After an unimpressive first day, analysts, and NFL teams, want to see Jalen Milroe and Jaxson Dart air it out in future Senior Bowl practices.
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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 Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, AL …
* Andrew Berry reiterates Myles Garrett isn’t going anywhere.
* Not a great day for the quarterbacks.
* Bubba Ventrone reveling in head coach role.
* Kevin Stefanski names a quarterbacks coach.
1. For some reason, nobody believed Andrew Berry earlier this month when he insisted that he had no intention of “getting rid of” any of the team’s “cornerstone” players, and that he expected Myles Garrett would go “from Cleveland to Canton” and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Nevertheless, when Northeast Ohio reporters cornered Berry taking in the practices in Hancock Whitney Stadium, the Browns GM was confronted with questions about trading Garrett. According to the Browns Website, Berry answered, “We feel really good about Myles obviously as a big piece of our future. We're looking forward to him being on the field. Like I said in my press conference, we envision him going from Cleveland to Canton when his career is over.” Asked if he’d say “not interested” to an offer of two No. 1 draft picks for Garrett, Berry replied, “Correct. You can put that on the record.” I’ve said since the season ended that the Browns intend to sign Garrett to a new contract that would make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. Berry rarely gives insight about future contracts but even he admitted on Tuesday “I think you can assume that we do anticipate at some point doing a third contract with Myles. We want him to retire here.” End of non-story.
2. It’s typical for quarterbacks to have their better practices after Day 1 at the Senior Bowl. In the case of the Browns looking for a new quarterback, they hope so. Neither Jalen Milroe nor Jaxson Dart was particularly impressive in the first practice. Like other teams, the Browns want to see Milroe be more accurate with ball placement than he was at Alabama and they want to see Dart be able to throw into tighter windows than he faced at Mississippi. None of that was on display on Day 1. Milroe reportedly struggled with accuracy in one-on-one periods and both he and Dart checked down underneath coverage on most of their reps in 7-on-7 and team periods. At one point, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said in exasperation, “Waiting to see Jaxson Dart if he can just let one rip. You want to see him drive it, don't you?” Both Jeremiah and analyst Charles Davis surmised that the rule of the day was to get the quarterbacks comfortable just completing short passes and they would air it out as the week progressed. In his synopsis of the QBs, SiriusXM analyst Rick Neuheisel said the most impressive on Day 1 was Seth Henigan of Memphis. Seth Henigan? Egads.
3. Bubba Ventrone interviewed for the Indianapolis Colts head coach job in 2023 before joining the Browns as special teams coordinator. This week he’s coaching the American team (with Milroe and Dart as two of his four QBs) at the Senior Bowl. Ventrone’s energy was termed “super contagious” by Dart in an interview with Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. NFL Network’s coverage of the practices captured Ventrone being very vocal between practice periods. In an interview on NFL Network, Ventrone was asked if coach Kevin Stefanski mentioned anything about finding a quarterback for the Browns. “[There’s] a lot of guys that I'm looking at,” Ventrone answered. “I really do have a lot of guys that I'm looking at. Quarterbacks are some of them. So, yeah, we're excited to evaluate all these talented players.” So Ventrone has already mastered one function of NFL head coaching: Tell the media as little as possible.
4. Stefanski confirmed on SiriusXM that he has named senior assistant Bill Musgrave the team’s quarterbacks coach. Musgrave, 57, has been an offensive coordinator with six NFL teams, including the Minnesota Vikings when Stefanski broke in with that franchise. Stefanski confirmed he wanted to move a trusted, experienced coach to the quarterback room to assist young offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. Musgrave is only the second coach to hold the title in Stefanski’s six years as Browns coach. The other was Drew Petzing in 2022. By the way, Rees is not with Stefanski at the Senior Bowl.