CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Defensive end Myles Garrett came away from Tuesday’s practice unscathed despite dealing with a wrist injury that caused him to be idle for Sunday’s practice at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Garrett returned on Tuesday and didn’t appear limited during the portion of practice open to reporters as he went through individual and positional drills.
“Myles did a nice job yesterday,” Stefanski said. “He’s no worse for the wear.”
During the individual portion of practice, Garrett untapped his right wrist and tossed the brace he was wearing to a trainer.
Garrett was back on the field Wednesday.
Dawg gone it – Kicker Austin Seibert is still trying to figure out how to kick into the Dawg Pound at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Seibert Missed from 54, 52 and 50 yards kicking into that end during Sunday’s practice and he’ll get more opportunities Friday night.
“Going down there, getting in the reps, picking out target points towards the Dawg Pound end, towards the other end are very key and vital to my success,” Seibert said. “Other than that, you just gotta go down there and hit a good ball. Odds are if it’s windy and you don’t hit a solid ball, it’s going to be harder to make that kick but my goal is to hit an ‘A’ ball every single time.”
Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer revealed that he sent his specialists to the stadium last week for a workout prior to Sunday. During that session Seibert attempted 24 of his 36 tries into the Dawg Pound according to Priefer.
“To me, it’s kind of breaking that psychological barrier,” Priefer said. “I think he’s fine. He’s stronger and more confident than he was a year ago.”
Need for speed – Natson might be one of the smallest and lightest players in the NFL at 5-7 and 153 pounds, but he’s also one of the fastest.
“You can’t hit what you can’t catch,” Natson said Wednesday.
In addition to working on punt and kick return, Natson has gotten some reps and touches within the offense.
“That would be love if I could use some of my speed on offense,” Natson said.
“With my speed, I feel like I can take the top off the defense. Like I said, I am just working day by day and just trying to get better every day. Hopefully, that opportunity presents itself, but until then, I am just studying my playbook and learning from the guys that are in front of me.”
Up for grabs – Priefer has yet to pick his returners for this season. There are four contestants – Donovan Peoples-Jones, JoJo Natson, D’Ernest Johnson and Dontrell Hilliard.
“We really want to make sure our return game is a weapon because this is a field position game,” Stefanski said.
Who wears it better – Kicker Austin Seibert revealed he and punter Jamie Gillan are in the midst of a mullet competition during camp.
“I will let other people decide who has the better mullet,” Seibert said.
Injury report – S Karl Joseph (foot), CB M.J. Stewart (hamstring), CB Greedy Williams (shoulder), OT Chris Hubbard (ankle), WR Jarvis Landry (hip), OT Alex Taylor (undisclosed), CB Kevin Johnson (liver), LB Mack Wilson (knee)and C JC Tretter (knee) did not practice Wednesday.