Myles Garrett's jersey was torn in two places from all the holding he battled through. (Cleveland Browns)
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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.
Takeaways from Browns training camp Day 13 …
The good news for rookie defensive tackle Michael Hall was he was allowed by the Browns to return to work a day after pleading not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence.
The bad news for Hall is he was unable to finish the joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings. Three-quarters through the day, Hall walked off the field gingerly with two trainers.
The Browns had no medical update on Hall. An observer of his walk-off speculated he may have suffered a head injury.
As for the headache Hall caused for himself with his domestic violence incident, the Browns are taking the stance of “letting the legal proceedings play out.”
Coach Kevin Stefanski repeated that phrase six times when pressed about Hall.
Hall was released from Avon Municipal Court on Tuesday after posting $10,000 bond. His fiancée, who charged in the incident report that Hall threatened her with a gun to her cheek, was granted a protection order. A court hearing on the incident is scheduled for September 10.
Dee-fenses rule the day
On one field, the boisterous Browns’ defense was hootin’ and hollerin’ every Myles Garrett “sack,” M.J. Emerson denial of passes for Justin Jefferson, and Myles Harden interceptions, PBU and fumble recovery.
Sam Darnold suffered the brunt of Browns’ pass pressure, as the afternoon started with Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell delivering the news that rookie first-round pick J.J. McCarthy will be lost for the season after having surgery on a knee meniscus.
Garrett was held so desperately by Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw that his jersey was ripped in two different spots.
When Darnold finally beat Harden on a long ball to Trent Sherfield in the final period – on a play the Browns felt should have ended with on a sack – Jefferson exhorted cat calls at the Cleveland defense. To which safety Juan Thornhill retorted, “Y’ll get paid too. [Expletives] can’t catch a cold all day.”
On the other field, the Browns’ offense was out of synch much of the day, drawing at least six flags for false starts. Several other times, Deshaun Watson either was “sacked” or forced to throw away the ball or run with it.
“I think [protection problems were] two-fold,” said Stefanski, who spent the entire practice watching the new-look offense struggle. “I think they have good rushers, credit to them. I also think that front gives us way more variation than we’ve seen, so we need that work. We need to talk through it as an offensive line, tight end group, running back, quarterback, just get on the same page there. Those are all valuable conversations that we definitely need to have.”
Watson got the bulk of work in team periods with Jameis Winston the only other QB to take reps in team. Both suffered from a rotation of players at left tackle filling in for still-idle Jedrick Wills. James Hudson got first reps and was replaced by Germain Ifedi and Lorenzo Thompson.
“We need to be way better offensively from an operations standpoint,” Stefanski said. “That was not good. Some of it was the cadence, some of it – they weren’t false starts, some of them were that the tackles were aligned too deep at times. So those are all things that are correctable and we will correct them.”
He conceded the auditions at left tackle contributed, “[but] that’s no excuse.”
When Watson had success, it usually was throwing to tight end David Njoku. In one team period, Watson connected four times with Njoku, including perhaps his best play – a pass in deep middle of the field for about 25 yards.
Final piece of defensive Mount Rushmore
Before the joint practice, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s contract extension, in the works for weeks, was made official by the Browns.
Early reports pegged the extension at $39 million over three years with $25 million guaranteed. That $13 million average would rank him sixth among off-ball linebackers. But when you consider his 2024 scheduled salary, JOK averages out to $10.13 over the next four years, which drops him to eighth.
The real numbers will come out later, and who’s counting? He’s happy and the Browns are happy.
“When I walked into the building it was a good feeling just knowing [I have] stability, security,” JOK said. “Those things are big things for a young player that looks to do not only things on the field but also things off the field. Stability is something that’s very key for guys like me that want to get involved in the community, that want to take that responsibility to help solve problems. So I’m very glad for the opportunity and wish to honor the opportunity that I’ve been given.”
I posed to JOK that he now joins Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward and Grant Delpit – who’ve received large extensions from GM Andrew Berry – on the Mount Rushmore of the Browns’ defense.
“I’m not quite at those guys’ levels,” he replied. “I may be on one of the hills around Cleveland and they’re up there. But as time goes on, I look to be where they’re at. I like to transcend the mountain and continue to be the best player I can be.”
Brownie bits
The much-anticipated one-on-one battles between Denzel Ward and Jefferson didn’t take place because Ward was unable to practice. Ward had a collision covering Elijah Moore on Monday and entered concussion protocol, Stefanski said …
Stefanski said Wills did not suffer a setback in his recovery from MCL surgery in December. “No, he’s getting close, working very hard,” the coach said. There is a possibility Wills could be cleared off the PUP list next week, with a chance to play in the preseason finale in Seattle …
The Browns’ defensive performance was more impressive considering it was without starters Ward, defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and linebacker Jordan Hicks …
Running back Pierre Strong was shaken up on a “thud” hit by a Minnesota defender. Strong lost the ball and it was taken to the house by the Vikings, one of two fumbles forced by them on the day …
Cade York handled all the kickoffs in a kick coverage period. He improved over his performance in the Green Bay game and made sure all his kicks landed before the goal line.