Shedeur Sanders got a jump on Browns rookies by arriving a week before minicamp and visiting some Northeast Ohio high schools.
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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.
The thing to keep in mind about Browns minicamp, which runs from Friday through Sunday, is that it’s not a competitive camp. It’s an instructional camp.
It’s not the beginning of the Dillon Gabriel v. Shedeur Sanders summer training camp quarterback competition – the undercard to the Joe Flacco v. Kenny Pickett competition for the likely starter’s role.
It’s freshman orientation.
It’s learning where in the Browns’ facility are the meetings rooms, the locker room, the weight room, the trainer’s room, the swim-X pool, the player’s lounge, the cryogenic chamber, the cafeteria, and the coaches offices.
It’s seeing their nameplate above their lockers for the first time. It’s learning how the Browns conduct pre-practice exercises.
It’s getting flooded with information in meetings and then trying to execute position drills to the satisfaction of position coaches.
It was at this camp two years ago when mammoth Dawand Jones and diminutive Bill Callahan went nose-to-nose after Jones felt the venerable offensive line coach was picking on him.
There were only two rookie offensive linemen at that camp, and Callahan was not giving Jones adequate recovery time between reps in footwork drills. Jones had to kneel down and yak and Callahan scolded Jones for taking his time. Jones felt Callahan was making an example of him and got in Callahan’s face. Neither Callahan, who was about 5-9, nor Jones, the biggest human on the Browns’ roster, backed down. An assistant coach had to separate them.
The Browns haven’t announced their full minicamp roster -- which includes seven draft picks, undrafted free agents and possible invited tryouts – but it will not have enough players to conduct anything beyond position drills.
Gabriel and Sanders will throw on air (against no defender) to receivers. And most likely they will line up simultaneously, removing the mystery of, “Who takes the first snap?”
The Browns have been mindful of Sanders’ immense celebrity and reports – right or wrong – of his sense of entitlement.
This is evidenced by the fact he was not ordained with his preferred jersey No. 2; he received No. 12. The Browns later explained it has always been their practice to give veterans first dibs on number choices. Veteran free agent pickup DeAndre Carter, the Browns said, chose No. 2 long before the draft. This is not restricted to Sanders. Gabriel wore No. 8 at Oregon but that number was previously chosen by Pickett; Gabriel received No. 5.
Gabriel and Sanders have not appeared in front of the Northeast Ohio media in person. All the other draft picks, except fourth-round running back Dylan Sampson, were flown in and introduced in person during the three-day draft weekend.
Yet Gabriel and Sanders won’t conduct in-person interviews outside the practice fields until Saturday. The reason? It’s been the Browns’ practice to give the higher picks first dibs at the outdoor podiums.
So Friday’s media interviews will involve only first pick Mason Graham, second pick Carson Schwesinger and third pick Quinshon Judkins, along with coach Kevin Stefanski.
It’s the first day of NFL school. According to the Browns, nothing will be given, everything will be earned.