Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Thursday 8/13 Practice

Due to the nature of today's practice being a walk-through of the game for Saturday's battle with the Green Bay Packers, this edition of the Training Camp Report will be scaled down so that any Packers prying eyes will not get important information from this source.

Also, today will focus more on the defensive side of the ball, but there will still be some quarterback stats that many have really enjoyed seeing during this competition.

Today was somewhat of a walk-through for the Browns. Most of the time, the team was in their 11-on-11 scrimmage. Many different players were wearing various numbers over their jersey so that the offense and defense could easily distinguish their coverage assignments based on where those opposing numbers lined up.

As the defense played in their 11-on-11 drills versus the offense, two players stood out immediately, and they were middle linebackers Eric Barton and D'Qwell Jackson.

These two guys have been almost inseparable during training camp. They are always playing together and always off to the side working with their linebackers' coach on reading the offense, while the rest of the defense is off doing various drills.

During today's practice, you could really see how Barton has taken Jackson under his wing, and Jackson is fully becoming the defensive leader out on the field.

Whether it is getting the other guys lined up right or adjusting the play at a moment's notice due to a shift in the offense, both Barton and Jackson were out there pointing, moving other guys around, and getting in the right position to try and make plays.

Another defensive player that has had a very quiet training camp is safety Brodney Pool. Pool has taken a lot of criticism from the media during the offseason. They are saying he needs to step his game up to a higher level, otherwise he may find himself in a new city next season.

Well, today Pool stepped up in a big way. He was all over the field covering receivers, tight ends, and running backs. He even came up and helped stop the running game a few times and he had not one, but two interceptions. He got one on Derek Anderson and one on Brett Ratliff.

A new name that hasn't been said often during camp who made some plays today is inside linebacker Kaluka Maiava. He made several tackles in the running game and looks to be a solid defender when it comes to running downs.

Again, inside linebacker David Veikune made several tackles, continuing his consistent performance on the practice field.

Rookie cornerback Coye Francies looked very good throughout practice. He displayed signs of a great man-to-man cover corner for the future and had an interception in the back of the endzone that Ratliff threw to Edwards.

A few offensive notes:

Rrunning back James Davis was back on the field and made some amazing plays. This guy seems like he can do no wrong during practices, but can he bring that to Lambeau Field Saturday night?

Davis had some great runs of eight, 12, and 15 yards and also caught a screen pass and took it for about 25 yards to the endzone for a touchdown.

Braylon Edwards was also playing after spending yesterday on the stationary bike, and he did not show any signs of an injury because he was catching everything, making great breaks in his routes, and even jumping up for the ball too.

Josh Cribbs struggled today, as he tipped several passes into the air that resulted in interceptions.

A final offensive note before the quarterback stats is that receiver Brian Robiskie beat his defender really badly on one play, and Ratliff launched the ball 60 yards in the air to a wide open Robiskie, who caught it and took it for a 90+ yard touchdown.

Ratliff's arm strength and accuracy are no joke.

A quick injury report:

Shaun Rogers, Davis Bowens, Jerome Harrison, David Patten, and John Madsen were all working with the trainers and riding the stationary bikes today. There was another moment when Eric Wright was gingerly walking toward the trainers too, but then after 30 minutes joined the rest of the team; it must have been a cramp.

Finally, the quarterback derby stats:

Today, the stats are going to be lumped into one so that the individual 11-on-11 drills do not give anything away for gameday.

QB                    Comp.   Att.   Yards   TD   INT 
Anderson           9          15     137      1     3
Quinn                11         16     104      2     0
Ratliff                 7          11     172      1     3

Please remember that these are by no means official stats, and the situation that was being simulated for each series may or may not have effected the statistics as well.

Hopefully, this weekend's game will show who the real gamers are, and who are not.

(Next schedule practice to be covered will be on Tuesday August 18 at 8:45 AM)

Article originally posted on Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns News Source