CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Kevin Stefanski left no stone unturned Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Cleveland’s first-year head coach put his team through a multitude of situations – red zone, end of game, backed up on the goal line, simulating Hail Marys, victory formation as well as running the field goal unit onto the field with the clock running.
Punter Jamie Gillan practiced running 20 yards behind him and then out of the back of his own endzone for an intentional safety followed by a free kick.
We also saw some trick plays, including a direct snap to receiver Jarvis Landry and throwback to Baker Mayfield as well as a hot potato play that was far more entertaining than it was effective, too.
“I thought, by and large, both sides got a lot of really good work in,” Stefanski said.
Mayfield threw a pair of touchdown passes during a red zone period – first to Odell Beckham Jr. on his first series and to tight end Austin Hooper on his next series.
During the ‘move the ball’ period, as Stefanski called it, Mayfield went 3-and-out on his first offensive series against the No. 2 defense.
Backup quarterback Case Keenum engineered an 11-play, 74-yard drive that ended in a 5-yard touchdown toss to running back D’Earnest Johnson, who jumped into the empty Dawg Pound with his arms stretched out in celebration.
Browns running back D'Earnest Johnson celebrates his 5-yard touchdown catch by jumping into the empty Dawg Pound during a practice held at FirstEnergy Stadium on Aug. 30, 2020.Matt Starkey-Cleveland Browns
Mayfield marched 11-plays and 70 yards on his next series that ended with Kareem Hunt’s 1-yard touchdown run.
Mayfield’s third series, highlighted by a 26-yard catch-and-run by Hunt, ended in a 35-yard field goal after backup defensive end Porter Gustin registered a virtual sack on a third-and-8.
Mayfield ended Sunday’s practice the way 21 drives ended in 2019 – with an interception. Safety Javonte Moffitt was the lucky defender who took the ball out of the air near the goal line and returned it up the near sideline as whistles blew to end the afternoon.
Getting a kick out of it – Kicker Austin Seibert was a busy man Sunday.
Seibert made seven of eight field goal tries during an 11-on-11 special teams period that saw him hit from 33, 38, 36, 40, 41, 44 and 48. He missed wide right on a 54-yard try into the Dawg Pound from the right hash mark and his 38-yard make bounced through off the right upright.
After a seven-play drive, Seibert missed off the left upright on a 52-yard try from the left hash mark during an end of game situational drill. He banked a 50-yard try from the right hash mark off the right upright following a quick completion and the clock was killed by the offense.
“We put him down there in the Dawg Pound on purpose kicking that way because it is obviously harder,” Stefanski said.
Seibert, who made all three PATs after touchdowns during the final ‘move the ball’ period, was successful on a 32-yard try following a completion from Mayfield to Landry. He was also successful from 35 yards to cap an 11-play, 63-yard drive by the first-team offense during that period.
His kickoffs lacked the depth we got used to seeing last year with only a few reaching the end zone, but it should be noted that might have been by design to give the returners some work.
Caution – Defensive end Myles Garrett was held out of Sunday’s practice due to a minor wrist injury.
“It was just an abundance of caution with a wrist thing, but he should be fine,” Stefanski said.
Tight end Austin Hooper practiced most of the day but was held out of the final period.
“During the live periods, just wanted to be abundantly cautious with him, and he is just fine,” Stefanski said. “It was not anything more than that.”
Still campin' – Stefanski plans to remain in “camp mode” this week, although full practices will not be open to reporters.
“I do not think you will notice anything this upcoming week,” Stefanski said. “We will kind of stay in a training camp mode, if you will.”
The Browns will return to the stadium Friday for another practice that will more closely resemble a preseason game than what we saw Sunday.
“We just have to be mindful about how we plan this thing and make sure that they have those moments of subbing in and out or all of a sudden it is a field goal situation and you are yelling for the field team so that just happens in the course of games,” Stefanski said. “We are trying to do that in the course of practice.”
Testing, testing – The Browns used Sunday’s practice to test out some of their internal protocols for travel. A total of 12 buses were used to transport 80 players and coaches to the stadium.
Players' families also were invited along with some staff. They sat in the north club section of the stadium, in pods, with four seats separating each pod. The seating arrangement resembled what the Browns will implement should the state and city allow them to host a limited amount of fans this season.
Family of players and some team staff, seated in the north club section, were invited to watch practice at FirstEnergy Stadium on Aug. 30, 2020. It gave the team the opportunity to try out their seating pods plan submitted to the city and state for approval in the hopes of hosting limited fans this season.Matt Starkey-Cleveland Browns
Roster move – The Browns waived receiver Damion Willis after he failed his physical ad waived center Casey Dunn from the reserve/injured list.
Cleveland’s roster is at 79, one below the 80 maximum allowed.
Puppy pound counter – A total of 77 puppies have been adopted from the Northeast Ohio SPCA and a total of 572 adoptions have taken place since the program began in 2015.
Injury report – DE Myles Garrett (wrist), LB B.J. Goodson (personal), T Chris Hubbard (ankle), CB Kevin Johnson (liver), CB M.J. Stewart Jr. (hamstring), C JC Tretter (knee), CB Greedy Williams (shoulder) and LB Mack Wilson (knee) did not practice Sunday.
