New additions at offensive tackle -- Joshua Miles (No. 66) and Tyre Phillip -- sporting the brown alternative helmet the Browns will wear Sunday in the game against the Packers. (Cleveland Browns)
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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.
Offensive tackle has been a position of concern for the Browns, for different reasons, and it appears the coaches are contemplating changes.
Here’s the latest, as the Browns prepare for edge rusher extraordinaire Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay is second in the NFL with eight quarterback sacks and is first in quarterback hurries.
* Kevin Stefanski said left tackle Dawand Jones was replaced on two series in Baltimore by KT Leveston for “heat-related” reasons and not for performance. But Jones said he suffered no symptoms during the game and it was “coach’s decision” to remove him. Jones sat out for 10 of the 73 offensive snaps.
“I wasn’t dehydrated,” Jones said. “It was just coach’s precaution to take me out. It was nothing wrong with me. He just wanted to make sure I was OK for the rest of the game. Honestly, it was just up to Coach Stefanski. There is nothing I really can control.”
Jones was flagged for a false start on the Browns’ first offensive possession. It was his fifth penalty in two games.
* Right tackle Jack Conklin, who missed the Baltimore game with an elbow injury, returned to practice on a limited basis.
Conklin also had to leave Game 1 against Cincinnati because of a poke in the eye after 20 offensive snaps. On both occasions, Conklin was ably replaced by veteran lineman Cornelius Lucas.
* Meantime, the Browns added two veteran offensive tackles, Joshua Miles and Tyre Phillips, to their practice squad.
Miles was a seventh-round draft pick of Arizona in 2019 and has appeared in 18 career games with the Cardinals and Giants. Phillips was a third-round pick of Baltimore in 2020 and has appeared in 47 games with the Ravens and Giants.
Stefanski declined to say if the additions were the result of concern with Jones’ performance and Conklin’s durability.
“You’re constantly adding guys, some young, some older, to the roster,” Stefanski said. “You’re constantly looking at ways to improve it. But we’re confident that Jack will continue to get better.”
* Jones has struggled so far in his conversion to the left side of the line after playing mostly right tackle at Ohio State and in his Browns career.
There is the option of moving Jones back to right tackle. But the Browns might be hesitant to make that switch because they could soon be playing Dillon Gabriel at quarterback. Being a left-hander, Gabriel’s blind side would then be protected by the right tackle.
No change at QB
In post-game comments in Baltimore and then on Monday, Stefanski was fairly clear that he has no intention of replacing Joe Flacco with Gabriel just yet.
So I posed the question a different way and asked that, given Gabriel’s impressive showings the last two times he’s been on the field – in the preseason finale v. the Rams and for one scoring drive v. the Ravens – has the rookie whetted his appetite to see more of him in game situations.
“That’s not our focus,” Stefanski answered. “Our focus is to put a game plan together and try to beat a really good Packers team.”
No. 10 is No. 1
After only two practices and one game since June, the Browns are making the commitment to Quinshon Judkins as their feature running back.
Despite missing all of training camp and preseason to deal with domestic abuse charges, which were dropped by Fort Lauderdale, FL, authorities, Judkins had 13 touches in only 20 offensive snaps in Baltimore. Judkins rushed 10 times for 61 yards and caught three passes for 10 yards.
“He did great,” Stefanski said. “Want to continue to bring him along from a conditioning standpoint, understanding all the nuances of the scheme. So, that will only grow each week.”
Flacco was impressed.
“I think it’s exciting for him and the thing last week is, you know, we all got to go through training camp and a couple game installs and things like that. And he’s showing up last week and he’s trying to pick up as much as he can and you know, your head has to be spinning a little bit,” he said. “So the exciting thing this week is that he’s going to get to sit in every single meeting, go out and do walk-throughs, every single walk-through, go out and practice, get the reps.
“I think he’s got a lot of talent, so that’s what’s exciting for us, is just to get an explosive guy some touches and see what he can do with it.”
Brownie bits
As expected, the Browns re-signed training camp receiver sensation Gage Larvadain to the practice squad. He was waived on Saturday to make room for Judkins on the roster. Another practice squad addition was cornerback Tre Avery …
Denzel Ward was at a lost to explain how he could be limited to 20 snaps in Baltimore due to dehydration. Conditions in training camp, particularly in the two joint practices in Philadelphia, were extremely sweltering all summer, yet there were no cases of dehydration. How does that happen with all the sports scientists employed by the club? “We’re human,” Ward said with a shrug. “I don’t know … that’s life. The human body still happens. You got to find a way to get through it.” …
Receiver Jerry Jeudy disagreed that Browns receivers had difficulty separating from Ravens coverage in Baltimore. “Watch the film and come back to me,” he said to a reporter questioning him …
Punter Corey Bojorquez’s right ankle was banged up on the Baltimore blocked punt in the second quarter. He punted only two other times in the game, with a limp, and dropped the ball at the Ravens’ 9- and 4-yard lines. “It could have been worse,” Bojorquez said of the injury.