Cleveland Browns 2010 Training Camp: Observations From 8/10 AM (Video)
Another day, another Cleveland Browns practice once again in full pads for their morning session on August 10 for a first or two practices.
Once again the heat was tropical-like even at 8:45 A.M. and the air was stale without any wind.
Cleveland's weather has been pretty brutal, but it nothing to what these players must suffer through and during a break at the midpoint of this morning's session, team aids were going around to player and drenching the backs of their necks with cold water.
Here are my observations of this morning's practice and check out the videos in the last two slides too.
1. Developing Chemistry Early
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Browns starting wide receiver was out early with quarterback Jake Delhomme play catch and developing chemistry with his new passer.
As players slowly came out onto the field, both Syndric Steptoe and Carlton Mitchell were the next two receivers out also developing some chemistry with the new Browns starter.
2. Several Players Get an Off Day
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Linebacker David Bowens, cornerback Brandon McDonald, and offensive tackle Tony Pashos were all on the field with their respective units, but they were not in pads.
Head Coach Eric Mangini is known to give players that perform well in camp a "get out of one practice free card," and these players most likely cashed in that free pass card this morning.
As I watched practice, I did notice that Bowens was more like "Coach Bowens" because he was coaching up his fellow defensive players and showed great leadership in doing so.
Is this a glimpse of what may be in store for Bowens post-football?
3. Alex Mack The Ninja
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This really has nothing to do with football, but while stretching prior to the start of practice, center Alex Mack was doing leg kicks and he was getting his foot up higher than his own head.
Impressive flexibility for a guy who is 6' 4" and 311 pounds.
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4. Kick Returners
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Wide Receiver Chansi Stuckey has been seeing a lot of playing time returning punts and today he was returning kickoffs along with Josh Cribbs.
Looks to me that Stuckey will be the primary backup as a returner to give Cribbs some rest if he needs it during games this year.
5. Cycclone Update
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Two more plays to note from the Cyclone formation this morning.
The first one saw Seneca Wallace under center and he threw a shovel pass to running back Jerome Harrison, who took off up the middle for a decent gain.
And the second play saw Cribbs in shotgun and he handed off to running back James Davis, who had a HUGE hole in the middle of the line and took off for a big run.
6. Receiver Round-Up
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Steptoe - He is still catching me eye when he is on the field by getting good separation due to his quickness at the snap, and he has been catching a ton of passes this camp. It will be hard to get on this roster with all the potential talent the Browns have at receiver, but Steptoe has impressed and worst case scenario, if he gets cut, then another team will probably pick in up off of waivers.
Jonathan Haggerty - He continues to catch me eye as of late and he is making great breaks and cuts in his route running which has gotten him into open field to catch passes too.
Stuckey - Easily the No. 3 and slot receiver in my opinion. He has quickness like Steptoe to get open and he has the moves to make tacklers miss with the ball in his hands too.
7. Cribbs Touchdown on Double Team
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Cribbs was double-teamed by both the cornerback and safety during a deep 35-yard pass into the corner of the endzone from Wallace.
Cribbs was able to fight off the coverage while the ball was in mid-air and he turn at the exact moment he needed to in order to catch the ball for a score.
8. T.J. Ward Makes Plays
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Ward has been making plays over the past week of camp more consistently and he looks more comfortable playing free safety at each practice I attend.
Today, Ward picked off a deep pass from Delhomme over the middle of the field and down near the endzone.
Then a few play later, Ward stripped the ball from tight end Robert Royal and caused a fumble.
The Browns need Ward to make plays like this each week this season and he looks like he is on track to being a playmaker in the back of the defense.
9. Colt McCoy Shows Off His Legs
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McCoy did a good amount of running with the ball during his time in Texas and this morning he showed off his surprising speed fro a quarterback.
On a snap where the receiver all went deep, the coverage was solid to the point where the defense left a wide open amount of green grass in front of McCoy and he pulled the ball in and took off running for about a 20-25 yard run.
10. Eric Wright Injury
10 of 11Starting cornerback Eric Wright started practice alright, but trainers were working on his leg and stretching out his hamstring.
Wright tried to keep playing in practice, but he was then seen heading toward the training facility with about 45 minutes left of practice.
This is a bad sign and Wright could miss some time if he did injury his hamstring and now rookie corner Joe Haden will be asked to step in for Wright.
Haden was playing opposite of Sheldon Brown with the first team after Wright went to the locker room.
(Check out this video that caught Wright's injury on camera.)
Next Practice Coverage
11 of 11The Browns have closed Thursday morning's practice from the public, so my next update will not be until Monday August 16 at 1:30 P.M. EDT.
(Daniel Wolf is exclusively covering the Browns training camp for both Bleacher Report and Dawg Scooper: THE Cleveland Browns Blog.)
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