BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns held their final practice prior to Friday night’s game with the Washington Commanders on Wednesday.
Here’s our top Brownie bites from the fourth session open to fans.
Start ‘em up – Quarterback Deshaun Watson revealed he will start Friday night against the Commanders, but he did not reveal how long he will be on the field. “I just know I'm starting it off and we'll see,” Watson said. “The biggest thing's really just getting operational in the field of pre-game and starting off the game and just kind of get myself back in routine to get ready for the season.” Watson has had moments of brilliance during camp while also dealing with a defense that has given the offense some problems. “This defense is very intense, very sharp, very skilled, coached very well, very disciplined from the DBs who's playing very, very tight coverage on the receivers,” Watson said. “So there's got to be tight type throws inside the windows. You got the linebackers that's smart with A-Walk and JOK and Jordan and all the other guys and you got the front that's very aggressive and very fast and strong and big. So it's putting us to the test and it's going to help us for the long run. So it's glad to be able to go back and forth and compete and we want to do the same for them too.” Watson is coming off an uneven six-game debut last year after serving an 11-game suspension as the result of the league’s investigation into sexual misconduct allegations levied against him by over two dozen women in Houston. Former Texan and Browns defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo believes Watson is poised for a big comeback this season. “He has an arm – from the side throws to the deep throws to, yeah, I mean Deshaun Watson is Deshaun Watson,” Okoronkwo said. “I mean he definitely was rusty last year. Who wouldn't be after missing that much ball? But y'all are going to see Deshaun Watson football this year for sure.”
Highlights of the day – Nick Chubb opened the day of 11-on-11 by running through and by everyone into the open field. Safety Juan Thornhill grabbed a ball from Watson out of the air in one of two defensive highlights of the session. The other came when cornerback Denzel Ward tipped a Joshua Dobbs offering into the air for linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk to grab and take the other way. Cade York made field goals of 44 and 47 yards to cap ‘hurry up’ late game offense drills. Jakeem Grant and Demetric Felton continue to split primary return duties.
Go-to guy – It’s pretty clear that receiver Elijah Moore is going to be a catalyst offensively this season. The addition of Moore provides Watson with a versatile weapon to target anywhere on the field. “He's a big impact. He can do it all. He's very versatile,” Watson said. “He can — outside, inside, whatever we ask him to do, he can do whatever. And he goes full speed. He never complains. He just tries to be perfect and whatever he can do to be productive for this offense and this team and for himself. So he's definitely going to help this offense and he's going to be great for us.”
Freedom – Okoronkwo is loving Jim Schwartz’s defensive system that opens things up for the defensive line. “It's a ton of fun,” Okoronkwo said. “It's almost like sometimes you think, do I have too much freedom? You get to just play at your best, do all the things that just accentuates your skill sets the best. So it's been really fun.” Even though it is exciting for Okoronkwo to be turned loose, he admitted that he philosophy is an adjustment. “I guess it's like you have to just unlearn all the things that you've learned to this point,” Okoronkwo said. “All the reading, you just got to just take, just let all that go and then just literally just go get off the ball.”
Water under the bridge – Okoronkwo and back up offensive lineman James Hudson have made up since the two got into a dust up at the end of the final practice at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. “That's my dawg,” Okoronkwo said. “It was hot out there. We got a little chippy. You know, competition, it brings out the best in all of us. We put it behind us. That's my dawg. We just had lunch together yesterday. All good.”
Top-100 – The Browns landed three players on this year’s NFL Top-100 list. Defensive end Za’Darius Smith, acquired from the Vikings this offseason, came in at No. 84. Running ack nick Chubb was ranked 29th and defensive end Myles Garrett 20th. Curiously absent from the list was five-time Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio.
Puppy pound counter – A total of 27 puppies have been adopted this year. Since the program’s launch in 2015, 721 puppies from the Northeast Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have been adopted by Browns fans at training camp practices.
Roll call – CB Greg Newsome II, WR Jaelen Darden, WR Marquise Goodwin, RB Jerome Ford, LB Matthew Adams, S Tanner McCalister, TE Harrison Bryant and DT Trysten Hill worked on the side. DEs Isaiah Thomas and Alex Wright remain out following surgery this week.