Twenty takes on the upcoming training camp.
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
One in a series of articles previewing Browns training camp …
Saturday marks the 25th training camp since the Browns returned as an expansion franchise in 1999. Here are 20 takeaways about what lies ahead.
(I could have gone to 25, but tomorrow is another day.)
What's not to like about this look? (Cleveland Browns)
1. The alternative white helmet – to be worn in Game 2 at Pittsburgh against the Steelers, Game 5 at home against the 49ers and Game 16 at home against the Jets – will prove so popular, the franchise should start conversations now about making it the team’s permanent helmet. I mean, there is no argument to be had for keeping the orange helmet. Nothing rhymes with orange, and nothing matches with orange.2. As part of a “white out series” promotion, the Browns will wear the same all-white uniform with brown numbers shadowed in orange that they designed as a “throwback” ensemble in 2021. The truth is, the clean white helmets would be a handsome match with any of their uniform options – brown jersey/white pants, white jersey/brown pants, and white or brown with orange pants.
3. Note to Uniform Police Capt. J. W. Johnson: Please retire the orange jerseys and don’t ever, ever, consider an orange/orange look.
4. The Browns are spending nine days and eight nights at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WVA. Per the league’s labor agreement, NFL players receive a day off every fifth day (not including days before and after preseason games). Coach Kevin Stefanski is planning some kind of bonding activity for probably Wednesday, July 26.
5. The Greenbrier Website lists 55 indoor and outdoor activities available at the opulent resort. Among them: Fly fishing for trout and bass, trap and skeet shooting, white water rafting, horseback riding, and an Escape Room Challenge inside the mammoth, since-declassified, Cold War-era nuclear “relocation” bomb shelter buried 20 feet below the property’s 6,500 acres. Somehow, I don’t think a night at the resort’s bowling alley is going to cut it.
6. The resort’s on-site casino will be off limits to all club personnel, I’m told.
7. The labor agreement, thanks to NFLPA President JC Tretter, the former Browns center, calls for a slow ramp-up of five light practices before players can practice in full pads. Thus, the Browns will have only two padded practices on the Greenbrier’s manicured fields.
8. If he follows past form, Stefanski will play regulars sparingly in the preseason to reduce the risk of injury. So get ready to see a lot of quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and running back Hassan Hall on offense, and tackles Maurice Hurst and Trysten Hill on defense.
9. The four-game pre-season slate makes for an interesting dilemma for Stefanski. With three games last summer, Stefanski did not play replacement starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett until the third and final game – 15 days before the season opener. One reason was because he worked his regulars hard for two days in joint practices against the Eagles and did not play any regulars in Preseason Game 2, per agreement with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.
10. If Stefanski elects not to play Deshaun Watson in Preseason Game 3 against the Eagles this summer and Preseason Game 4 against the Chiefs, it would mean a span of 30 days from Preseason Game 2 on August 11 until the season-opener on September 10. A 30-day layoff from live game action is no way to prepare your starting quarterback for the gauntlet of division foes awaiting in the season’s first month. For that reason, I would expect Watson – and all starters – to play in the final game against the Chiefs on August 26.
11. Like last summer, the peak of training camp comes in the two practices against the Eagles, this time in Philadelphia, on August 14-15.
12. Last year’s practices v. the Eagles were notable for two things: 1. The Eagles clearly resembled a Super Bowl contender and displayed a fairly large gap ahead of the Browns, and 2. It was when rookie cornerback Martin Emerson surpassed Greedy Williams as the starting outside cornerback opposite Denzel Ward when Greg Newsome ducked inside to play the slot. It’s probable that a couple roles – or roster spots -- could be decided in Philadelphia this year.
13. The way I see it, Emerson v. Newsome for CB2 is the biggest position battle this summer. I suppose the only other one is the starting defensive tackle spot next to Dalvin Tomlinson. It’s Jordan Elliott v. the field.
14. Coincidentally, Williams will be wearing the Eagles uniform when the teams meet this year. Philadelphia signed the John Dorsey second-round draft pick to a one-year prove-it deal worth $1.35 million. The Eagles guaranteed $600,000, so it’s likely Williams will make the 53 cut. He’s listed behind starter Darius Slay on an unofficial Eagles depth chart.
15. The Browns should see another ex-teammate in the preseason. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett signed with Washington for one year at $8 million. Although $7.5 million is guaranteed, Brissett is listed No. 2 behind 2022 fifth-round draft pick Sam Howell. Brissett figures to get playing time in Preseason Game 2 in Browns Stadium. In Brissett’s last start for the Browns on November 27, he outplayed Tom Brady in perhaps his most satisfying NFL game.
16. Among the players scheduled to report to Berea on Wednesday – two days before the bulk of the roster – are rookies, quarterbacks and selected injured players. The Browns will have to declare the status of previously injured players at the start of camp. At OTAs and minicamp, return specialist Jakeem Grant, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and linebacker Jacob Phillips were dressed and active. Linebackers Anthony Walker and Sione Takitaki were not. It’s possible they will start camp on preseason PUP (physically unable to play), which means they won’t practice until medically cleared. If they begin the regular season on PUP after the 53 cut, they would automatically miss six games. No word yet on which categories they will start the summer.
17. Receiver Michael Woods is out for the season after suffering an Achilles tendon rupture in an unofficial workout with Watson in Texas in April.
18. Whatever happened to plans to commemorate the life and career of Jim Brown, who passed away on May 18? Logistics have been a problem. The Browns could make an announcement soon. There has been talk about a commemoration during Hall of Fame Weekend.
19. The Hall of Fame will announce the cutdown of senior candidates for the Class of 2024 from 31 to 12 on July 26. If Clay Matthews makes that cut, he will have a 1 in 4 chance of making it to Canton next year. The 12 semifinalists will be pared to three in August. The surviving three move to the finalist round in January and it’s almost assured all three would pass the overall 80 percent vote of the entire selection committee.
20. The Browns will hold a morning practice on August 5. That will give players ample time to travel down to Canton for the Joe Thomas enshrinement ceremony. The ceremonies begin at noon. Thomas will be the ninth and final inductee to speak. Stefanski has not disclosed any plans for the team to honor Thomas on his big day. It would seem a no-brainer for the entire Browns roster of 90 to be on hand. That would be a sight to behold if all 90 wore their jerseys. But that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.
