Fresh Brownies: ‘Freak of nature’ in first place in race to replace Joe Thomas
A dozen (mostly) quick takes from Browns mandatory minicamp, where Baker Mayfield is falling into like behind Tyrod Taylor, Matthew Dayes is trying to beat the odds, and Denzel Ward isn’t always hanging with Josh Gordon. 1, “Freak of nature” Shon Coleman is intent on fighting off a challenge from prized rookie Austin Corbett in the battle to replace left tackle Joe Thomas. Coleman’s ascent as a left tackle at Auburn was slowed by a bout with leukemia. He was an older rookie when the Browns drafted him in the third round in 2016, and he will turn 27 in November. Guard Kevin Zeitler said the 6-foot-7, 315-pound Coleman is doing well in his transition from 16 starts at right tackle last year to being the frontrunner at Thomas’ old spot. “Shon is a freak of nature,” Zeitler said. “He’s so strong. He can take a man and lift him and throw him 10 yards.” Previous
2/2 Hide caption Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson watches during practice at the NFL football team’s training camp facility, Tuesday, June 12, 2018, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
1/2 Hide caption Cleveland Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor passes during practice at the NFL football team’s training camp facility, Tuesday, June 12, 2018, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
2/2 Hide caption Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson watches during practice at the NFL football team’s training camp facility, Tuesday, June 12, 2018, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
1/2 Hide caption Cleveland Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor passes during practice at the NFL football team’s training camp facility, Tuesday, June 12, 2018, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
2/2 Hide caption Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson watches during practice at the NFL football team’s training camp facility, Tuesday, June 12, 2018, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak) Next
As a left tackle, Coleman’s main task would be to keep pass rushers from throwing Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield into the hospital. Coleman has plenty of experience at left tackle, where he was an Auburn starter in 2014 and ’15. 2, Coleman hasn’t won anything yet. Offensive line candidates are being tried at assorted positions during the three-day minicamp that opened Tuesday. Corbett, a rookie No. 32 overall pick able to play any line position, will go to training camp as a left tackle candidate. He saw some action Tuesday at right tackle and left guard. Chris Hubbard, the ex-Steeler likely to start at right tackle when the season arrives, got some snaps at left tackle. “It’s harder to try things like that when you get to training camp,” said head coach Hue Jackson. Jackson continues to say “the five best players” will occupy the five starting roles on Sept. 9 against Pittburgh. 3, It seemed the Browns had a surplus of offensive linemen after they signed seventh-year pro Donald Stephenson in March. Someone will be an odd man out. Perhaps that began to bother him. Stephenson has been absent from OTAs and did not show up for Tuesday’s “mandatory” minicamp practice. Jackson mentioned a possible fine, but indications are he will not be part of the 2018 Browns. Stephenson, a former Oklahoma Sooner, started 23 games for the Chiefs and Broncos across the last three seasons. Young blockers Spencer Drango and Rod Johnson, drafted before Dorsey took over as GM, still hope to make a mark. Drango (Round 5, 2016) started nine games at left tackle last year after Thomas got hurt.
Johnson (Round 5, 2017) spent his rookie year on injured reserve. He was a two-time ACC Offensive Lineman of the Year while at Florida State. 4, Jarvis Landry can’t think of a single receiver who reminds him of Josh Gordon. “He’s in a league of his own,” Landry said. “The way he can run routes separates him. I’ve never seen a guy his size who can get in and out of cuts like a small guy.” 5, Coaches have made sure all spring that Gordon is matched against rookie No. 4 overall pick Derek Ward during team drills. Ward’s speed is plain to see. He seems to glide in coverage. One time Tuesday, though, Gordon beat Ward badly on a quick slant and was open by 3 yards when Tyrod Taylor delivered the ball. 6, Landry adjusted to three offensive coordinators in his four seasons with the Dolphins, Bill Lazor, Zac Taylor and Clyde Christensen. His first impressions of Browns “OC” Todd Haley?
“Todd does a great job of getting playmakers the ball in space,” Landry said. “He’ll put in a gadget here, a gadget there. Generally, he’s going to spread the ball around.” 7, Tyrod Taylor entered spring practice ahead of Baker Mayfield, and there seems little question he will be the clear No. 1 going into training camp. “Players follow Tyrod,” Hue Jackson said. “To a man, they look to him. He’s displaying what a pro starting quarterback should look like in practice.” Mayfield seems to be carrying himself patiently, with a sense that his time will come. Jackson said Mayfield is wise to absorb “how Tyrod is carrying himself every day in the building.” 8, Lazor was in his first “OC” job when Landry worked with him in 2015. Lazor got fired in November of 2015 and landed in Cincinnati as quarterbacks coach. Early last season, the Bengals fired Ken Zampese as offensive coordinator and replaced him with Lazor. Zampese now is Cleveland’s quarterbacks coach.
9, Running back Matthew Dayes showed live legs while zig-zagging through the defense after catching a short pass from Drew Stanton Tuesday. It is hard to see Dayes, making the team, given the presence of one back who started throughout the 49ers’ five-game win streak to end the 2017 season (Carlos Hyde), another back whom John Dorsey liked well enough to burn a No. 35 overall pick (Nick Chubb), and Duke Johnson. 10, Jackson said there will be meaty roles for Hyde, Chubb and Johnson. It’s just hard to envision what that will look like. The team views Chubb as a starter sooner rather than later across the next four years. Meanwhile, Hyde and Johnson are working under practically the same contract. Hyde signed in March for three years and $15.3 million, with $8 million guaranteed. Johnson signed an extension last week, three years, $15.7 million, with $7.7 guaranteed. Jackson was all smiles over keeping Johnson, who could have been a free agent after the season.
“We can put Duke in a lot of different places all over the field,” Jackson said. “I think he likes that.” 11, Derrick Kindred, a fourth-round pick in 2016, started 10 games at safety in 2017, but he is in a two-man race for the strong safety job in 2018, and Jabrill Peppers is likely to win the job. “Jabrill is going to have a sensational season,” Jackson said of the 2018 first-round pick. “I really believe that. But Kindred is not just going give it away.” 12, Rookie wideout Antonio Callaway and veteran linebacker Jamie Collins, men of intrigue on offense and defense, will be taking it easy throughout the three-day minicamp. Both are expected to be fully healthy for the start of training camp.
Injury report Cornerback Howard Wilson will miss his second consecutive NFL season before it started. Wilson had surgery on Tuesday for a torn left patellar tendon and is expected to be sidelined the entire 2018 season, a cruel blow for the former fourth-round pick who missed last season after breaking his kneecap in rookie minicamp and undergoing surgery. Wilson had not been practicing with the team during OTAs. The team also said punter Britton Colquitt and rookie defensive end Chad Thomas are sidelined after undergoing surgeries, but both should be back for training camp next month. Colquitt had surgery on his right (kicking) knee. The 33-year-old had a career-high 47.6-yard gross average last season, his second with the Browns. He also broke his own team record with a 40.6-yard net average. Thomas, a third-round pick from Miami, had sports hernia surgery.
Donald Stephenson remains absent from Browns, who vow to fine him Posted by Charean Williams on June 12, 2018, 5:49 PM EDT
Getty Images Donald Stephenson is $14,070 lighter in the wallet today. That’s how much the Browns can fine the offensive lineman for missing the first day of minicamp. According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Browns coach Hue Jackson confirmed the team will dock Stephenson, who will lose $84,435 for missing the entire minicamp. Jackson said last week that he would address Stephenson’s absence from organized team activities at the appropriate time. “That will come to a head pretty soon,” Jackson said Tuesday. The offensive lineman signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Browns in March and is expected to be the team’s swing tackle. But Jackson made it clear the Browns are not happy with Stephenson’s continued absence.
Looks like he might not be around here long.... I don't know why he won't just come in an compete, especially for a 1 year deal at 2.5 Million. Worst case is that he is cut and can go find another team.
yeah, strange situation. he probably knows he wont start or play and wants to be cut
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Color him gone IMO. Is it physical? Just need to be getting work in and be present.
If it is diva stuff or just snubbing his team, that can be fixed easily. Do we get any cap relief if we cut a player ignoring a "mandate" for performance?
"Every responsibility implies opportunity, and every opportunity implies responsibility." Otis Allen Glazebrook, 1880
Good idea, good post, and my thanks! Really concerned about tackles. Had no idea this kid was as strong as this. Sounds pretty incredible and pretty encouraging if he can move well.
I hope we are physically tougher after last year. We need to beat more folks up.
"Every responsibility implies opportunity, and every opportunity implies responsibility." Otis Allen Glazebrook, 1880
Color him gone IMO. Is it physical? Just need to be getting work in and be present.
If it is diva stuff or just snubbing his team, that can be fixed easily. Do we get any cap relief if we cut a player ignoring a "mandate" for performance?
I don't think there was any signing bonus or guarantees, so we won't need any relief.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
Color him gone IMO. Is it physical? Just need to be getting work in and be present.
If it is diva stuff or just snubbing his team, that can be fixed easily. Do we get any cap relief if we cut a player ignoring a "mandate" for performance?
I agree and I think that he probably feels like he is a longshot to make the cuts.
9, Running back Matthew Dayes showed live legs while zig-zagging through the defense after catching a short pass from Drew Stanton Tuesday. It is hard to see Dayes, making the team, given the presence of one back who started throughout the 49ers’ five-game win streak to end the 2017 season (Carlos Hyde), another back whom John Dorsey liked well enough to burn a No. 35 overall pick (Nick Chubb), and Duke Johnson.
His only chance, given all of the above are available, is @KR.
Also #25 Dontrell Hilliard, the UDFA RB, who is in the mold of a poor mans Duke Johnson, might offer a better (lightning) option as for depth, being that Hyde and Chubb are our thunder.
I could see him possibly making it to our PS and free up a roster spot for another position group.
1. Jabrill Peppers and Derrick Kindred are vying at SS
Peppers and incumbent strong safety Derrick Kindred alternated with the first team.
“It’s a good rotation,’’ said Jackson. “More so than anything, we have two very capable players that are playing that strong safety position. There’s competition throughout our football team and guys are going to have to earn what they get once we get to training camp. But it’s a good problem to have.
"Jabrill, I think, is going to have a sensational season. I really do. He’s working hard. He has been very vocal back there. But Derrick Kindred is not going to just give it away, so it is going to be fun to see.”
Kindred started 10 games at strong safety last year before landing on injured reserve with an injured wrist. Peppers started 13 game at free safety, but is now at his more natural spot.
2. Baker Mayfield still with the twos
As expected, Mayfield continued to work with the second-team offense behind Taylor and ahead of Drew Stanton. He’s also learning from Taylor’s work ethic.
“To see how Tyrod is every day in the building, you cannot make that happen,’’ said Jackson. “If you have guys on your team that can show a young player, especially at that position, what it takes to be a pro first — off of the field and all of the studying you have to do, and taking care of your body and to be a leader throughout, not just in the locker room but throughout the organization — I think is invaluable. I think what he is seeing is really going to help him, because he will look back on this time and really grow from it.”
Fellow first-round pick Denzel Ward continued to work with the ones.
3. Collins, Kendricks and Callaway on the bike brigade
Minicamp opened with Jamie Collins, Mychal Kendricks and Antonio Callaway on the bikes. Collins underwent surgery last year to repair a torn MCL, Kendricks underwent a minor ankle procedure in March and Callaway has a groin injury. Jackson said they’ll all likely miss the whole three-day camp.
“Those guys are not totally where I want them to be at, or where our medical staff, I should say, wants them to be,’’ he said. “There’s no rush. We’re definitely going to have them back for training camp."
Earlier in the day, the Browns announced three surgeries: Third-round defensive end Chad Thomas underwent sports hernia surgery and punter Britton Colquitt had a knee procedure. Both should be back for camp. But 2017 fourth-round cornerback Howard Wilson underwent a second surgery on his torn patellar tendon and is expected to miss his second straight season. He suffered the injury on the first day of rookie minicamp last year.
In addition, fullback Danny Vitale tweaked a leg on a catch and left the field with his thigh wrapped.
4. OL Donald Stephenson a no-show
Former Broncos offensive tackle Donald Stephenson, signed by the Browns as a free agent in March, was a no-show, and Jackson made it clear the Browns are fining him. Stephenson, 29, also missed the all of the voluntary OTAs.
“That will all come to an end here pretty soon,’’ Jackson said. “There are fines involved. There are all of those things that we will deal with. At this time, I only want to talk about the guys that are here and working and doing the things that they need to be doing right now.”
Stephenson signed a one-year deal worth $2.5 million, including $1 million guaranteed. The max fines for missing camp are as follows: 1st day -- $14,070; 2nd day -- $28,150; 3rd day -- $42,215.
5. Emmanuel Ogbah on the field, other notes
Ogbah, coming off foot surgery last season, participated in 11-on-11s in minicamp.
“He’s done good,’’ said Jackson. “My goal is to get all of our players to training camp healthy and ready to go. And then, keep building this football team.”
In other depth chart notes, Jarvis Landry and Josh Gordon have been the starters in two-receiver sets, and Landry moves inside in three wide with Corey Coleman lining up opposite Gordon on the outside. … Austin Corbett took reps at left guard and right tackle Tuesday. … Sixth-round receiver Damion Ratley caught a nice sideline pass from Taylor in 7-on-7s.
That brief snippet of video of Gordon catching the slant in stride at full speed was just kinda filthy.... if that's what we're going to get to see a lot of this year, this might be fun.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
I find it odd they would already be talking about starting him.....especially when they know they have two starters capable of the load on the roster as well....
Jackson interview and he said he CANCELLED day 3 of the ONLY mandatory Mini?
New OC. New QB. Tons of new players. And you cancel?
Wow. SMH
You are right. He cancelled the 3rd day.
Any reason why?
I didn't hear Hue's reasoning. I'm assuming that they got the offense installed early and the team looked good. In my opinion an 0-16 team should take every opportunity to practice that they can.
Hue Jackson gives players early break from minicamp Browns’ coach says tough decisions await in training camp
CATEGORIES: NFL Browns Berea, OH (92.3 The Fan) – Summer vacation is about to start a little earlier for Browns players Thursday.
Following a productive 2 days of work, head coach Hue Jackson cancelled Thursday’s scheduled practice to wrap up the 3-day mandatory minicamp. Instead, players will go through their regularly scheduled meetings Thursday morning before being dismissed for summer break.
“I feel good about where we are,” Jackson said. “I feel good about everything that we have done up until this point. Obviously, it has nothing to do yet, but we got a start. That is all you can ask for. Our guys have done that. Now, they have got to get away from here and train like a son of a gun to get themselves ready to go when we come back for training camp to have a chance to earn a right to be on this football team.”
While it is only June and everyone in the NFL feels good about their football team, there is a noticeable difference in Berea with the Browns.
Practices are cleaner, the pace smoother and players are standing out as they make plays during team 11-on-11 work, something that had been rare the previous 2 years meaning that when cuts come during training camp, there may be some surprises.
“There are a lot of good football players out there,” Jackson said. “We are going to have some tough decisions as we go through training camp. That is a part of it. At the same time, I like the makeup of the team. There is talent at a lot of different positions. That talent has to play well every week to give us a chance to win.”
Official role – JW Johnson, the son-in-law of Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, is slated to join the team in an official capacity as executive vice president in July a source confirmed to 92.3 The Fan.
Johnson had become more involved with the team over the last 12-18 months, but he did not have an official title until now.
CBS Sports NFL insider Jason LaCanfora first reported that Johnson will assume the role, marking the second big change on the business side of the organization this year.
Brent Stehlik, who served as executive vice president, chief revenue officer for the team for 5 years, departed in February. David Jenkins was named chief operating officer in May and assumed some of Stehlik’s responsibilities. Jenkins is the longest tenured executive with the franchise as he enters his 15th year with the club.
The formal addition of Johnson, who has a background in marketing and television, including working for Dee Haslam’s RIVR Media, is another step in the Haslam’s desire to turn the franchise into the new family business.
Waiver claim – The Browns claimed linebacker Brady Sheldon off waivers from Oakland and placed defensive back Howard Wilson, who underwent knee surgery to repair a left patellar tendon tear, on injured reserve.
Injury report – Emmanuel Ogbah (foot), Mychal Kendricks (ankle), Antonio Callaway (groin), EJ Gaines (undisclosed), Jamie Collins (knee) and Duke Johnson (hamstring) worked on the side with trainers.
Jackson said that fullback Danny Vitale, who left Tuesday’s practice, did not suffer a serious injury.
I'd have to a agree. Real head-scratcher here. Not that resembling a "well-oiled machine" would mean anything by the time we come back, but damn, three days and you cancel the last one. Wow.
Pretty common to cut out a day eArly for otas. This is simply installing basics of the basics. Everyone is fairly healthy so rest up, study up and come back ready to go.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Pretty common to cut out a day eArly for otas. This is simply installing basics of the basics. Everyone is fairly healthy so rest up, study up and come back ready to go.
I think the Patriots sent their players home two days early. If they are giving up practice time, then the practice might not be as valuable as we perceive it to be.
(The Patriots also win all the time and we won zero games last year.)
The part that confuses me is it was scheduled for three flippin' days. It's not like these guys have been bustin' tail for two weeks straight in blazing heat and "alright guys, good job, you get the last day off". Three days!
That said, whatever. I know nothing, these guys run football teams. Me? I hand out some "stripes" to guys that have earned them and give them the day off. Tells them there are rewards for hard work and lets the others know there is still work to be done. Nothing to be concerned with, just seems like there has to be a missed opportunity somewhere along the line.
I had to laugh when Hue was talking to reporters after practice about calling a "sack" on a play during the non-contact drill. He said Tyrod complained that there was no way he gets sacked on that play in a real game, at which time the defensive guys started hooting on him, disagreeing. Tyrod shot back at the defensive guys, "I've seen your tape.".
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