WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV (92.3 The Fan) – The first day in pads for the Browns didn’t feature a lot of pop Friday morning, but a key player was back on the practice field.
Honestly, there wasn't much to glean from the session, which lasted less than an hour and the toughest practice of camp comes Saturday with a full contact padded workout.
“Big guys always be looking forward to the first day going against the offense in pads and talk a little junk and stuff on the practice field,” defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson said.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites from Friday in the middle of the Allegany Mountains of West Virginia.
Cooper returns – Receiver Amari Cooper returned Friday after missing a few days due to a “minor tweak” suffered earlier this week. Cooper ran through all of the drills and appeared to be a full participant in what was a light workday.
Feel his pain – Right guard Wyatt Teller knows all too well what Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is going through after Burrow was carted off the field Thursday with a calf strain. “I’m praying for Joey,” Teller said. “It’s tough. Depending on the position, calf strains are never fun.” Teller has suffered a pair of calf strains – one that cost him three games in 2020 and another last season that sidelined him for five games. “I mean, you’re pounding the ground, all that different stuff,” Teller said. “It’s hard to put pressure on. It’s hard to stop on the bull rush. So much of being an offensive lineman, usually if you’re like a DB, I know some DBs and some skill guys, they can come back and it’s kind of repetitive stress. It’s not too bad. They’re not pounding the ground kind of thing. But it’s tough.”
Seeing red – The most competitive sessions of camp so far have been red zone drills. The offense and defense has done a good job of competing and having success. “I mean we always take pride in that,” safety Juan Thornhill said of getting defensive stops. “One thing you do is eliminate points. When they get down there in a red zone, if you can get a third down stop and make them kick a field goal, you just save four points. So you got to take pride in that and try to win each and every down.” Thornhill indicated the defense tracks their success and aims for a less than 50% offensive success rate. “We even have it up on our board. We have a certain percentage that we’re trying to win each and every day,” Thornhill said. “We don’t want to give up a red zone touchdown because it’s like on you. You know what I’m saying? Everyone’s going to see it and that allows the offense to get points. So what we’re going to do is just try to keep you out the end zone.”
Early risers – Head coach Kevin Stefanski typically holds afternoon practices but this week they’ve started in the morning. “They don’t have an indoor facility here, so if it were to rain, you have no recourse down here with no indoors,” Stefanski said. “Just talking to some of the locals before we get down here, they said if it rains, it’s in the afternoon. So that was the idea behind practicing in the morning.”
Let it rip – Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was as animated and vocal as he’s been to date during portions of Friday’s workout. Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone had his unit go at it during return drills despite the rest of the practice being no contact.
Roll call – WR Anthony Walker Jr., WR Jakeem Grant Sr., WR Marquise Goodwin, G Colby Gossett and TE Jordan Akins worked on the side with trainers. Defensive ends Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith along with Joel Bitonio were given the day to rest.
