DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2021 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 23 Jacksonville 13 What I saw

Yes, we got way less penalties then we normally do. Good! Not a bad preseason game to watch at all.

I don't like that the starting O got the game off. Did the first pre-season game just become like the old fourth pre-season game? I'd prefer they go through the usual gameday prep...play the first series...then sit. Seems like a wasted opportunity to get better.

I hope we have this many good-looking WRs when/if we move on from the OBJ/Landry contract(s). I think the new guy (Davis) makes plays that Hodge cannot. I think that at least two cut WRs (maybe four actually because I don't see Natson or Switzer making the cut) will be swiftly snatched up by another team. How weird will that be?

I found myself wondering whether John Kelly could play fullback.

Dunn took a snap at C. Forbes and Gossett sat until late in the game. When they opted out last year, I thought our OL situation was a pending disaster. It wasn't. I think they are in the mix with a bunch of guys looking at/for one spot...maybe two. We have the starting five...then Dunn, Hance & Hubbard...that's eight...and Hudson isn't getting cut. How many will we keep? Who can play T/C in a pinch?

Did Lauletta look better than Keenum? I'm really not sure. Watching all three of our QBS be able to get in and out of the huddle and get lined up was almost like watching the twilight zone...but in a good way.

I think the backup DEs could put their names in a hat and have a fan pick out the backups...ok not really. Gustin and Jackson looked better than anyone else and Weaver looked like JAG.

Togiai was clearly noticeable but the other backup DTs all looked about the same.

I think we have plenty of LBs to choose from...and Walker didn't play. I still think JOK needs to add 10-15 lbs. or he's going to get run at a lot. He was fun to watch tho. I expect he will look more like an in-the-box safety than a LB...which is fine.

While we have a lot of guys who appear to be decent/good/maybe-really-good Safeties, I don't like the CB options.

Hopefully Greedy was just rusty but he was looking very JAG like. AJ Green got hosed on a ST penalty that wasn't...he didn't really stand out, but I think they like him...and I could see some of why. Robert Jackson keeps hanging around and when he gives up a play he's always juuuuuust a little late in his coverage...he's there...he's so close to being that decent backup guy.

IMO we still need a starter-level CB...as in must-have. I think Newsome's got it...I think Greedy is a backup...and there is no way I count on Ward to play more than 12 games or so.

The talent certainly looks better than I can ever remember. Is that scouting or coaching? Or dare I say BOTH?

IMO the thing that stood out most was the level of preparedness these guys looked good across the board and clearly IMO show all the signs of well coached players.

We are in for one hell of a ride this year if the backups are this good how good are the starters? I see a coaching staff getting everything out of a player you can reasonably expect.

I also think in case you didn't notice that we are easily the best coached team in the league, hands down.

We are ready let's go! DYNASTY

We may have to look at some of the other teams cuts for back-up DT's. We are pretty well set everywhere else.

The game started with the Browns #2s looking better than the Jags #1s. That was my big take away, the Browns have depth.

This Newsome kid is a good tackler.Every time the guy he was covering made a catch,he made the tackle and once it was short of a 1st down.
Keenum looked good and Lauletta looked like he needs alot of work,but he has a nice arm.
ABC sucks at producing football.While I believe JT was a great player,he sucks as a color commentator,and the other fellow is a star struck rambler.

What I heard... The Jags broadcaster (don't know who was who) kept saying Staley when talking about Stanton. Nobody caught it and corrected him, he just kept calling him Staley.

I don't get those claiming Greedy was horrible

Did Anthony Schwartz play?

I don't know if you remember the 2018 Senior Bowl. The North used 2 QB's, Mayfield in the 1st half and Lauletta in the 2nd. On that day, Lauletta was the better QB. I always smile when I see them on the same roster now.

I saw pretty much what I expected to see. In my best porn voice, "I saw a lot of back up on back up action".

I will note some of the things that did stand out to me. First of all I don't live anywhere close to Cleveland. As such I had to watch the game on the NFL Network. The announcers were the Jacksonville announcers. As such they focused on the Jacksonville players which made it much harder to keep up with the Browns substitutions.

First. I noticed a great deal of plays dialed up to include our FB's. Both in the running and passing game. With both Chubb and Hunt not playing I doubt that reflects what we will see during the regular season, however it does reflect that Stefanski's playbook has a lot of plays designed with the FB in mind.

DPJ. He gave me cause to understand why there has been a lot of talk about him. What I was surprised by was the lack of separation. He won the battles which many WR's make a living from but I had expected more separation on his routes especially against back up defenders.

JOK. He certainly gave me a glimpse of the skill set I was expecting to see. Once again I keep in mind it was against back up players but that's a rare skill set and I feel fairly confident the coaching staff can make the most out of coaching him and getting the most out of him. To say my expectations of him are high would be an understatement.

QB's. While neither actually lit it up, both seemed to be in command on the field and weren't making mistakes that cause us to beat ourselves. Both put together scoring drives and maintained at least some level of consistency. That meets my expectations of what I hope to see in back up QB's.

Next I'll tell you the one thing I think may concern many fans that didn't really concern me. The lack of run blocking from our back up OL.

As a unit it looked putrid. And that's the thing, when the entire group is nothing but back ups it's hard to focus on who was doing a good job and who was doing a bad job. Some of those in that line up may shine when infused within a quality OL. Having the entire unit being backups made it very difficult for me to define who was the weak link or links that created the melt down. If anyone can give me a better breakdown of that it would be appreciated.

Didn't see the game - thanks for the feedback. Sounds encouraging from the perspective of continuation of a prepared and professional team that is well coached.

I wonder which preseason game becomes the closest thing to a real half of football? I guess game 2 because you don't want to risk niggly injuries in game 3?

I would guess most of our starters never play in the preseason.

Billings was the worst dline out there. Whoever said he didn’t get moved must have been thinking about someone else. Billings looked like a fat guy who got fatter with a year off. Togai will take his reps

Starters need to play. If KC and TB are playing theirs you follow suit. Work it out with opposing coach to get both teams some safe work with the ones. Not playing a full preseason will bite us

Schwartz did not play, practice or anything, hamstring.

Parkey did not look good, or to have the strongest leg.

Weaver did he play 3 snaps, maybe he's not healthy.

Robert Jackson 34 could have had a better game I think.

I think AJ Green Db played, but I think he was invisible.

Greg Newsome also played.

49 Kiondre Thomas got targeted it seemed a couple times, he had 0k coverage but not enough on a Td catch he gave up.
He has slightly more suspect coverage on the 2pt try that failed that targeted him right afterwards.

What I saw?

FOOTBALL Sorta..

It was good to see football again and to see it in a nearly full stadium. Jax doesn't ever really fill all the way up so it was at least better.

Next week in Cleveland, I bet FE will be full..

JOK,, the real deal, plays as advertised.. and will get better IMO

Newsome II, pretty good but I think it might have looked a little lost at time.. kinda expected given he's a rook and his first NFL game.

DJP... nothing but positives to say

Davion Davis... Not sure if he's really that good or if the guys covering him weren't.. Either way, needs to see play against tougher opponent.

Trevor Lawrence... I'm sure he'll be fine, but he looked pretty much like a rookie last night.. Not exciting.

They'll probably treat pre-season as in they removed the old pre-season game 1.
What we saw last night was akin to previous pre-season game 2. Now both games condensed into 1 with 2 halves.

Next game will be like old preseason game 3.

and the final game of preseason, much like old preseason game 4, will probably continue to be about the worst, named team vs. named team matchup in all of sports.

Richard LeCounte III had a nice game, with 2 tackles, an INT, a sack, a QB Hit, and 2 PBU. He looks really instinctual out there.

You hijacking eo's thread?

Liked that kid Davis. He goes and gets the ball.

I saw our 2s outplay their 1s, for what that is worth.

I'll be honest ... seeing Lawrence's first NFL play result in a sack and fumble made me smile.

A lot of WR with nice games. DPJ, Bradley, Davis (#18, think that is his name). Switzer with a couple nice catches. In years past these guys would be battling for WR2 and WR3 spots. This year it is WR5 and WR6.

Pass block good. Run block not so good.

JOK fun to watch.

Newsome can tackle. That is nice to see. The rookie safety, LeCourt (something like that), had a nice game. Is #34 Jackson a guy that has been with us before? If not, then we have a differnet #34 that is as bad as the old one.

Tebow with an absolute pathetic attempt at a block.

It was nice to see some semblance of football!

I'm sure it was useful to the coaching staff, but that game did nothing for me as far as determining depth. I agree that cut decisions will be hard. If I was not so hard up to see some football, I wouldn't even watch the other preseason games. I thought yesterday was disappointing with just backups playing. Did nothing for me.

That to me would be a huge mistake.

Limit the number of drives - and the D can certainly afford less reps than the O.... but Baker needs to have 3 or 4 drives before the season starts seeing different DB's defend his passes and WR's etc. Chubb and Hunt I'm less concerned about - but then TE's and WR's need reps against legit #1 talent too. Otherwise we'll be using Game 1 and a soft loss to KC as the real prep for the rest of the season instead of coming out and making a statement.

Browns TE Stephen Carlson likely out for the season with a knee injury; Mack Wilson awaiting MRI results on his shoulder

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2021/08...ck-tuesday.html


CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns tight end Stephen Carlson, a promising young player who the club really likes, suffered what’s likely a season-ending knee injury Saturday night against the Jaguars, a league source said.

Carlson, 24, left the stadium in a large knee brace and on crutches after the Browns’ 23-13 victory. Originally signed by the Browns as an undrafted rookie out of Princeton in 2019, Carlson signed a one-year deal with the Browns in April.

He was the fourth tight end on the depth chart behind Austin Hooper, David Njoku and Harrison Bryant, but he was still expected to make the team in part because the Browns play a lot of two-tight-end sets, and sometimes three. Carlson (6-foot-4, 240) will likely undergo surgery and set his sights on returning next season.

The Browns are hoping they get better news on Wilson, who left the game early on with a shoulder injury and didn’t return. Wilson also underwent an MRI on Sunday, but Kevin Stefanski said he didn’t know the results yet.

He also wasn’t sure how Wilson hurt the shoulder, but “I can vividly remember him grabbing it’' on one of the first couple of plays. “We’ll see how he comes out of it after the MRI.”

The loss of Wilson for any length of time would be a blow, because he had worked his way up to starting weakside linebacker with an excellent offseason and camp. It would also be unfortunate after what he went through last season. Wilson suffered a hyperextended knee in camp last summer, and missed most or all of the first three games. He never felt like himself when he returned, and contemplated quitting football.

The news that he was about to become a father rejuvenated him, and the birth of Mack II two weeks ago coincided with some excellent play in camp, including an interception in the end zone and a flurry of passes broken up.

Wilson’s early exit Saturday night paved the way for a breakout performance by second-round linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who led the team with eight tackles — including three for a loss — notched a sack on a blitz up the middle, and tightly covered some receivers while playing 70% of the defensive snaps. He also nearly blocked a punt.

Owusu-Koramoah steals the show

“He did make splash plays,’’ Stefanski said. “He made good tackles along the sideline, made a nice play on that screen. He needs to clean up his eye progression, and he understands that and the coaches are working very hard. To really play fast in this league, it’s when you’re not thinking, and I think he’s getting there. With a lot of work, I think he’ll get there. But overall, he understands that there’s plenty of work to be done.”

As for earning reps with the ones, some of that will depend on the severity of Wilson’s injury, but Stefanski will undoubtedly want to see his rookie against some of the Giants starters in joint practices Thursday and Friday.

“I think all these guys as we continue to progress through training camp, we’ll continue to meet as coaches and discuss those types of things,’’ he said. “I think with all of our rookies as you know, we bring them up all on different time frames and some guys are ready for more and some guys aren’t. So we’ll make that on a case by case basis.”

While Wilson will likely miss some time and Carlson is headed for injured reserve, Stefanski expects to get some of his injured players back this week, particularly some of the half a dozen or so who have been nursing nagging hamstring injuries. Possible candidates to ease their way back in this week including safety Grant Delpit and rookie receiver Anthony Schwartz, who both need to catch up in a hurry if they hope to contribute in Kansas City against the Chiefs on Sept. 12.

“A lot of those guys are really close and I’m optimistic about it, but I want to get to Tuesday to see exactly where everybody is, use today and tomorrow as part of that rehab,’’ Stefanski said. “But I’m optimistic that we’ll get some guys back.’’

Schwartz, in particular, needs to get back and build on the chemistry he started to develop with Baker Mayfield at the start of camp.

“We’re eager to get him back,’’ Stefanski said. “He’s progressing nicely, so again, optimistic on some of these guys but we’ll see as we go. Anthony in particular has done a very nice job. Extremely attentive in meetings, he’s going to be ready to go mentally and then what we saw, the speed is real. Baker and he got a lot of work together in the early portion of training camp when he was out there, which I think is really important for any battery to understand each other if you will.

“So we’re excited to get him back out here, and as it relates to hands, all of our guys are working on their craft, and I think they do a great job of getting extra work in, whether it be pre-practice, post-practice etc. A lot of our rookies are working very hard on the extra stuff that they can do to try and become better players because they’re still rookies and they’re going to be rookies for a pretty long time here.’’

Stefanski was also thrilled that cornerback Greedy Williams (shoulder) and offensive tackle Chris Hubbard (knee) returned to live action and emerged unscathed. Williams played 18 snaps, and Hubbard, 17. Williams got contact right away, making the tackle on a 76-yard kickoff return nullified by a holding call, and stopping Marvin Jones after a third-down conversion.

“Really proud of those guys to be out there preseason game No. 1 off of those injuries,’’ Stefanski said. “They’ve rehabbed like crazy. They did a nice job and the next step is coming back to practice, work the soreness out type things and continue to build.’’

The injured players will have Monday off to continue rehabbing, and then the Browns will have light practices on Tuesday and Wednesday before the Giants invade Berea for the joint practices on Thursday and Friday in advance of their preseason meeting Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about him, this kid got instincts....

I can see how some may take that as a huge mistake. I can also see how some would point to the fact we didn't even hold practices last year and we looked pretty good out of the gate. And they may also see it as a way not to give away any any signs of what our first string has planned going into the season.

I think there are two ways of looking at it. I have no way of knowing if they will see any action in preseason or not but I can certainly see both sides of the coin.

Just wondering if I heard this right on the radio,, Mack Wilson is out for a while and Carlson is lost for the year? Did the get that right?

Heck - if KS thinks that's the way to go, really who am I or anyone to question it right? He earned enough kudos last year to last a lifetime of my trust. . . . well certainly a season or two!

I just think the chances of injury increase with too soft a preseason ... was it Hue that had camp cupcake and then we came out and just looked soft all year and had lots of soft tissue injuries? . . . I also think we need to come out and set the tone when we play KC. We talked about wanting a winning culture and mentality ... I think that's more likely with some real game practice. We don't want to peak too early or at the wrong end of the season, but let's start as we mean to go on.

That's what the article above says.
I wonder who the quarterback was that threw the pass to Carlson.

Feels like, pressure to not let the ball hit the ground, so much worry about throwing one play in a flippin pre season game cost the Browns TE-4, a career in the balance,
and for an insignificant pile of trash preseason game that wasn't even necessary as 2020 showed.

Teams have to cut 5 by the 17th? By the way injuries happen, they'll be lucky to have 53 healthy by seasons start.

All 4. All Four tight ends played in all 16 games last year, the Browns with Stefanski, use 4 tight ends not 3.
If they make the decision to use 3 fine,
but if injuries force them to use only 3,
then the injuries shouldn't come in a meaningless pile of trash preseason game.