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Browns | Mack could end up at OG
Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:50:41 -0700

Pat Kirwan, of NFL.com, reports Cleveland Browns C Alex Mack is getting time with the first-unit offensive line. He has done well with the group, with one linebacker saying Mack is hard to disengage from. Mack is battling C Hank Fraley at center, but Mack could end up at offensive guard.

Browns | T. Brown works with first-team defense
Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:48:41 -0700

Pat Kirwan, of NFL.com, reports Cleveland Browns LB Titus Brown worked with the first-team defense in a few situations Thursday, Aug. 6.

Browns | Hall could play in third-down package
Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:48:12 -0700

Pat Kirwan, of NFL.com, reports Cleveland Browns LB Alex Hall has the pass-rush skills to end up on the team's third-down package.

This makes me wonder...could Kam end up on the bench in favor of Veikune/Hall/Brown?

Some great reporting there by Pat Kirwan...

The morning I popped in he was playing on the other side of Thomas.

Right now we're carrying...

IMO ...
* - likely to stay
+ - likely to go
# - bubble

Kam*
Alex Hall*
Eric Barton*
Beau Bell+
David Bowens *
Marcus Bernard+
Titus Brown#
Blake Costanzo#
Phillip Hunt+
DQ*
Maiava*
Bo Rudd#
Veikune*
Leon Williams#

BTW, yesterday I was watching Beau Bell alot...the guy is a physical animal, but has no brain whatsoever. After every play where he either ended up in the wrong lane or let his man get away from him, I saw either the LB coach or Rob Ryan trying to tell him what to do. I just concluded that the guy was an idiot, since he kept doing the same thing wrong over and over again.

It appears the football gods like me today. I am planning on attending the evening camp tonight. I will be taking notes and I'll try to answer some of the questions being posed.. where so and so is lining up etc..

I'm gonna try to have my post in by 10 / 1030 pm tonight.

I haven't heard a single good thing about the guy outside of a short blurb about him having a good look in a drill.

I doubt he sticks.

Ugh... do think we're gonna be THAT bad??

Quote:

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- One name to mention quickly is Kamerion Wimbley. On successive days, the former rookie standout has displayed a successful bull rush in passing drills to add to his speed off the edge.

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http://blogs.theobr.com/?p=1437

Well, I'm bored and I never gave my impressions from yesterday, so here it goes:

-As I mentioned, Beau Bell is physically good but mentally very weak.

-Coye Francies is huge, I'm very interested into how he develops.

-MoMass looked much better, but still looks only below average compared to Braylon.

-Braylon looks a little more quick than he did last year, IMO.

-I'm not going to get into the DA vs Quinn thing, only that DA and Quinn look no different from what I remember last year.

-James Davis is having one hell of a good camp. He's got soft hands as a pass catcher to go along with his one cut and go running philosophy. He also seems to have that extra gear to get past defenders. Like I said, wait to see how he does as in game situations, but right now he looks like the best RB on the field, bar none.

-Jamal Lewis looks virtually the same as last year and at this point of his career, I expect him to be little more than a battering ram with 4 yard runs up the middle.

-DQ Jackson is by far the best player on defense not named Shaun Rogers.

-Shaun Rogers, otoh, is a work of art on the football field. Watching him on the JUGS machine after practice was a thing of beauty. I honestly do not know why they don't try some gimmick GL situations with Rogers at TE.

-Robert Royal has some very shaky hands, also fumbled a few times on the car crash drill *or so I call it*

-Corey Williams looks to be in very good shape.

-So I finally know who #61 is, Issac Sowells. Lowest man on the face of the planet and is built like a house. No way in hell can he play tackle.

-I like Atyua Rubin as a NT, not Shaun Rogers by any stretch, but he is solid at eating blockers.

-I'd be pretty surprised if Leon Williams makes the team this year. He had a pretty bad day. Reminds me almost as an older version of Beau Bell.

-Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, Brent Ratliff, Brian Robo, Mo Mass, Braylon Edwards and a few others *Coye Francies, Gerald Lawson, some Norwood guy, James Davis* stayed after practice and worked on getting into sync. Shaun Rogers also stayed after practice to work on the JUGS machine.

if the man is athletic enough to dunk a basketball...who could reroute him if he wanted to make a leaping catch in the endzone?

ROFL, I keep getting this mental image of Rogers as FB sweeping out to the side on a 2nd and goal, catching the ball and rumbling in for the TD.. I mean seriously, who the hell wants to stand in front of him after he picks up some speed?

Not me.. let him pass right by! LOL..

Yeah but you weigh what?????

A buck forty five????

If I were you , I wouldn't either....LOL

I would LOVE to see that collision. Rogers and Ray Lewis, both with a head of steam, meeting at the half yard line...

Tell you what, I can guarantee that outcome. Just let me stand behind the end zone with a turkey dinner on a silver platter. Ray wouldn't wake up for 2 weeks after Rogers ran him over.

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-Jamal Lewis looks virtually the same as last year and at this point of his career, I expect him to be little more than a battering ram with 4 yard runs up the middle

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Jamal isnt & dosent have to prove or over prove he's ready to tote the rock all season, Everybody knows what Jamal brings, I think keeping him fresh for the season is a big priority for Mangini, everything points to more of a running game and right now it's 99% Jamal. Hopefully Davis is the real deal and he & Harrison can take abourt 10 % from him to keep him fresher in late season.

Quote:

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I honestly do not know why they don't try some gimmick GL situations with Rogers at TE.

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Just thinking of him telling the offical, hey I'm eligible to me is funny, I can see the ref's eyes get big...ya right....but your right, talk about a push....

Quote:

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-Corey Williams looks to be in very good shape.

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Corey said last year is over, between the shoulder & learning to play a new position it took it's tole, he said he never was comfortable with either one, but he did say he's been working to show everybody who the real Corey Williams is, during this interview he didnt look happy, but determined. Good for us...

thanks for the updates...

Grossi's take on todays practice

Berea, Ohio -- Observations from the morning practice on Day 7 of training camp ...

• Players were in shorts, but a couple of times receivers were taken to the ground. It was a marathon session, running 2 hours, 20 minutes.

• Midway through, Braylon Edwards got tangled up on a running play and emerged with a slight limp. He wasn't limping as he walked off the field and didn't receive attention from trainers. Edwards stayed out the next two team drills. He returned and showed no signs of aggravating the ankle injury that kept him out for the first five days of practice. Edwards has not dropped a catchable ball in the four practices he's paricipated in.

• Brady Quinn was a little better than the past few days with his accuracy in all drills. He also fared better in the all-important two-minute drill. On this day, quarterbacks were allowed to call their own plays and timeouts. Derek Anderson worked the No. 1 team against the No. 1 defense. Anderson got off six plays in 1:48 and moved the offense only 25 yards. It ended when his fourth-down pass glanced off the hands of Jerome Harrison. One of his plays was whistled dead as a sack. Quinn managed a better series under the same conditions, except against the No. 2 defense. He ran 11 plays, spiking the ball once to stop the clock and calling two timeouts. He completed short passes on third down twice and fourth down once to keep the drive alive, but his series ended on an incompleted Haily Mary pass attempted from the 35. He had one brain cramp on one play by wasting 16 seconds waiting for a receiver to break open rather than throwing away the ball.

• The offenses rarely, if ever, get into the end zone in the two-minute drills. Coach Eric Mangini admitted the offense has to get better in those situations.

• Mangini gave no update on guard Rex Hadnot, who suffered a knee injury at Thursday's afternoon practice. Wouldn't even say he hurt his knee.

• Tight end Robert Royal displayed his catching skills on Anderson's series. He made a nice catch over safety Abram Elam for about 16 yards.

• The open-field tackling drill pitting two players against each other always favors the offensive player because all it takes is one move to escape a tackle. Very few defensive players win. In today's version, about 20 pairs of players went at it. Only four defensive players even made contact with the offensive player, and Elam did it twice. He took receiver Jordan Norwood to the ground and corraled receiver Paul Hubbard another time. Defensive end Santonio Thomas earned cheers from the defense for jarring the ball loose from Royal in the drill.

• Receiver David Patten continued to work with trainers. Fullback Charles Ali remained out.

• Kicker Phil Dawson was called on four times to attempt field goals of over 50 yards. He made the first from 54, missed from 52 and 56, and made one from 56.

• In a one-on-one pass rush drill, nose tackle Ahtyba Rubin drove through rookie center Alex Mack, linebacker Alex Hall knocked tight end John Madsen to the ground and offensive tackle Ryan Tucker just stood up end Louis Leonard in his tracks.

• Running back Noah Herron got some reps with the No. 2 offense. Perhaps it was to give some rest to rookie James Davis, who has had a great week.

Hyperbole is apparently your best friend it seems. lol

jc,

Anybody have any info on how the rookie LB's are doing so far? Haven't seen or heard much about them.

interview with mangini today. good read.

plain dealer

Transcript of Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini's Friday press conference.
Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini had good things to say during his press conference about Phil Dawson, shown here kicking the 57-yard, game-winning field goal in the Browns 29-27 victory over the Buffalo Bills last season.

"How's everybody doing today? I'm doing great. I have a little bit of housekeeping here. We signed Brandon Anderson and waived Don Carey injured. Don has to go through the waiver process and then, if he clears injury waivers, he reverts back to us for the injured reserve category. It's disappointing for him, for us, but it happens. He wouldn't be available until next year's mini-camps and OTAs and things like that. It's the next time we'd actually see him on the field. We'll see what happens here and move forward accordingly.


"Tonight, we have the Browns Backers night. I am learning more and more about the Browns Backers, just because I have family in different parts of the country and in talking about where they're going to watch the game it's usually, 'There's a Browns Backers club, restaurant that we can go to.'

"Even my brother in Australia, he's trying to find his club. All the continents are covered. I think there's 306 clubs and 3,000 some odd members, maybe. I have to get that exact number. I know we've added some with my family and friends recently. It's pretty cool, pretty special. There's one in Saudi Arabia. As I learn more and more about it, it's impressive, but I can tell you, not surprising."

On Rex Hadnot: "We're going to keep doing tests on Rex. There is really no update at this point."

On Don Carey's injury: "It is his shoulder."

On if Carey has had surgery: "None of those steps have taken place yet."

On if he feels the need to address the team after an injury occurs during practice: "It's difficult. You never, ever, ever want to see anybody get injured. We work really hard in practice to try to keep everybody off of the ground and minimize the risk as much as you can. It's tough. Nobody wants to see it. Everybody wants to make sure that the player is okay. That is the important thing, is to be able to get the trainer out there, or the doctor out there, and make sure that the medical attention that the player needs is taken care of first and foremost. It also ties into why it is so important to build flexibility into the offensive line, or into any position, because you just don't know when something like that could happen."

On how Hadnot had been playing: "I think he's been doing a good job. I like him in the classroom. He is very sharp and answers all of the questions that I give him in the squad meetings. He's all over it. I like his stoutness. He plays physically in both the run and the passing game. All those things are things I've liked about him as I've gotten to know him."

On if Hadnot's injury will cause shuffling of the offensive line: "We've been shuffling. Fortunately, that process is something that we've been used to throughout camp."

On the right side of the offensive line: "Each day George Warhop has a rotation schedule. It's based on how many reps the guys have gotten at different positions, to make sure that the reps are balanced across the board, and that we're not giving the guys three reps of the same play. You're trying to balance the plays that he sees in those spots, with the total amount of reps at each spot as well. He does a good job with that and makes sure that we do have that balance. It's adjusted daily."

On if Ryan Tucker has looked rusty: "I think with all the guys that are getting back into the flow of things, there's going to be some rust to knock off. You are retraining yourself to play the different spots and adjusting to the different looks. There's a lot that's happening in there and there's a lot that's happening in the various spots. There's always an element of that, not necessarily just with Rex, but any of those guys in that situation."

On if Rex Hadnot's injury solidifies anything on the left side of the offensive line: "We're going to keep going through the process that we've been going through, and maintain that, and see where it comes out as we have more information."

On practice going over two hours: "It was scheduled a little bit longer today. We were doing a couple extra situational things there, before two minute, that we wanted to take a look at. We had an emphasis period working on empty that I wanted to do. It went a little bit longer than [originally] scheduled, but it was scheduled a little bit longer this morning."

On if he has been pleased with the situational work: "What I am pleased with, is to have the ability to take the tape and then coach off of it. There was a good one today at the end of the half. The defense has one timeout, we're about midfield, it's third and 16, about 1:07 left on the clock. At that point, third and 16, if you can't get the first down, what you want to do is be able to keep the clock running or force the opponent to use that last timeout, knowing that you're going to have to punt the ball. Instead of putting your defense in a bind where, they have all that time and the timeout left to start their two minute drive, at the point where you can't get the first down, now at least you can eat up the 40 seconds or eat up the timeout, to help your defense. That's part of the teaching process, is that it's always complimentary football. Brian (Daboll) can't just call offensive plays in a vacuum. He has to call it within the context of the bigger picture of the game. The quarterbacks and different players need to have that understanding. If we had hit a check down to Jerome Harrison, and he was going to get tackled on the sideline, short of the first down, you want him to stay in bounds, not go out of bounds, and make that decision. If you don't make the players aware of that, then when it comes up, it can't be one of those things that you criticize or however you want to classify it. It is our job to teach them, 'This is what we want you to do in this situation,' then practice it and train it, so that we all are on top of it when it comes up."

On the two minute drives not resulting in touchdowns: "That's the beauty of training camp. Each day you can be really happy with one side or the other side. There are some good things that we're doing defensively that I'm pleased with. There are things that we do need to improve, offensively, with the mechanics of our two minute operation, the decisions. We're trying to throw a lot of different looks at them. At this point in camp, Rob (Ryan) has a lot of things going in, so there's multiples and multiples with the situation. What I'm looking for is, each day it gets a little bit better for us."

On if the offense is getting better: "I think there has been some positive things. The end goal is points and that's what we need to generate."

On if the quarterbacks worked with the radio helmets: "They've had that on the whole time. For as long as we've been going, they've had it on."

On how long it usually takes to catch and spike the ball: "We usually use 16 there. That is what it usually takes to catch the ball in bounds, get up to the line of scrimmage and spike it. If you're humming, you may get it in 15. About 16 seconds."

On Phil Dawson: "I like him. I've liked him for a long time. He's done a good job in this environment, which is a difficult environment to kick in a lot of the season, just because of the weather fluctuations, the opponents, things like that. I think he's done an excellent job over time. He's a pro. Where I really like him is in squad meetings, because he listens to everything that goes in, which is what I would expect. I can turn to him and say, 'Okay, well Daws, what'd I tell the corners in cover two?' 'The whole group's here so, jam the receivers.' Then I can turn to the corner and say, 'Okay, how come he knows and you don't?' He's my go-to guy with any coaching point that needs to sink in a little deeper."

On Joshua Cribbs' transition to wide receiver: "I think he's done well. At times it's not as conventional, but I wouldn't expect it to be, because there is a transition that goes on. Dealing with these transitions in the past, it does take some time for a guy who has played another position to really get used to the nuances of the new position. I like the way he's gotten open. He's done a nice job with his route depths, adjustments, things like that. Over time and repetition, I think the route running will continue to improve as well."

On what he considers to be a good percentage for a field goal kicker from 50+ yards: "Gosh, it's not a high percentage, in terms of success rate, even when you're kicking from that point. I'm not quite sure what the league average is. It's a low number. I don't have the specific number. It's a tough field goal. You would like to get it closer."

On if 50% on field goals from 50+ yards is good: "I'd like to hit 100% if we could. That's what I'd be shooting for. I'd like to hit all the game winners. I'd like to hit them all."

On if the quarterbacks are free to call timeouts during the two minute drill: "Today they called their own plays. The time management element of that was under their control as well."

On if the quarterbacks call their own plays during the two minute drill: It varies, sometimes the coordinator will call it, sometimes the quarterback will call it. We switch it up each day. I want to see, too, what Rob's (Ryan) tendencies are, what Brian's (Daboll) tendencies are. How they're going to react in those different situations, so that I get a good feel for what they're feeling. Then we can sit down as a staff and talk about it and I can say, 'Well, I would really be thinking this or I would want to do this.' We can communicate that out prior to it happening."

On the Brown and White scrimmage at the stadium: "I love the idea. It's great just to go down there organizationally, and operate in as close to a game day environment as possible. It's important, because that's where the most important work gets done. The more familiar you are with the environment, the more fluid and comfortable everybody is operating there, the better. As we talked about yesterday, hopefully we get a lot of passionate Browns fans out there, because that's what I want them to understand too."

On how he will choose teams for the scrimmage: "I'll do the initial depth chart, or roster, or pick sides. I'll let the coaches look at it. We can entertain some trades. I'll either veto it or approve it, depending on who makes the most compelling argument and then go from there. There's always some last minute stuff too, if a guy gets dinged up or can only play a certain amount of time, just like in the season."

On if he has ever let two player captains pick the scrimmage teams: "No, I've never done that. I don't know if they would balance the roster well enough. Do you have enough offensive linemen? Would they pick all skill players? They would have 10 skill guys and two linemen."

On Robert Royal's ball catching ability: "He's caught a lot of balls in the games that we've played against him, both in New York and New England, so I know he has good hands. I think drops in practices, those are things that we make the team aware of. You can run a great route, you can have great protection, you have a great throw and all it takes is for the receiver, tight end, back, take their eye off the ball for one second to not have their hands in the right place, to have the point come into the middle of their hand, to not look in to the tuck. Any one of those small steps at the very end of the play can turn a great play into just a foul ball at that point. As we keep going, emphasizing that, emphasizing getting the guys to the jugs, so that they can get 50 to 100 extra catches each day. Just working on a ball above the waste, a ball below the waist, moving, distraction. All those things that you're going to have to deal with."

On if Royal is pressing: "Robert's a pretty confident, comfortable guy. To me, it's continuing to focus. He's not alone. We've drop too many balls and that comes down to focus. Like I said, it can turn a really good play into a long foul ball."

On Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaqoui: "I think they get a little better each day. I think they get a little more comfortable each day. The information now isn't totally new. They've gone through the OTAs. They've gone through the couple cycles of install through camp. With their work ethic, they're going to get better as we go. They gravitate towards the older players and try to learn from them. I think they have a nice friendship, not just between them, but with some of the other rookies and that always helps through the course of camp."

On the NFL officials being at camp today: "We'll have them actually do their presentation. They've been nice enough, they're going to do a clinic for our officials, that we use each day. I thought, since they're here, why not get the group that's going to call our practices, give them a little training camp experience. Put them in the classroom with the NFL officials and let them ask a lot of questions. Let them share ideas. Hopefully, they'll improve and the practices as a whole improve, because of that exposure."

thanks, hound.

That doesn't make any sense to me. What's more important: Having your backup left tackle be good, or having your first team line gel? I see no logic in that argument, especially with a new center coming in.

Joe & Steiny have been side by side for two years in a row... a week apart (so far) isn't going to hurt them.

Steiny is bad enough at LT as it is.... if, God forbid, Joe gets hurt and Steiny has to slide over... we're far better served with him having some of the differences in techniques a little fresher in his mind.

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-So I finally know who #61 is, Issac Sowells. Lowest man on the face of the planet and is built like a house. No way in hell can he play tackle.

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Dude, I say this EVERY year. It blows my mind that he continues to make this team. I've been to camp many times over the last few years, and he is awful. Just stinks to all hell.

I remember watching him last year in some line drills getting beat like a red-headed stepchild over, and over, and over, and over.

The dude is stealing money. No doubt.

Otay.. I am back from evening camp. I took a lil notebook and scribbles like a madman for the first hour, then put it away and just watched.

I have the advantage of reading the Grossi report just a few posts up there and I can tell you that Braylon is just fine.. more than fine in fact. He is easily the best receiver on the field.He made the QB's look better than they were.. catching balls thrown behind him for one thing. When Practice was done tonight and all the receivers were running sideline to sideline sprints, Braylon made SURE that he led each and every receiver. Some guys were just loping along, but Bray was running. If this sort of thing is whats meant by leading by example.. thats what he's doing. It was a good thing to see lemme tell yas.

Otay.. lets see.. The OL, The OL was being shuffled all night, different combinations.. for instance, when I got there they were doing OLine drills.. and L to R was: JT, HF, AM, Kurt Quarterman, George Foster. 2 minutes later that was JT, ES, AM, Womack, St Clair. Another minute or 2, it was different again.

Based on that I saw, IF I had to bet on the Oline for the Vikes game I'd put my 14 cents on Thomas, Steiny, Mack, Womack, Tucker.

Note that we have Dustin Fry C from Clemson on the roster and he didn't look too shabby, so the good news from that would hopefully be that we have some depth there.

At first I thought Steiny looked a bit light, then I saw him line up next to JT and they look pretty identical when they line up and get in the stance, so apparently he did put on some weight.

Okay.. enough of that sheep..

The next drill that was in front of me was also of interest. QB's, OLine and RB's working on handoffs, quick dumpoffs / slants and hitting the hole. Jamal is Jamal.. as advertised, we know what we have there. The nice thing here was Davis.. small guy, hit the right holes each time, no confusion at all and.. NICE FREAKIN hands!! Soft hands, catches the bell with hands brings into the body is turning and hitting the hole all in a smooth action. I was impressed. He caught one really pretty swingout pass from Richard Bartell that brought ooohs and ahhs from the gallery er.. gawkers.

Saw Vickers drop an easy pass and immediately starts doing pushups.. didn't need to be told either.. Same with Lance Leggett.

We did have a bad moment for Porkchop.Oline coach lines up against the OL, and just came in around Pork who proceeds to whiff on him and let him in to tag the RB.. OL coach was pissed.. chewed Pork out right then and there (Pork tried the but but but defense and coach was having none of that noise.) The next time, Pork nailed him.

MoMass is skinny.

James Davis.. nice catch from BQ.. more ooohs and ahhs

Shaun Rogers. How can I put this? He had more laps than anyone else (2 of them) Rogers powerwalks his laps with more emphasis on the walk than the power, ha ha, he seems to enjoy this. He waves to the gallery with the all the pomp and circumstance of Augustus Caeser returning to Rome after conquering the Gauls.

Rogers is just larger than life.. he turns it on when it's time to do so, and you know what? When he does, there ain't no one that stops him.

Addressing The deadbate. For the first hour, both DA and BQ looked good in the short stuff drills, and when we got 11's / 11's both were off and on, good and not so good.. I could go on, but IMO it's not worth it. It's still a dead heat.. I could not in honesty name a winner tonight.

The GOOD news here is that we are VASTLY improved in ONE area of the QB thing.. Bartel and Ratliff are freakin lightyears ahead of Noodle and Gradkowski.. nice zips on the passes, good accuracy. I feel much better about our 3 and 4 than I did last year.

Jamal juked Beau Bell out of his shorts.. saw Bell grimacing later on the sideline.. wonder if he strained something.

Cribbs hauled in a TD lining up at WR.. think the pitcher was DA but not sure

Corey Williams did a lap

BQ to Bray pass for nice yardage.. a lil behind Bray and double covered but caught ball very nicely with some YAC

SackDawg, my son had auto's from Norwood, Thomas, Quinn and Wright.. told JT that he's gonna have to go Marlin and Tuna fishing with us.. Joe grinned a BIG one and have the thumbs up to that LOL..

OKay.. there's more but ya'll get the idea.. I wanna go get some beers.. it's been a GOOD day re-connecting with the Browns and football. I am stoked.