MJ Emerson talked earlier in the day of training hard and eating right to toughen his body after a season of nagging injuries. And then this happened. (Nick Carlucci/ESPN Cleveland)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
The first major injury of camp was suffered by cornerback Martin "MJ" Emerson, and it sent a chill through the thick, suffocating, late-summer haze.
Emerson went down without contact while covering receiver Diontae Johnson in a 7-on-7 period. He immediately grabbed his left leg before ripping off his helmet and banging it on the grass.
By the time teammates and coaches surrounded Emerson with the medical cart on its way, they all knew the injury was to Emerson’s left Achilles tendon.
An imaging test on Wednesday will reveal the extent of damage. Judging from the pain Emerson experienced, the injury looked severe.
Ironically, Emerson spoke in the media tent prior to practice about training hard in the offseason, adding six pounds of muscle to his upper body, to better condition himself for the rigors of a long NFL season. He said he was not healthy most of last season.
“I hit the weights way harder, worked on my endurance, worked on longevity, just everything I could think of that should improve my game and be better for the team, I did,” he said. “I had to just go back to the drawing board.”
Emerson, 25, is entering the last year of his rookie contract and could have scored a bigger second contract either with the Browns or via free agency with a big year.
A third-round draft pick in 2022, Emerson was a starter in 33 of 50 games he’s played with the Browns. He had four interceptions in 2023 and was determined to recapture that part of his game in 2025.
Without Emerson, the Browns are most likely to move Greg Newsome to full-time outside cornerback and audition the nickel back role from among cornerbacks Cam Mitchell and Nik Needham, and safeties Ronnie Hickman and Damontae Kazee.
Situational awareness
Quarterbacks repped in hurry-up situations over five periods. The highlight – or as it turned out, the lowlight – was an offensive drill in which the quarterbacks took the ball at the plus-30-yard line with 30 seconds on the clock and needing a touchdown to win.
Only rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders participated in this period, and here is what happened.
Gabriel took the second-team offense from the 30 to the 15-yard line on a 9-yard completion to DeAndre Carter and a 6-yard run by Ahmani Marshall. In between were incompletiona off the hands of tight end Blake Whiteheart and a through the hands of Marshall.
After spiking to stop the clock with :05 on the clock, Gabriel had one play to score the TD from the 15-yard line. The play called for four receivers running verticals to the end zone. Gabriel’s low, hard pass for Cedric Tillman was intercepted by Cam Mitchell at the goal line.
Sanders took the helm with the third team. His unit and he were overwhelmed.
Sanders was hurried on an incompletion intended for running back Pierre Strong, was virtually sacked on second down, had an incompletion on his third rep and finally completed a pass of 6 yards to tight end Sal Cannella on his fourth rep. With one last rep from the 29, Sanders was virtually sacked and unable to get a throw off.
It was the first exposure of the rookie QBs to the hurry-up drill. They will get better.
Numbers, please
Since the team practiced in shells, and not full pads, offensive linemen were at a disadvantage. Thus, all three quarterbacks suffered sacks and were under inordinate pressure to throw.
Joe Flacco was 8 of 11, including a picture-perfect pass off play-action to Diontae Johnson on a crossing route.
Dillon Gabriel was 10 of 16 with 1 interception. He was more accurate on the move than from the pocket.
Shedeur Sanders was 7 of 10. His best pass was to Gage Laravadain in the middle of the field after avoiding pressure and stepping into the throw.
Brownie bits
The loud Carson Schwesinger forearm takedown of running back Dylan Sampson on Tuesday was still a topic. Running backs coach Duce Staley barked, “[Sampson] didn’t get the damn pads down, and tell him I said that!” Stefanski said: “That was a good rep for Dylan Sampson to learn from, to keep his center of gravity as low to the ground as he can.” Sampson’s take: “It really wasn’t a big hit, for real. Obviously, we’re out there competing. Just gotta get back into the swing of things and stuff like that.” …
Running back Jerome Ford had his most complete practice of the summer and participated in all periods for the first time …
Tight end David Njoku and safety Grant Delpit did not participate ...
In a hurry-up drill with the intent of setting up a field goal, the coaches did not ask Dustin Hopkins to complete the deal. He merely swung his foot mimicking a kick.