BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Browns linebacker Anthony Walker, who spoke with reporters earlier in the day, walked off with a trainer late in Monday’s practice with a right knee injury.
Walker was shaken up during team drills and came to the sideline, where he tried to stretch and work out what was bothering him on his own before finally getting looked at.
An update on Walker's injury is expected Tuesday.
Walker, who signed a one-year, $3 million contract as a free agent from the Colts in the offseason to come to Cleveland, was selected to wear the green dot this season and be the signal caller on defense for coordinator Joe Woods.
“It doesn’t matter who wears the green dot; it is just the person who is giving the call in the huddle,” Walker said. “It is up to the whole group of linebackers or DBs to get the communication across the board. Obviously, I pride myself on being a key communicator on the defense and getting everybody lined up and set the right way so I may be a little bit louder than most.”
Tretter ill – Browns center JC Tretter missed Monday’s practice because he was “under the weather.”
Tretter, who also serves as the president of the NFLPA, is expected to be ok a source said.
Nick Harris, picked in the fifth round of the 2020 Draft, took Tretter’s reps at center in team drills.
Highlights of the day – Baker Mayfield playfully tossed the football in Myles Garrett’s direction on the sideline after Garrett blew up a bootleg by Mayfield to the left early in practice. Had the play been live, Mayfield would’ve been on the wrong end of a collision.
Mayfield threw several beautiful balls during Monday's practice but two throws stood out.
He threaded a pass between cornerback A.J. Green and safety John Johnson III to KhaDarel Hodge for a big gain and then lofted a long touchdown to Rashard Higgins, who returned to team drills after rolling his ankle last week.
1-2 bookend punch – One thing that has become crystal clear – and we already knew it going into camp – Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney are going to be a major problem for opposing tackles and tight ends to deal with.
Walker explained in detail the impact having Garrett and Clowney will have on him this season.
“I only have 4 yards of field to cover when they’re running the ball,” Walker said. “Cause the edge is set over here, the edge is set over there and the quarterback has two seconds to get rid of the ball. So I feel very comfortable with that.
“The best way to explain that is the field is very, very wide. You have to tackle Christian McCaffrey, you have to tackle Saquon Barkley, Tyreek Hill, all those guys like that that are really, really fast. So if I know I have a good d-end on this side, a good d-end on that side – great d-ends on both sides – and they put their arm and the tackle can’t go anywhere, so the edge is set on both sides, now the runner has only very minimal distance to work with. And they’ve got to come straight ahead. So now I only have to go one or two steps here, one or two steps here, and then, boom, tackle. Or if they do run outside, good luck.”
Crank it up – Crowd noise made an appearance during team drills Monday, along with officials.
Camp really begins Tuesday when the pads go on and start cracking.
Orange and Brown practice – Sunday at noon the Browns will head down to FirstEnergy Stadium to get some work in.
The team’s annual Orange and Brown scrimmage will look a bit different under head coach Kevin Stefanski.
“I would say it is more of a [practice],” Stefanski said “Any time you are under the lights or you are in the stadium, certainly, you say ‘scrimmage,’ but it is going to be more of a practice. We will have some teams drills against each other, but it will not be your typical scrimmage like a spring game type of thing.”
Injury report – Tony Fields II (foot), S Ronnie Harrison Jr. (hamstring) and WR Anthony Schwartz (hamstring) did not practice due to injury.
Puppy pound counter – Four puppies were adopted Monday bringing the 2021 total to 19. Since the program’s launch in 2015, 591 puppies from the Northeast Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have been adopted by Browns fans at training camp practices.
Up next – Practice Tuesday at 2:25.