touchdown to 27-year-old rookie Devon Allen, a two-time Olympic finalist in the 110-meter hurdles who last played football for Oregon in 2016. The Browns’ secondary was depleted by then, having absorbed three in-game injuries while resting their top three cornerbacks.
So you have to be careful about what you see out there when teams sit all of their regular players.
Still, Dobbs was surprisingly good for the second preseason game in a row. The afterthought acquisition after Deshaun Watson and Jacoby Brissett in the Browns’ overhauled quarterback room now has produced 33 points in eight series. Watson was a mess in three series in Jacksonville and Brissett has yet to play.
Dobbs, a fourth-round draft pick of the Steelers in 2017, has thrown 17 passes in regular-season games. He missed all of last year with Jacksonville after a preseason foot injury. He hasn’t played this much in preseason since his rookie year, he said. He got very few snaps in the two days of joint practices with the Eagles behind Brissett and Watson.
While outside experts scream for GM Andrew Berry to make a move on San Francisco’s available Jimmy Garoppolo to hedge against Watson’s 11-game suspension, Dobbs’ play is an argument to stand pat.
“I’d say I’m playing well,” Dobbs said. “I’m doing everything that I expect myself to do. If I do that, I’m going to be in the right position.”
Dobbs threw accurately (14 of 20 for 141 yards, including one drop apiece by Anthony Schwartz and David Bell, 89.8 rating) and ran determinedly.
He tied the score on his first series with his legs. First he scrambled from pressure, broke away to the left sideline, tight-roped it to stay in bounds, and came down at the Eagles’ 6 after a 36-yard run. On the next play from the 3 after an Eagles penalty, Dobbs dropped the shotgun snap from fill-in center Michael Dunn – making his professional debut at the position – and completed the same inside run to the end zone planned for D’Ernest Johnson.
“I thought Dobbsie has given us some real good reps going back to the spring,” said coach Kevin Stefanski. “He’s done a nice job running the huddle and he’s very athletic, and that shows up in games more than practices. Always good to see him making plays with his feet.”
Asked if that element was a priority when the Browns blew up their quarterback room from last season, Stefanski said, “I wouldn’t go so far to say that.”
Of course, that contradicted what the coach said when discussing the revamped QB roster in spring.
Stefanski also contradicted himself when discussing two curious decisions in this practice game, which proves coaches need preseason games, too, to sharpen their decision-making. Stefanski still is working on that.
At the end of the first half, Dobbs executed a good two-minute drive, moving the Browns from his 4-yard line to the Eagles 1. Dobbs’ incompletion in the end zone for receiver Mike Harley stopped the clock with 1 second left. Rather than go for it, Stefanski called on rookie sensation Cade York to test his acumen at a 19-yard chip shot, which was good.
“I did [think of going for the touchdown],” Stefanski said. “I think in a normal game you do things differently. In this case, we took one shot in the end zone. We don’t love to kick those short field goals but it is an operation [to practice].”
Yet with 3:09 to play and the Browns down, 21-20, Stefanski kept York from attempting a 65-yard field goal into the Dawg Pound. York had made one from 63 yards in pre-game warmups. York made one from 50 yards in the first half and missed from 55 when his kick banged high off the right upright. Why not test your stud kicker’s length in a practice game, coach?
After the game, York agreed, “Sure, why not? We had the kicking team up.”
But Stefanski instead greenlighted a play for No. 4 quarterback Josh Rosen on fourth-and-9 from the Eagles’ 47. He’s still going for fourth downs beyond 3 or 4 yards?
“I felt we needed some reps on offense there,” the coach said.
Rosen’s pass for Javon Wims fired into the soggy grass.
Overall, the Browns got some encouraging play from Schwartz and Bell, despite one drop apiece. Schwartz caught both of his other two targets for 20 yards total and Bell was 3 for 3 for 46 yards, including one for 22.
Bell caught everything back in OTAs, but he’s not been as sure-handed in practice.
“I don’t think my eyes were too locked in on the pass,” he said, candidly. “My eyes were worried about something else. I was worried about that defender coming to hit me.
“You’re always supposed to look the ball in. I thought I could do two things at once. But as a receiver, the No. 1 thing is to catch the football instead of trying to get the yards after. Unfortunately, I dropped that, but I’m going to get it back next week. First game back. A lot of jitters out there.”
Defensively, the Browns improved as the game wore on after relinquishing grind-it-out touchdown drives of 14 and 17 plays on the Eagles’ first two offensive series. There were no defensive takeaways, however, and only one sack turned in by end Curtis Weaver.
