BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – For the first time Wednesday we got to see what all the hype of Cade York was about.
Now please allow us to hype him some more.
The fourth round pick out of LSU put on a show during Wednesday’s OTA practice, which according to safety John Johnson III has been the norm.
“Oh, he’s unbelievable,” Johnson said. “I mean it looks like, I don’t know, like the ball just flies off of his foot. It could be a 30-yard kick, he’s going to hit it for 60. It flies through the uprights, accurate. He’s young, so I think that helps sometimes. He doesn’t really know the pressure and the magnitude. He’s just out there having fun. He’s a rookie. He’s just doing what he loves doing, so I think that’s the beauty of it, but I’m really looking forward to the season and seeing him kick.”
The thud of York’s foot hitting the football is noticeable to eyes and ears.
“It sounds different,” Johnson said. “It flies off his foot. He's just got a big leg.”
York drilled six of his seven tries in front of reporters, with the longest coming from about 58 yards out. He cleared the crossbar with ease.
“He did a nice job today,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “He has done a nice job to date. He really has, both in the team settings, when they go down as a battery down there to FirstEnergy Stadium, they have done a nice job. He has just got to continue to grow and continue to get better.”
The Browns cut Chase McLaughlin and Chris Blewitt shortly after drafting York, handing the job to the rookie.
The hope is that York will have the same impact for the Browns as Evan McPherson did for the Bengals last season as a rookie.
Brissett on deck – With a potential suspension of Deshaun Watson hanging over the Browns and the specter of it being a sizable one as more and more allegations and revelations about Watson’s behavior while with the Texans becomes public, questions about preparing new backup Jacoby Brissett for Week 1 become very relevant.
“I think we are repping the quarterbacks appropriately,” Stefanski said. “As more information becomes available, you may modify and adapt what you do. For now, we are just making sure those guys are getting the work that they need.”
At last word, the NFL’s investigation into Watson’s conduct was in the final stages and a determination on discipline is expected before training camp.
Stefanski acknowledged that should Watson be suspended for the start of the season, he will, as he likes to say, pivot come training camp when it comes to handing out QB reps.
“I do not want to speculate, but obviously if there is different information, we will adjust to how we are doing things,” Stefanski said.
It’s a celebration – No matter where you are on the field, when the defense makes a play, everybody knows about it.
There were at least three celebrations during team drills Wednesday, including one after another interception by Johnson.
“That's one of our pillars on defense – celebrate success,” Johnson said. “If a guy has success, you should be sprinting to him. You should want to be the first guy to help him off the ground, go celebrate with him. The fun is in winning and when you're making plays. That's all it's about. I just think the energy and mainly the confidence, especially in the defensive back room, confidence is half the battle. So if we're going out there know what we're doing, know that we're going to dominate, I think it's just going to translate throughout camp and throughout the season.”
The Schwartz is strong – Receiver Anthony Schwartz felt injuries held him back his rookie season and he wasn’t able to be the player he and the team expected him to be.
Now healthy, the 2021 third-round pick is ready to make his mark.
“Just getting better in all factors I can,” Schwartz said Wednesday. “Whether that’s taking care of my body, working on my rote running, catching the ball, trying to catch, catch every day because as a receiver, you have to be able to catch the ball. That’s the main thing I’ve been working on and come here and put it all together. It also helps knowing the playbook now so I can just go out three and not worry about, ‘Am I going to mess this up?’ I’m just going to go out there and beat the guy in front of me.”
Schwartz is getting plenty of reps in part because the Browns elected not to bring in another veteran receiver to be the No. 2 guy behind Amari Cooper.
“I have been really, really pleased with Anthony’s development,” Stefanski said. “He works hard. He is a dependable player. I think he is getting really good work in with the quarterbacks, but I do see Anthony taking a step. I have seen him take a step, I should say.”
Schwartz will be competing with rookie third-round pick David Bell for snaps and targets in training camp.
“I don’t really view it as competition,” Schwartz said. “I view it as we’re two guys that want to help this team win. Whether that’s me being there or him being there, we both want to do whatever we can to help the team win.
“I view it as competition in terms we both can get better by pushing each other. I don’t really view it as that type of competition. I view it as something that can help us gel together and improve.”
TV crew – The Browns announced their preseason television broadcast crew will feature Cleveland-native Chris Rose handling play-by-play duties, former Browns All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas serving as lead analyst and NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala on the sidelines.
The games will be carried by the team’s local TV partner WEWS TV-5.
The Browns will play at Jacksonville August 12 at 7 p.m. followed by home games against the Eagles on the 21st and Bears the 27th.
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