Berea, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – We’ve yet to see Odell Beckham Jr. on the field during a game of any kind and the Browns don’t think they’ve seen the entirety of what he’ll bring to the table starting Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
“It is fun to seeing him running around, and I’m not sure yet we’ve even seen him full speed yet,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “But he’s been building himself up to getting to that point, and we’re excited to get going.”
The Browns were cautious with Beckham, who continues to deal with a minor hip injury, during training camp and the preseason. He did not play in any of the four games that don’t count, and he was held out of team drills during practice.
Still, any concerns that No. 13 isn’t going to be ready are unfounded from Monken’s perspective.
“He’s played long enough to know where his body stands and where he wants to put himself in a position to push that,” Monken said. “Obviously, it’s about getting to gameday.”
Everyday Beckham’s explosiveness, speed and incredible hands are on full display. And he makes it look so incredibly easy too.
"I'm glad we don't have to go up against him,” defensive coordinator Steve Wilks said.
More on Beckham’s injury can be found here.
Getting their kicks – Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer sent Austin Seibert, punter Jamie Gillan and long snapper Charley Hughlett to FirstEnergy Stadium twice this week to kick.
“The more familiar they are with their surroundings, the more we can make FirstEnergy Stadium a home-field advantage for us,” Priefer said Thursday. “Because, honestly, they’ve only been down there for a scrimmage and then two preseason games until this week. So when they go down there, I want them to feel, I think comfortable would be the wrong word, I think more confident every time they go down there. Hey, I’ve been here, I know what the flag’s doing, I know what the winds are doing, I’ve got an idea where I need to punt the ball or what hash I need to kick the game-winning field goal from, etc.”
Priefer plans to make sending the three to the stadium to work a weekly part of their game preparation.
“The more we go down there, the more confident they’ll become just by working down there and getting used to that stadium because, as you guys know, as the year goes on it’s going to get colder and windier and the weather’s going to turn nasty here in Cleveland like it always does,” Priefer said, “and I think the more they kick outdoors, the more they kick in the stadium setting more so than the practice field, it will get them ready for pretty much any outdoor stadium.”
Straightening it out – Seibert struggled during the offseason program, minicamp and the first half of August to find consistency.
Priefer figured out why and ever since Seibert has been money, and it won him the job.
“He was jamming himself a little bit with his plant foot and that caused some inconsistencies with his leg swing and follow-through and ball contact,” Priefer said. “Just a little tweak that he found, we watched some tape together, we figured it out and worked on it.
“It’s still a little bit of a work in progress, but he’s found a little bit more consistent leg swing and follow-through, so I think he’s on the right track.”
Man in the box – Monken will be in the press box on gamedays according to head coach Freddie Kitchens.
“That is where he is going to be and that is where we determined that he helps me the best when he is up there,” Kitchens said. “Just like all of us, he has been on the field some and been up in the box some, but just the organization of our staff, that is where we feel he is needed the most.”
Gutsy calls – Kitchens was a guest on Peter King’s podcast and the subject of trick plays came up.
Last year Kitchens dipped into the bag of tricks on multiple occasions after taking over as offensive coordinator including having Jarvis Landry throw a pass 60-plus yards down the field and it doesn’t sound like he’ll be afraid to get tricky again this year as the head coach.
“Just because you’ve never seen it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t work,” Kitchens told King. “You just have to have the guts to call it. You have to have the lack of fear to call it, and do it, and you have to be able to teach it. You have to have answers to the questions to those guys who are actually going out and doing it. So fear has never been in my vocabulary.”
Thursday Kitchens was asked during his press conference if he’s going to throw it deep to Beckham on the first play to which he responded, “Double pass – just kidding.”
Odds are Kitchens was joking, but last year prior to his first game as the OC he said he was going to run the wishbone, and the following Sunday, he ran the wishbone for an entire offensive series.
Odds are – BetOnline released their updated odds entering Week 1 of the NFL season. Here’s where the Browns fall in line.
To win the AFC North – open: 1/1, now: 8/5. Steelers favored at 3/2.
To with the AFC – open: 7/1, now: 17/2. The Chiefs and Patriots are both favored at 4/1.
To win Super Bowl LIV – open: 25/1, now: 18/1. The Chiefs and Patriots are favored at 8/1.
2019 Regular Season Win Total – Over/Under 9 (Note: 53% is on the Under).
Baker Mayfield is tied with Aaron Rodgers for the third best odds to win NFL MVP at 12/1 behind Patrick Mahomes 5/1 and Carson Wentz 9/1.
Special delivery – Beckham’s custom orange Rolls Royce that was featured in the GQ magazine profile arrived at the team facility Tuesday morning and was parked next to the Casey Coleman Fieldhouse and groundskeeper’s garage back by the practice fields.
Beckham named the car “big Bertha.”
When asked what its best feature was Beckham responded, “That it’s mine.”
Notable quotable – “He wants to be a sex symbol so bad.” – Browns defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson joking about Myles Garrett’s ESPN Body Issue photo shoot.
Injury report – Limited: LB Sione Takitaki (hamstring); Full: WR Odell Beckham Jr. (hip), DT Devaroe Lawrence (shoulder).
