Berea, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – What appeared to be a quiet day for Baker Mayfield and the offense on the first day of wearing pads ended with a bang Saturday afternoon.
The situation: two-minute drill, 1:25 put on the clock, the ball at their own 40 and the Browns trailing 28-24.
Mayfield fired a quick slant to Odell Beckham Jr., who navigated his way into opponents’ territory with some nifty running for a first down.
On the next play, Mayfield connected with OBJ's good friend Jarvis Landry to move to the 23 in the blink of an eye.
The third throw was the charm – a dime to Landry that was a perfect drop from Mayfield over cornerback TJ Carrie. Safety Jermaine Whitehead was a tad late getting over to help and as a result the football landed safely in Landry’s arms for the touchdown.
“Well, I know we executed,” head coach Freddie Kitchens said after practice. “Those guys did a good job. They did a good job up front and Baker had time to throw and they did a good job running their routes ad catching the ball. So, yeah, I expect them to execute.”
It took Mayfield and the offense less than 45 seconds – in real time – to run the three plays and move 60 yards to take the lead.
“It’s great. When you’re able to go out in a two-minute drill and score that easily, that’s good for the whole team,” running back Nick Chubb, who didn’t get to touch the ball on the series, said. “That’s good for morale. Trusting those guys in a critical time like two minutes to win the ballgame, to be able to go down there and score, I’m happy to be a part of it and I’m looking forward to it.”
The No. 2 offense wasn’t as fortunate.
After driving into opposing territory near the red zone, Drew Stanton was intercepted by safety Eric Murray over the middle, who then raced up the near sideline as coaches blew the whistles, ending practice.
Picking his pocket – Mayfield’s day might have ended well but the start for him and the offense, which sputtered throughout the practice except for that final series, did not start well.
Carrie intercepted Mayfield on the first play of 11-on-11 of the morning, which followed a false start that displeased Kitchens by several players.
Carrie was able to read Mayfield’s eyes and it appeared that Beckham didn’t see the corner coming.
Getting after them: Part 1– Kitchens wa not in the mood for a lack of focus from his players Saturday.
False starts and offsides penalties cost the offenders – Austin Seaton and Kyle Kalis – a lap.
“There’s consequences in life, there’s consequences on the football field,” Kitchens said. “I try to create consequences within the practice. Today, that just happened to be one of the consequences.”
Getting after them: Part 2 – Mayfield was unhappy with his offensive teammates, namely the receivers, during a scramble drill play when they gave up down the field.
Mayfield tore into them with a few colorful words that could be heard across the practice field over the lack of effort on the play.
“I expect my quarterback to get everybody on the same page,” Kitchens said.
Chubb, who was on the field during the play, respected Mayfield for letting them have it.
“It gets us going. Somebody calls someone out, no matter if it was our right tackle, he says the same thing, we’re gonna respond,” Chubb said. “We’re all for each other and if he wants something changed like that, we’re gonna fix it, we’re gonna get it right for him. It wasn’t like he was out of place. He said exactly what needed to be done. We’re the ones running with him. We needed that.”
Making a name – Receiver Blake Jackson continued his strong start to camp Saturday by making a few more impressive catches.
The grab that drew the most oohs and aahs from the spectators came in an 11-on-11 series when Jackson made a diving catch for a touchdown from quarterback Garrett Gilbert.
Like Jackson, Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi has also caught Kitchens’ eye through three practices. Both players are competing for the one or two final receiver positions open on the roster.
“I will tell you something about those two guys, you better be in there in the huddle or they are going to jump in and get your rep. I like that kind of stuff,” Kitchens said. “I like people that want to. I like people that strive to get extra attention because in the National Football League, especially during this time of the year, you are either going to get exposed or you are going to get exposure. I think you would much rather have exposure than getting exposed. Getting exposed means you probably are not going to be here when the calendar turns to September.”
Roster move – With only three running backs available for practice Saturday, the Browns added another healthy body by signing A.J. Ouellette. To make room, tackle Ka’John Armstrong was waived.
Ouellette is a rookie out of Ohio University who was signed as an undrafted free agent and subsequently released by the Saints.
Injury report – RB Trayone Gray (calf-NFI) and RB Kareem Hunt (groin-NFI), WR Damion Ratley (right hamstring), RB Duke Johnson Jr. (right hamstring)
Puppy pound counter – 13 puppies were adopted Saturday and 22 through three practices. The partnership with the Northeast Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is in its fifth year and since its inception in 2015 has seen a total of 382 puppies find homes during Browns training camps.
Up next – Practice Sunday 10 a.m.-noon.
