Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report - Day 9
A day after the Browns lost a padded practice to a COVID-19 false alarm, the team was met with some genuine bad news.
Safety Grant Delpit goes down during non-contact drill.
During team drills rookie second-round selection Grant Delpit went down in non-contact team drills with an apparent Achilles injury. During a backpedal near the beginning of practice, Delpit first began hopping on one foot and then collapsed to the ground, bracing his calf area. He was carted off the field with his face buried in his palms and had the look of a man who knew the severity of his injury.
This, of course, was days after the Browns lost Kevin Johnson to a lacerated liver injury. It was also on a day when Terrance Mitchell was out with a knee injury. To make matters worse, last year's second round draft pick Greedy Williams later left practice with a shoulder injury and M.J. Stewart, another former second round draft selection who was signed after being cut by Jacksonville, left with a hamstring injury.
The apparent loss of Delpit for a significant portion of the season (if not the entire season) is devastating. Although Delpit was not yet starting, he was definitely in the plans for this season and beyond. Karl Joseph has been injury prone throughout his NFL career and Andrew Sendejo is on the back nine of his career and was signed as a bridge starter at most. Both were signed to one-year deals. Behind Delpit is last year's fifth round draft pick, Sheldrick Redwine. Redwine is not someone you want to count on to play significant snaps.
Andrew Berry will likely be trying out safety free agents now and trying to find some additional help on cut down day.
Cornerbacks Greedy Williams and M.J. Stewart leave practice too.
It is not clear how significant a shoulder injury Greedy Williams' suffered at practice. He spent too much time on the injured list last season, missing the first four games with a hamstring and played inconsistently when he was active.
In 2019, Williams missed 14.5 percent of his tackles, failed to record a single interception, and allowed a better than 60% completion percentage to the receiver he was covering. His Pro Football Focus grade was a paltry 54.6, which is at the very bottom of NFL corners who started. Williams needs to improve substantially from last season to be a capable starter and the loss of valuable reps in a new defense is not likely to help.
Terrance Mitchell is a more consistent player. If you argued that the Browns may be better served with Mitchell starting, I couldn't give you a strong counter-argument beyond citing Williams' draft investment. As I said earlier, however, Mitchell did not participate in today's practice because of his own knee issue.
In all, the Browns were missing 3 of their 4 top cornerbacks by the end of the practice: Williams, Johnson, and Stewart. They were down to Denzel Ward, Tavier Thomas, undrafted free agent AJ Green, last year's seventh round draft pick Donnie Lewis, lanky Donovan Olumba (who spent last season on the Cowboy's practice squad), and Robert "Action" Jackson who has hung around the Browns' practice squad for the last few years.
Cornerback is a position where depth is essential. Suddenly, it is challenged for the Browns. That does not bode well for a team with problems at linebacker and now at safety as well.
Baker and first team offense still not crisp against backups.
With all of the injuries to the secondary and Karl Joseph taking the day off, one would think it would be a day utterly dominated by Baker and the offense. Think again.
While Baker and the first team started off fairly well, the passing game became more ragged as the day went on. Toward the end of practice, the bulk of the Browns' first team offense was practicing a two-minute drill against what was left of a defense featuring undrafted rookie free agents and guys signed off of other teams' practice squads, yet it approached hapless. Baker was visibly frustrated. Like the last live-streamed practice, Stefanski was forced to slow it down to half speed to try to get in some productive work.
True, Baker did not have Jarvis today and when he did have Odell that connection looked easy. It's unlikely that the Browns will rely heavily on a third wide receiver so long as OBJ and Landry are healthy. Still, it should have been an all-day cake walk for Baker working with his back up receivers against what was essentially a scout team secondary, and it was pretty far from it.
The overall feel of Day 9.
Despite all of the injuries, this training camp has not been physical. In fact, through 9 days I would call it soft. Offensive players are not being taken down to the ground in team sessions and, in fact, there is a lot of two-hand touch that seems to most closely resemble arm tackling. The form I see being practiced is not what they'll need to bring Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram, J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards to the ground a few weeks from now. With the injuries mounting, however, it is unlikely that practices will become more physical.
In addition to lacking physicality, the practices do not appear particularly crisp or even well-organized. I get the sense that Stefanski has in his mind what he wants to accomplish, but has to go off script when he sees that his team is not executing at the level he would like to see. With twenty days before the opening game, the Browns ran a two minute drill for the first time today and had to abort it.
To be fair, nothing is coming easy for Stefanski in his first year. Without OTAs and mini-camp he's installing a new offensive and defensive system on the fly. Zoom meetings are not likely conducive to men who are accustomed to learn by doing. I will say that the overall scheme looks well-suited to manufacture success for Baker, even if the execution is lacking to date.
Glass half full.
I will note that if Jedrick Wills was getting beaten today, it was not as glaringly noticeable as with past practices. So, that is something on the positive side. Odell and Austin Hooper look great and fourth-round draft pick Harrison Bryant catches everything thrown his way. Finally, with this lack of game-like contact, the running game seems to be there for the Browns.
Stefanski emphasizes running the football in practices, and his history says he will not forget it on Sundays. We know Chubb and Hunt are a dynamite tandem and that Conklin and Wills can be maulers. If the Browns can run the football at will inside and outside of the red zone, the rest becomes easy and it is a real possibility that the Browns win games in shoot-out fashion.
It's just impossible to assume anything in the run game when practice is run at this level of physicality and against our largely unproven linebackers. Add in that center J.C. Tretter is not back to practice yet, that Wyatt Teller is a question mark at the right guard, and that the Browns do not have great blocking tight ends and it is presumptuous to think the run game will be "dominant" as opposed to "good." I would be shocked, however, if this team struggled to run the football between the 20's.
On the sidelines.
The following players did not practice: Terrance Mitchell (knee) Jarvis Landry (rest/hip surgery recovery), KhaDarel Hodge (personal), Damion Ratley (groin), David Njoku (wrist), Mack Wilson (knee), JC Tretter (recovering from knee surgery), Larry Ogunjobi (groin), Kevin Johnson (liver) and Karl Joseph (rest/foot surgery recovery).
Tuesday practice moved up.
The Browns will practice Tuesday at 10:55 am instead of 2:25 p.m.
 |
| Newly-signed Malcolm Smith brought in to fill void of Mack Wilson injury. |
During team drills rookie second-round selection Grant Delpit went down in non-contact team drills with an apparent Achilles injury. During a backpedal near the beginning of practice, Delpit first began hopping on one foot and then collapsed to the ground, bracing his calf area. He was carted off the field with his face buried in his palms and had the look of a man who knew the severity of his injury.
This, of course, was days after the Browns lost Kevin Johnson to a lacerated liver injury. It was also on a day when Terrance Mitchell was out with a knee injury. To make matters worse, last year's second round draft pick Greedy Williams later left practice with a shoulder injury and M.J. Stewart, another former second round draft selection who was signed after being cut by Jacksonville, left with a hamstring injury.
The apparent loss of Delpit for a significant portion of the season (if not the entire season) is devastating. Although Delpit was not yet starting, he was definitely in the plans for this season and beyond. Karl Joseph has been injury prone throughout his NFL career and Andrew Sendejo is on the back nine of his career and was signed as a bridge starter at most. Both were signed to one-year deals. Behind Delpit is last year's fifth round draft pick, Sheldrick Redwine. Redwine is not someone you want to count on to play significant snaps.
Andrew Berry will likely be trying out safety free agents now and trying to find some additional help on cut down day.
Cornerbacks Greedy Williams and M.J. Stewart leave practice too.
It is not clear how significant a shoulder injury Greedy Williams' suffered at practice. He spent too much time on the injured list last season, missing the first four games with a hamstring and played inconsistently when he was active.
In 2019, Williams missed 14.5 percent of his tackles, failed to record a single interception, and allowed a better than 60% completion percentage to the receiver he was covering. His Pro Football Focus grade was a paltry 54.6, which is at the very bottom of NFL corners who started. Williams needs to improve substantially from last season to be a capable starter and the loss of valuable reps in a new defense is not likely to help.
Terrance Mitchell is a more consistent player. If you argued that the Browns may be better served with Mitchell starting, I couldn't give you a strong counter-argument beyond citing Williams' draft investment. As I said earlier, however, Mitchell did not participate in today's practice because of his own knee issue.
In all, the Browns were missing 3 of their 4 top cornerbacks by the end of the practice: Williams, Johnson, and Stewart. They were down to Denzel Ward, Tavier Thomas, undrafted free agent AJ Green, last year's seventh round draft pick Donnie Lewis, lanky Donovan Olumba (who spent last season on the Cowboy's practice squad), and Robert "Action" Jackson who has hung around the Browns' practice squad for the last few years.
Cornerback is a position where depth is essential. Suddenly, it is challenged for the Browns. That does not bode well for a team with problems at linebacker and now at safety as well.
Baker and first team offense still not crisp against backups.
With all of the injuries to the secondary and Karl Joseph taking the day off, one would think it would be a day utterly dominated by Baker and the offense. Think again.
While Baker and the first team started off fairly well, the passing game became more ragged as the day went on. Toward the end of practice, the bulk of the Browns' first team offense was practicing a two-minute drill against what was left of a defense featuring undrafted rookie free agents and guys signed off of other teams' practice squads, yet it approached hapless. Baker was visibly frustrated. Like the last live-streamed practice, Stefanski was forced to slow it down to half speed to try to get in some productive work.
True, Baker did not have Jarvis today and when he did have Odell that connection looked easy. It's unlikely that the Browns will rely heavily on a third wide receiver so long as OBJ and Landry are healthy. Still, it should have been an all-day cake walk for Baker working with his back up receivers against what was essentially a scout team secondary, and it was pretty far from it.
The overall feel of Day 9.
Despite all of the injuries, this training camp has not been physical. In fact, through 9 days I would call it soft. Offensive players are not being taken down to the ground in team sessions and, in fact, there is a lot of two-hand touch that seems to most closely resemble arm tackling. The form I see being practiced is not what they'll need to bring Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram, J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards to the ground a few weeks from now. With the injuries mounting, however, it is unlikely that practices will become more physical.
In addition to lacking physicality, the practices do not appear particularly crisp or even well-organized. I get the sense that Stefanski has in his mind what he wants to accomplish, but has to go off script when he sees that his team is not executing at the level he would like to see. With twenty days before the opening game, the Browns ran a two minute drill for the first time today and had to abort it.
To be fair, nothing is coming easy for Stefanski in his first year. Without OTAs and mini-camp he's installing a new offensive and defensive system on the fly. Zoom meetings are not likely conducive to men who are accustomed to learn by doing. I will say that the overall scheme looks well-suited to manufacture success for Baker, even if the execution is lacking to date.
Glass half full.
I will note that if Jedrick Wills was getting beaten today, it was not as glaringly noticeable as with past practices. So, that is something on the positive side. Odell and Austin Hooper look great and fourth-round draft pick Harrison Bryant catches everything thrown his way. Finally, with this lack of game-like contact, the running game seems to be there for the Browns.
Stefanski emphasizes running the football in practices, and his history says he will not forget it on Sundays. We know Chubb and Hunt are a dynamite tandem and that Conklin and Wills can be maulers. If the Browns can run the football at will inside and outside of the red zone, the rest becomes easy and it is a real possibility that the Browns win games in shoot-out fashion.
It's just impossible to assume anything in the run game when practice is run at this level of physicality and against our largely unproven linebackers. Add in that center J.C. Tretter is not back to practice yet, that Wyatt Teller is a question mark at the right guard, and that the Browns do not have great blocking tight ends and it is presumptuous to think the run game will be "dominant" as opposed to "good." I would be shocked, however, if this team struggled to run the football between the 20's.
On the sidelines.
The following players did not practice: Terrance Mitchell (knee) Jarvis Landry (rest/hip surgery recovery), KhaDarel Hodge (personal), Damion Ratley (groin), David Njoku (wrist), Mack Wilson (knee), JC Tretter (recovering from knee surgery), Larry Ogunjobi (groin), Kevin Johnson (liver) and Karl Joseph (rest/foot surgery recovery).
Tuesday practice moved up.
The Browns will practice Tuesday at 10:55 am instead of 2:25 p.m.
Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report - Day 9
Reviewed by AT Dawgger
on
11:49 PM
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Reviewed by AT Dawgger
on
11:49 PM
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