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http://www.foxsportsohio.com/06/03/10/Br...amp;feedID=3689

Browns' Mangini Impressed with New Veteran LBs


BEREA — Eric Mangini made it a point to mention that he is happy with newly acquired veteran linebackers Chris Gocong and Scott Fujita.

Gocong (6-2, 263) came over from the Eagles in the trade along with Sheldon Brown. Fujita (6-5, 250) came to the Browns as an unrestricted free agent signing from the Super Bowl champion Saints.

“Chris and Scott are very bright guys and are adjusting very well to the scheme,” Mangini said.

Mangini has long been a proponent of versatility in players and he says both players can play multiple positions in the 3-4.

“It’s great to have guys who can (play inside or outside) because it gives you depth at both positions,” he said. “When you get to the 45 (game day roster), you can carry some guys at other positions.

“ The 3-4 is pretty flexible and that’s one of the reasons why I like it.”

Gocong, 26, is in his fifth seasons, while Fujita, 31, is in his ninth NFL season. Mangini coveted Gocong while he was making draft decisions when he was coaching with the Jets. The additions of Gocong and Fujita made the Browns feel they could trade outside linebacker Kamerion Wimbley as he was only an outside linebacker.

The Browns have several linebackers that can play inside or outside in Gocong, Fujita, Jason Trusnik, David Bowens, Matt Roth, David Veikune, among others.

Mangini said that Gocong and Fujita have been primarily working at one spot, but anticipates them moving around.

“Our goal right now has been to keep them at one spot,” he said. “When we get to minicamp, we might start moving them around, but those guys have played in various positions.”


Nothing New with RFAs: Mangini said there was no movement with the restricted free agents, including Matt Roth, Lawrence Vickers, D’Qwell Jackson, RB Jerome Harrison and DB Abe Elam. He did say that Harrison was once again working at the OTAs.

The players have until June 15 to sign their tenders or risk getting a pay decrease to their tender offers.

Mangini did offer his assessment on Harrison.

“He’s looked good,” he said. “It’s hard to evaluate where guys are at this time of year, but he looks like he did last year. “

He did say that second-round draft pick, Montario Hardesty has progressed well.

“He has had an outstanding camp,” he said. “He’s smart and has picked up (the system) and those type of things are going to give him a chance to play. I say that with an asterisk because we haven’t gotten to pads yet.”

Cornering the Market: Mangini talked about rookie cornerback Joe Haden and veteran Brandon McDonald.

Mangini said that Haden is soaking up information from Sheldon Brown.

“I think he’s benefited from having Sheldon around,” Mangini said. “Joe’s learning from him and Sheldon can be a mentor to him. All of those young guys are adjusting to the pro game and are starting to play a lot faster than they were when they started.”

It was no secret the Browns weren’t happy with the play of McDonald in 2009, prompting them to draft Haden with the first pick and trading for Brown. However, Mangini said McDonald has had a good off-season.

“The one thing I’ll say about Brandon is he has been one of our off season winners (in the off-season program),” Mangini said. “He has played a lot of football and the more depth you can have at the cornerback is great. He’s a very competitive player and I like that a lot about him a lot.”

Rookie Safeties: Mangini was asked if S Abe Elam held out longer, if he would be against starting rookies T.J. Ward and Larry Asante, if need be.

“T.J. Ward has also had a couple of good days,” he said. “I’m open to that. In New York, we started two rookies on the offensive line.”

Ward was the Browns second pick in this year’s draft, while Asante was the fifth-round choice.

“They may take some lumps early because they are rookies, but they will learn.”

Mangini said that Mike Adams has been working at cornerback mostly, leaving just Ray Ventrone, Nick Sorenson and DeAngelo Smith as the other safeties.

“You want everyone to be here, but it does create extra reps for those here,” Mangini said. “It’s great for the young guys to learn and get an opportunity.”

Versatile Line: Keeping with the versatile mantra, offensive linemen Shawn Lauvao and Tony Pashos fit the bill. Mangini said that third-round choice Shawn Lauvao has been working at center, besides right guard.

“Shawn has been working a little at center and that allows him to know what’s going on,” he said. “You want them to get comfortable at all positions.”

“(Pashos )is very serious about what he does,”Mangini said. “He’s all football all the time. Whether he ends up at guard or tackle, we’ll see where he fits whether as a starter or backup, we’ll see.”

Veikune Update: LB David Veikune has been stationed on the inside after coming in originally as a pass rushing defensive end in college. Mangini said he has taken advantage of his opportunities with D’Qwell Jackson out.

“David has taken advantage of the reps he’s received with D’Qwell not being here,” he said. “You can see his communication level improving and he showed different levels in college and last season. Now, he’s getting added value in his time here.”

Mangini said it’s not unusual for a player that played outside to move to the inside.

“I don’t think it’s unusual for someone with his background to be on the inside,” he said. “Teddy Bruschi was an end and then he learned and grew in the system and ended up inside. When you take a guy who had his hands on the dirt and now he has to learn to stand up, there’s a learning process.”

RB Update: Mangini said that RB James Davis has bounced back well from missing last season. He mentioned that he and Chris Jennings are in similar situations.

“I think James and Chris got a lot of opportunities last year,” Mangini said. “James missed playing time and it’s similar to what happened with Chansi Stuckey his first year when he got hurt. He learned a lot and came on his second year.”

Mangini said he was happy with the way Davis handled his injury in an after practice “opportunity time”.

“He’s handled it pretty well,” he said. “He rehabbed and has come along pretty well. “

Jake’s Progress: Mangini said he’s increasingly impressed with QB Jake Delhomme.

“He’s had a really good week,” he said. “I’m getting to know him and Brian (Daboll) is getting to know him. He’s very, very bright. He gets it and has used a lot of his tools to get the offense out of situations due to his experience.”

Here's what I get out of that article: RFAs not at OTAs, you're only hurting yourself.

What I got, "We dont think DQ is very good, and dont care if he comes or not. He is not in our future."

I am liking the possibilities at several positions. At linebacker, we don't have one truly dominant player, but we have several guys who can be moved around and still play well.

Our cornerback depth went from arguably our biggest weakness to our biggest strength in just one offseason. Wright, Brown, and Haden are an excellent top three, and while McDonald is only an alright nickel back, he is a great fourth corner.

Our running backs should be good as well. Hardesty is the next great running back in the recent line of second rounders following Maurice Jones-Drew and Ray Rice. He is gonna be awesome. Harrison is a great change of pace back, and we all know Vickers is a beast. Hillis can come in at fullback or running back. I love the possibility of having three of those guys in the backfield at once.

I do think that Veikune will get a real shot at 1 of the Ilb spots.

I also think that Mangini likes guys who can move around and line up inside or outside ..... and I don't think that's Jackson.



I do have one other thought.

When Mangini took over, the national media spoke of how the Browns were the least talented team in the NFL. They were right. This team had very little talent, and no positions of real strength except for LT, LS, , P, and KR.

What a huge turnover this roster has seen.

If I count right .... there are, left from the Savage Era ....(2 years later)

4 DB
3 DL
1 LB
2 OL
0 QB
1 RB
0 WR
0 TE


That's a pretty damning indictment of the former regime's talent acquisition.

I think that this could be the most talented roster this team has seen since 1999. While this might be damning with faint praise .... this big of a turnaround in 2 years with a lot of young players is pretty impressive IMHO.

Personally, I feel better about the long term prospects of a lot of our younger players than I have at any time in the past 10 years.

Interesting take... man I hope to hell you are correct...

Well, I look at it like this .....

We tossed out the bums for better bums ... but they weren't good enough .....

So we .......

We tossed out those bums for better bums ... but they still weren't good enough .....

So we .......

We tossed out those bums for better bums ... but they still weren't good enough .....

So at least our "bums" should be 4 generations better.

We then hired an experienced Head Coach, then a real President, and experienced GM. (2 of which were firsts in all regards .. I'll give Policy a qualified "real")

I think that the early returns on certain positions are better than at any other time in the past 10 years. There are still areas of concern. Will WR boom or bust? Will Delhomme? Who will fill out the DL rotations? However, there are certainly positions that look a whole lot better, and deeper, than at any time since 1999.

I am definitely encouraged.

Long ..... but it is .. long.

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/arti...0f-23274039ee11

Mangini press conf. transcript 6-3
Posted 4 hours ago

The transcript of Eric Mangini's Thursday morning press conference.


Head Coach Eric Mangini press conference 6-3-10


(Opening statement)- “Good morning everybody. A couple of things here, in terms of the restricted guys, no movement there. Jerome (Harrison) will be here working. He’s been here working, but no change with any of the other guys. With the injured guys, that group has stayed the same. There are some guys that are going to miss today because of various reasons and I’ve talked to all of them. I’ve had conversations with the group so if someone is not out there that normally would be, that’s the case. Today where we’re at is we’ve gone through two cycles of install, which is the first and second down day, the third down day, the red area day and a review. That’s considered a cycle. We’ve gone through two of those. Today is a catch up or catch all day, so anything that we feel like we want to go back and hit, maybe something that we installed but didn’t get to run as much as we’d liked to. We are doing that type of work here this morning. A couple of situational things, we will have a four minute situation, a start of a game situation where after we stretch, kickoff, a kickoff return. Wherever the guy is tagged down, that’s where the drive will start. Whatever happens on the drive happens and then we just go back into the normal flow of practice. We will vary those up, sometimes the coaches call them, sometimes the players call them. It’s just a good way to get into that routine of you go into the locker room, you stretch, you go into the locker room, you come out, you kickoff and you’re rolling. Sometimes we will do that midway through practice and call it the start of the second half. It’s a little bit different, it’s not always scripted and we let the players have some fun with that and it gives us a sense of things that they like. It does help you get in that flow of you end the first half, you go in the locker room, you come back out and you’re rolling. It’s just a different way to try to teach that.


“In terms of progress, I think we made a lot of progress with retention, with understanding situations. It shows up in different levels each day. I think Chris Gocong has really made some excellent strides. He’s a really smart guy. He’s heard things now two or three times and some of the littler things are starting to come. I’d say the same thing for Scott Fujita. Sort of the same type of player in terms of very, very bright and now he’s getting more and more comfortable seeing some of the smaller things show up in a real positive way.”


(On the importance of having versatile linebackers)- “I think it’s great to have guys that can do both because it gives you depth on the 45. When you play the game, you may not have to carry an extra inside linebacker or outside linebacker, you can just shift one of those guys to those spots and they can give you a level of play that maybe that extra guy that you would have carried would give you. Now it gives you some versatility if you want to carry an extra receiver or a core special teams player. The other nice thing is the 3-4 is pretty flexible, but when you have guys that can play both spots, now you can become more flexible with where you can put them, how you move those pieces around and that’s something I’m always looking for.”


(On if he has been rotating Gocong and Fujita at different positions)- “These early parts, our approach has been to keep them in one spot in base right now. They work a couple different spots in sub, but in base it has been one spot. Then what we’ll do is, we might do it a little more in mandatory min-camp where they have heard things a few times and have worked it, switch them or at some point early in training camp switch them. They’ve both played inside and outside those two guys, just like (David) Bowens has, (Jason) Trusnik has, (David) Veikune has. Now it’s just figuring out the best way to get them some reps there.”


(On Brandon McDonald)- “The one thing I’ll say about Brandon is first of all, he was one of our offseason award winners last week. The way that we choose those during the OTA days is offense, defense, special teams, we choose a wild card player which could be any position and we choose a rehab player. He was one of the winners last week. I think he’s had a really good camp, similar to the type of camp that Brian Robiskie has had and that’s a positive thing. He’s played a lot of football. He’s been in a lot of games and that’s good. The more depth we can have at the cornerback spot is great. One of his best traits is he’s intensely competitive and he’s going to go out and put his best foot forward. Now, has it always worked out exactly the way he wanted or we wanted? Not necessarily, but he comes back and works the next time and I like that a lot about him.”


(On what award McDonald won)- “He was either the defensive or the wild card. I can’t remember which one, but he was one of those two spots.”


(On Jerome Harrison)- “He’s looked good. It’s really hard to evaluate where guys are. You’re looking at it more in terms of assignments, technique, things like that. He’s made very few mistakes, which is excellent. He looks similar to the way he looked. It’s just hard to project too far down the road without pads on.”


(On the running back situation)- “I think it’s a good situation. I think Montario (Hardesty) has had a really outstanding camp. For a young guy, he makes very few mistakes. His level of maturity is one of the highest that I’ve been around and that’s great. That’s going to give him the best chance to not only play, but to play a lot if he continues along this path. That’s exciting to see. Again, it’s with a big asterisk because we don’t have pads on and they’re not games and we haven’t done a full evaluation, but I really like what he has done to this point.”


(On Joe Haden’s progress)- “Good. I think he benefits a lot from having someone like Sheldon (Brown) around who is going through the same thing. It’s different in the sense that Sheldon can relate it to things he did in Philadelphia, but it is all new for Sheldon. That’s actually a plus for a guy like Joe because as Sheldon is learning, he can help Joe along. They’re both new, they both play the same position and it can be a mentor/mentee type relationship.”


(On Haden’s quickness)- “I think it’s gotten better. I think all of those young guys in the secondary, the first rookie camp they had been on the lecture circuit and their legs looked heavy. But now, they have been playing football, they have been doing football-specific movements and they look like they are playing a lot faster than they were. They are starting to pick up the information. It’s not where they’re going to be and hopefully they get there as quickly as possible, but it’s a lot better than it was because they are back in a routine and their bodies are responding the way that I’m sure they are used to it responding. T.J. Ward too has had a couple of nice days.”


(On where Chris Jennings and James Davis fit in the running back rotation)- “Chris got a lot of experience because of the opportunities that were available and he’s making progress. James, even though he missed the playing time, he was in the meetings, he was part of the whole process. Similar what happened to Chansi Stuckey his first year. He came in, he played for a little bit, he got hurt early, but he learned that whole first season and it showed up a lot that second season. I’m excited about seeing both of those guys. Now you have Jerome and Montario and Peyton (Hillis) is working in there, some good depth and some good competition. Competition is healthy, it pushes everybody to be better.”


(On how Davis handled his injury last season)- “I think he’s handled it really well. He’s been on top of his rehab throughout the whole process and I get the sense that he’s excited to be back in the football-specific things. We are excited to see how he does this year because he did a lot of good things early last year.”

(On if he would be opposed to starting two rookie safeties)- “I’m definitely open to that. In New York, we started two rookie offensive linemen that first year with the center and the left tackle. Eugene Wilson and Asante Samuel played a lot their rookie season in New England. It just depends on where they are and there are a lot of veteran guys that are going to work to not let that happen and that’s what you’d expect. But if they’re the best guys, you may take some lumps early because they are rookies, but typically those guys continue to move up and excel as they play and gain experience.”


(On what veterans will compete for a safety position)- “(Mike) Adams he has worked quite a bit at corner, he can work at safety. You have Bubba (Ray) Ventrone; he’s been working in there. Nick Sorensen’s been working in there. DeAngelo Smith has been working some at safety. It’s like anything else, you want everybody to be here, but if they are not here what that does do is create extra reps for Larry (Asante), for T.J. (Ward), whoever it is and it’s great for them to get that experience now, and again, you want everybody to be here, but it does create some real learning opportunities for the young guys.”


(On what you can learn about the offensive linemen this time of year)- “We learn whether or not they understand the whole concept because you can understand your spot. Shawn (Lauvao) actually has been working a little bit at center, and I think that’s a good thing for him because you have to know everything that’s going on if you’re playing that spot and ideally he can play any of those three interior spots, center, left guard, or right guard and you have to know it. If you don’t know it you can’t function and you want him to get comfortable, but you also want him to understand the full concept of the protection.”


(On his level of confidence that David Veikune will pan out as a high draft pick)- “With all the draft picks when we take them we believe they’re going to work out and I believe that David’s really benefitted well from some opportunities that have been created at the inside linebacker spot without having D’Qwell (Jackson) here. He’s gotten quite a few reps and I think he’s done a nice job. I think some of the value with linebackers really has to be determined once the pads come on. You can see where they fit, you can see their drops, you can see their communication, but part of playing that inside linebacker spot is your ability to go up and thump and I think that is something that David showed in college. He showed different levels last season, but this is good work for him in terms of processing everything. Now ideally when it comes time to hit, it’s where the added value comes in.”


(On if Veikune is an unusual fit at inside linebacker)- “No, I don’t think it’s unusual for them to, for one, for the team to go through the process of figuring out where the right spot is, and then you know sometimes its better inside, sometimes its better outside. Tedy Bruschi was a defensive end who worked primarily in sub his first year and then we moved him in, when we got to New England, moved him into an inside backer spot. He was good, wasn’t Tedy at that point. You learn and you grow in the system and experience different things, but when you take a guy who has had his hand in the dirt and stand him up, it’s not easy. Willie McGinest you know he had to stand up, Mike Vrabel he had to stand up, Rosevelt Colvin when we got him as a free agent from Chicago he had had his hand in the dirt and he had to stand up. You go right on down the line of those guys. There’s a ton of them and you need them big. Big, strong and usually those guys play down in college.”


(On what he sees in Tony Pashos)- “He’s very serious about what he does. He’s all football all the time which is good. Where he’s going to fit, guard, tackle, starter, backup, I couldn’t tell you right now. I think that there’s a good group over on that right side fighting it out and we’ve just got to see who comes out on top.”


(On if instant replay has made the game better)- “Yes, I think that anytime you can get the call right it’s a good thing and the call last night was against the Tribe, right? I thought it was an out. It was the Tribe. I don’t know, an out is an out. You want to get it right, at the end of the day you want to get it right and sometimes you benefit from it, sometimes you don’t, but you can live with the fact that it was right.”


(On if it is important to have the element of human error in sports)- “Yes, if it helps you it’s the best. If it hurts you, no, you want to get it right. Where you stand depends on where you sit.”


(On if he is a baseball fan)- “I’ve become a lot more of a baseball fan. I’ve gone to a lot of games with Mark (Shapiro) and he’s coached me up on it.”


(On if there should be more instant replay in baseball)- “What does Mark (Shapiro) think? Whatever he thinks, I’m with Mark.”


(On what the best part of the offseason has been up to now)- “Anytime you come into a place there’s so many different things you have to deal with on the business side, the team side, the organization side. There’s also moving your family, you’re getting adjusted to a new community, you’re getting the kids in school, all those things where this year it’s been nice to have, for me personally, it’s nice to have everybody settled, to be able to go and spend some time at the boys’ school, to just free up some time to do some things that are just regular family fun things that you miss out on. My family was in New York for a long time last year until training camp and you have to get a house. There’s so many things that you’re not dealing with now and that’s been a real pleasure and just being able to enjoy the boys this offseason has been great for me.”


(On any changes to how he is running OTA’s this year compared to last year)- “We change stuff each year. What we do is these things, I know I’ve talked about this so I hope I’m not boring you, AAR’s which is the after action reports, so once we get done with this camp and this minicamp, each department will fill out their AAR. Things we did well, things we did poorly, suggestions for next year, any other ideas that you have, and what I’ll do with the coordinators and usually it’s with that group and myself, is go through and look at it and say, ‘Okay, what can we do differently before the next event.’ There have been a lot of little things, I wouldn’t say there has been any dramatic changes. Difference this year too is these have all been OTA days as opposed to voluntary minicamps, so the time is more restricted so you just have to be that much tighter on your install. We had a little more time last year with those camps we were able to run.”


(On Jake Delhomme)- “He’s had a really good week. I’m getting to know him and Brian’s (Daboll) getting to know him. He’s really bright. Chad Pennington was really bright. Jake just picks things up and some of it is him picking up and some of it is just him knowing, him understanding and you don’t have to go too in depth with why you’re doing it because he gets it. He had, we call it tools offensively, where if you’re in a bad play you might not have another called, but you have the ability to signal to the receiver to run a slant or you can run a bubble screen. Those are just built in every play and he’s used a lot of those tools over the last week or so and that’s good stuff. He’s gotten the offense out of some plays that worked very good just by him understanding. His use of cadence has gotten better and better and it’s nice too from a defensive perspective because he’s challenging those guys. If your disguise isn’t right, he’s going to get you. You can teach both ways with it from where I am.”

Mangini said that Adams is working at CB as well ..... so that puts either him or McDonald 4th/5th ..... plus Coy Francies is in the mix as well. Francies better grab hold of a special teams job somewhere or he might be out on his butt.

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2010/06/mary_kay_cabot_browns_update_v.html

According to Mary Kay Cabot, Carlton Mitchell opened some eyes yesterday. She said that he has great size, moves really well, caught a TD pass, and is opening some eyes.

Also, Gocong is excited to get into a 3-4, and thinks that he'll provide a lot of pass rush ability.

Veikune was again singled out as doing a nice job inside, and seems to be much more comfortable and "showing up" a lot more than last year.

Wasn't Adams originally a CB for us, that we moved to Safety out of necessity?

Quote:

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Mangini said that Adams is working at CB as well .....

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I had noticed this too, but this kind of annoys me. I think he's a better backup FS for our team. Adams stepped into CB last season out of necessity, because McDonald stunk it up, and Adams wasn't really much better. He simply isn't good in man coverage, lined up across from a receiver. May be he's better inside, in the nickel, but really, I liked Adams at FS.

Hopefully Mangini works him at both positions.


But yeah Purp, I don't remember that one, all I remember is Adams became CB last season because we had no one better to line up with Wright

I'm fairly certain that he was a bottom-of-the-barrel kind of guy when we brought him in, that was a CB... and it was between guys like him and McDonald for roles like the slot.... then we were pressed to move somebody to Safety, and he was one of the ones that got moved there (this is like two seasons ago).

Adams was a safety for the 49ers; then we signed him and moved him around.

http://blogs.cantonrep.com/freshbrownies/practice-getting-edgy/

Intensely running plays, occasionally running mouths
Jun 4th, 2010 @ 10:10 am by Steve Doerschuk

What one guy saw and thought while the lads were running plays …

• Mike Holmgren and Gil Haskell watched intently, on the field, as the quarterbacks ran through plays. Their stamp will be on the offense.
Some of us wondered as we watched how uncomfortable this might be for the coaches. My thought is that the coaches know they must embrace the concept and simply plug into open dialogues with H&H.
Holmgren is not overbearing. He is opinionated. I see Mangini and Daboll having learned to roll with that.

• New inside linebacker Scott Fujita seems very focused and intense as he diagnoses, pre-snap, Jake Delhomme’s adjustments. On two consecutive snaps, Fujita sprinted from the middle to his left just before the snap. Delhomme wound up dumping passes that way both times.

• Delhomme seems poised and on top of things mentally. He sounds like a veteran as he runs through his cadence. There never seems to be any hesitation or surprise as he reads a defense and announces a change.
Certain things tell me he’s fairly happy with the way he is throwing but is still trying to find his inner Jake, the one that was 12-4 in 2008 before the crash.
On one play, a little pass over the middle that was off the mark, he smacked his hands together, subtly disgusted.

• Seneca Wallace’s feet never stay in one place for long. He moves every which way to avoid the rush or perhaps sometimes to move into a lane where he can see — he’s 5-foot-11 — through the trees to a target. On one pass, he moved slightly to his right, recognized a rusher, backpedaled quickly, and — the split second his feet were planted — threw deep to rookie Carlton Mitchell, who got his hands on the ball with a nice body adjustment, but couldn’t hang on.

• At his height — and you do notice his height right away — Wallace is susceptible to tipped balls. At this stage of his career, he takes pride in avoiding tips. That’s one function of his moving around so much (”function” … can you tell I’ve been hanging around Mangini?).
One of Wallace’s passes was tipped wildly off target. Wallace leaped into the air in disgust.

• They’re covering everything. “Practice taking a safety,” a coach barked. Punter Reggie Hodges (Dave Zastudil wasn’t there) stood in the back of the end zone, took the snap, waited for the rush to arrive, then stepped backward over the back line for the safety.

• It’s just spring practice, and it’s noncontact by rule, but there are bumps and an occasional cheap-shot allegation. Remember, lots of long-shot rookies with nothing to lose need to throw the whole bag of tricks.
On one punt-coverage play, special teams commando Blake Costanzo thought someone on the other side did him dirty. He called the perpetrator a name and said somebody could get hurt.
Costanzo couldn’t let it go. He aired his beef to veteran long snapper Ryan Pontbriand, who said in a measured voice, “Yeah, but now is not the time.”

• During the Costanzo scene, linebacker Titus Brown said, “I hope you have that same energy when you have the pads on.”

• Colt McCoy is getting so few reps in the practices we see that there’s no way to conclude whether he’s sharp, or not. I can only say he’s not perfect. On one of his handful of throws in 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s, he made a receiver reach to his shoetops to catch a short pass in the right flat.

• We watch practice from the back line of an end zone on which the word “FINISH” greets all who enter.

Quote:

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Colt McCoy is getting so few reps in the practices we see that there’s no way to conclude whether he’s sharp, or not. I can only say he’s not perfect. On one of his handful of throws in 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s, he made a receiver reach to his shoetops to catch a short pass in the right flat.

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So, he's already no worse than Quinn and Anderson. We're movin' on up!

Quote:

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• During the Costanzo scene, linebacker Titus Brown said, “I hope you have that same energy when you have the pads on.”

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I hope they all have that same energy...Nothing wrong with a fight during training camp.

If you are playing on that aggressive edge that leads to an occassional penalty.. well I can live with that. There is also a fine line between an acceptable penalty and a what the hell were you thinking penalty..

Had to bring it up didn't you....

http://www.cantonrep.com/browns/x775082002/Browns-notes-Old-pros-taking-over

Browns notes: Old pros taking over

By Steve Doerschuk
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Jun 04, 2010 @ 12:16 AM
BEREA — The voices of the offense and the defense Thursday were new Browns, quarterback Jake Delhomme and linebacker Scott Fujita.

Delhomme has impressed Head Coach Eric Mangini with his split-second, presnap decisions.

“Jake has had a really good week,” Mangini said.

Fujita, a 31-year-old veteran who started for the Saints in the Super Bowl six months ago, looked almost hyperactive as he motioned defensive players around and called out adjustments.

Fujita is carrying himself like a leader, but it remains to be seen how he will be used if Eric Barton returns from an injury-shortened 2009.

Chris Gocong, like Fujita a veteran linebacker acquired by the Browns in the offseason, said Barton and David Bowens are his go-to guys in terms of translating the new system.

Both Barton and Bowens, both going on 33, have played for Mangini with the Jets and Browns. Both were captains last year.

Barton is not expected to practice until training camp. Bowens practiced Thursday while wearing a brace on his left knee.

Hello in a hurry

Running back Jerome Harrison was in no mood to rock the boat as he passed reporters Thursday.

He politely said hello, but kept moving as the chase to corner him into an interview began.

“I’m good, my family’s good, and I’m just happy to be back,” Harrison said. “Contracts ain’t a problem.”

Then he was gone.

The Browns have five restricted free agents who have not signed contract tenders. They are allowed to participate in voluntary spring practices, but Harrison is the only one doing so.

The others are linebacker Matt Roth, linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, safety Abe Elam and fullback Lawrence Vickers.

Stepping back in

Syndric Steptoe, a seventh-round pick in 2007 who spent 2009 on injured reserve, was the No. 2 punt returner behind Josh Cribbs.

Don’t dismiss Steptoe as a strong candidate to make the team. He was retained last year even after his agent made inflammatory comments about Mangini.

As a wide receiver in 2008, Steptoe made five starts, catching 19 passes for 182 yards. Cribbs made 12 starts at wide receiver in 2009, catching 20 passes for 135 yards.

Team President Mike Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert are assessing how Cribbs and Steptoe are meshing with the new quarterbacks.

Nobody’s No. 1

There is a clear sense that the Browns are exploring what tight end Evan Moore and rookie wideout Carlton Mitchell can bring to the offense. In the absence of a true No. 1 wideout, the Browns seem to be exploring what they can accomplish by focusing on five or six receivers’ strengths.

Mitchell combines height and speed. Moore was a college wideout who has great hands and a knack for beating linebackers.

Extra points

• Rookie running back Montario Hardesty ran the wrong route on one practice play. Delhomme threw the ball a mile behind him, almost as if to tell the third-round draft pick, “It’ll look even uglier if you do it in a game.” A coach barked, “C’mon. C’mon. Communicate.”

• The Browns released 5-foot-8 rookie wideout Dion Morton and signed 6-foot-3 wideout James Robinson. Robinson, 27, spent eight weeks on the Dolphins practice squad last year. He has played in the CFL and the Arena League.

• One can’t help but notice when watching practice behind the huddle that 5-foot-11 Seneca Wallace seems to be engulfed by center Alex Mack as he crouches for the ball. At one point, Wallace leaped in disgust when a pass aimed over the middle was batted down at the line.

• Holmgren watched most of Thursday’s practice while standing on the field behind the offense. Holmgren’s right-hand man, Gil Haskell, also watched much of the practice from the field.

• Rookie QB Colt McCoy says he is trying to be patient and soak up knowledge. He isn’t getting many practice reps.

Copyright 2010 CantonRep.com. Some rights reserved

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2010/06/cleveland_browns_jerome_harris_3.html

Cleveland Browns running back Jerome Harrison grateful to be back at OTAS and hopes to be a Brown long-term
By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer
June 03, 2010, 9:58PM

BEREA, Ohio — The Browns have Jerome Harrison's 8-year-old niece to thank for getting him back to organized team activities.

"We were just talking, and she said, 'Uncle J, just go play football.' My little niece. And I'm like, 'You're right,' " Harrison told The Plain Dealer.

His niece's innocent plea put things in perspective for Harrison, who joined voluntary OTAs last week after skipping the first week because he's not under contract. A restricted free agent, Harrison has yet to sign his one-year tender. But unlike four other Browns who are restricted free agents -- and absent -- Harrison signed an injury waiver and returned last Monday.

"It's what I love to do," Harrison said. "It doesn't matter the circumstances or the situation. Playing football is what I love to do and she just made it clear as day for me."

Harrison declined to say when or if he'll sign his second-round tender, which is worth $1.759 million for 2010. The deadline to sign is June 15, and if Harrison and the others don't sign by then, the Browns can reduce the offers to 10 percent above their 2009 salary, which in Harrison's case would be $593,000.

Browns General Manager Tom Heckert said the team has discussed reducing the offers, but hopes to avoid doing so. The Browns have a mandatory minicamp June 10-12, but the unsigned RFAs won't be penalized for not attending.

"I plan on playing football," Harrison said when asked if he'll sign the tender.

As for seeking a long-term deal, he said: "I just really like it in Cleveland. I like the fans. I like the people. I've built a lot of relationships with my teammates. That's why I'm just going to keep playing football."

He said he's not worried about getting hurt while not under contract.

"I'm not practicing not to get hurt," he said. "I'm just out here having fun with the guys. You get hurt when you're trying not to get hurt."

Harrison maintained that rookie running back Montario Hardesty did not factor into his decision to attend OTAs. Hardesty, whom the Browns traded up to draft in the second round, began playing with the first-team offense in Harrison's absence and remains there. The situation is not uncommon when a veteran misses workouts, even voluntary ones.

"That had nothing to do with my return, nothing at all," Harrison said. "Montario's a good running back. What's in store for him is for him and what's in store for me is for me."

Coach Eric Mangini was effusive in his praise of Hardesty, but the Browns are still motivated to get Harrison under contract.

"I think Montario has had a really outstanding camp," Mangini said. "For a young guy, he makes very few mistakes. His level of maturity is one of the highest that I've been around and that's great. That's going to give him the best chance to not only play, but to play a lot if he continues along this path. That's exciting to see. Again, it's with a big asterisk because we don't have pads on and they're not games. But I really like what he's done to this point."

Harrison was a key factor in the Browns' four-game winning streak to end last season. He rushed for 561 yards and three touchdowns over the final three games, including his record-shattering 286-yard outing against the Chiefs.

"[Harrison's] looked good," Mangini said. "It's really hard to evaluate where guys are [without pads on]. You're looking at it more in terms of assignments, technique, things like that. He's made very few mistakes, which is excellent. He looks similar to the way he looked [at the end of last season]."

And if all goes as planned, he'll pick up where he left off.

"I'm not worried about the contract," he said. "I'm just happy to be back."

http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2010/06/cleveland_browns_have_found_a.html

Cleveland Browns have found a pass-catching tight end - Terry Pluto blog
By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
June 03, 2010, 4:44PM

Not wanting to think about LeBron James or instant replay in baseball, here are some scribbles in my notebook from the Browns OTAs on Thursday.

1. I counted at least three touchdown passes caught by Ben Watson, the Browns new tight end. They were in the red zone drills, but it’s still nice to see a tight end catch the ball. Watson is a free agent from New England, where he was considered a disappointment for failing to live up to the hype of being a first-round pick in 2004. But Watson did catch 29 passes last season, five for touchdowns. He has 20 TD catches in his career, and seems to know how to get open in the end zone.

2. After watching poor Robert Royal (called "Royal Roberts" by former coach Brian Billick in one telecast last season) struggle to catch the ball from the tight end spot, it was nice to see a tight end look comfortable when the ball was thrown his way. Evan Moore also made some very nice catches. Don’t be surprised if the Browns use him as a slot receiver in some situations. A former basketball player at Stanford, the athletic Moore is not a strong blocker — but at 6-foot-6 and with a fluid stride, he can be a good receiver.

3. Brian Schaefering knocked down a Jake Delhomme pass, and the defensive lineman seems to be in the mix for some playing time. Part of the reason is Shaun Rogers is still recovering from ankle surgery. Moore and Schaefering are products of coach Eric Mangini’s extra practice sessions — opportunity periods — after the regular practices. They are open to rookies and free agents. Moore and Schaefering seemed to come out of nowhere at the end of last season to have some productive games. Moore caught 12 passes in the final five games, averaging 13.2 yards per catch.

4. The Browns used Jerome Harrison a lot on screens and short passes. He looked sharp. It’s easy to forget that he tied with Mohammed Massaquoi for the team lead last season with 34 catches. But in his last three monster games (500 yards rushing), he caught only four passes as they stopped using him as a receiver. It seems throwing to the backs might be some of the West Coast element that Mike Holmgren has brought to the offense.

5. Marcus Benard showed some real speed rushing from his outside linebacker spot. Another opportunity period graduate, Benard had 3.5 sacks in the final four games. With restricted free agent Matt Roth not here (Matt, not a smart move), Benard and Jason Trusnik are getting a lot of work at outside linebacker.

6. Linebacker Chris Gocong looks like he can’t wait to put on full pads and hit someone. He is all over the field, very at home in the 3-4 defense.

7. Seneca Wallace and Delhomme both look like solid, experience quarterbacks. You don’t see many poor throws, either in terms of heaving the ball into coverage or missing wide open receivers. Rookie Colt McCoy is not seeing much action as the coaches wisely are working their two main QBs into the new offense.

8. The Browns ran some plays with the ball on their own 1-yard line with Wallace at quarterback. His ability to scramble and turn a quick corner around end makes him very effective in getting the ball away from the shadow of their own goal posts.

I think that Evan Moore is going to be our new Jurevicious.... a big, tall strider with glue like hands that just catch things.

call me crazy, but I like Steptoe. I'm pulling for him to be the 4th WR and #2 returner. I like his return skills.

I don't think that they are planning to move Moore to WR ... but rather to use him as a slot receiver in multiple WR sets, as well as using him as a TE in more traditional sets.

He can be an effective weapon from the TE spot, and adding another role is more likely than changing his main role.

I thought that the "Opportunity Drills" were an opportunity for 1st year players to get more personal coaching after a practice session.

They put players through certain drills and allow them the opportunity to catch a coach's eye.

ah, could be I have my terms mixed up.