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July 27, 2014Photos of Browns Training Camp from 2014-07-27
July 27, 2014Sunday’s camp practice was kind of boring. I’ve been to enough of these now that I think I can get a sense of when the intensity is at a pitch and when it’s not. Maybe Day 1 was something of an energy dump, like a fighter who punches himself out in the first round and day two was a bit more relaxed, but the intensity just wasn’t totally there. It’s early though, so I’m not drawing any conclusions from that. The thing that I can’t help but come away from my first day covering camp is to notice the veteran confidence they have this year.
After practice, Ben Tate spoke, and his confidence is well known by this point. Tate thinks he’s one of the best running backs in the league, and he’s more than happy to talk about it, but he’s also quick witted. Whether he’s being sarcastic at a question about what it’s going to be like to put pads on tomorrow, or whether he’s talking about his abilities, he just exudes confidence. He does get serious when he talks about his teammates and what they’re showing on the field and the fact that he thinks the Browns might need three capable running backs this year, but it’s just a different feel from many personalities I’ve seen in camp with the Browns over the years.
In the same vein, we also heard from Nate Burleson. Now, when people think of him, they think of him getting injured with a pizza. He’s the first to joke about it as he did today, but he also talks very eloquently about what it means to be his age in the league. He talks about how he’s told rookies that if they perform up to the level they’re supposed to he’ll be out of a job because a second rounder, like Titus Young was in Detroit, is younger, cheaper and could have more of a future. Obviously wide receiver is a question mark and the Browns have an odd mix of questionable veterans and totally unproven young guys, but Burleson is unlike any personality I’ve seen the Browns bring in.
Now, obviously Ben Tate has more of an inside track on a position than Nate Burleson, but it’s still good to see this kind of vibe from these two guys. It’s similar to what I think guys like Donte Whitner and Karlos Dansby likely bring to the team as well. Obviously attitudes and experience are only worth so much and these guys need to make plays as well. But assuming they can still play and do so at a level higher than the guys they’re replacing, the leadership and experience are much-needed bonus for a team that was still a little on the young side a year ago.
Now some other notes…
Donte Whitner cracked up the sidelines. A fan yelled to him, “Welcome to Cleveland!” Whitner gave him a glance and scolded him a bit. “You mean welcome BACK to Cleveland. I’m FROM here.”
There were two small fights during today’s practice. The one that I saw up close was between wide receiver Willie Snead and Browns corner Buster Skrine. There was some grabbing on the sidelines and all of a sudden, neither wanted to let go of the other. It was broken up quickly and didn’t seem to be all that big of a deal to either as practice went. Plus, there isn’t even 400 pounds between the two of them. That being said, Coach Pettine talked about it after practice saying that he went out of his way to talk to anyone who was involved in a skirmish to talk to them about being “competitive” as opposed to “combative.”
This is my fourth year covering a camp and my third year with a different head coach. Yes, all teams run practice in a somewhat similar way, but it’s odd to see yet another slight variation on that largely homogenous theme. I thought Chud was an improvement over Shurmur in terms of the way he carried himself in camp. I would say in my initial observations that Pettine is very similar to Chud. He looks and acts the part in and around the drills. Chud looked beaten down by the end of last season, but his training camp demeanor was a breath of fresh air from Shurmur who was first a rookie and then “dead man walking” in my two years seeing him.
This team has a whole lot to prove and a long way to go. I mean, really, they haven’t even worn pads yet in camp. Every year is a new scene though with the Browns in Berea. Ray Farmer spoke today as well and while he didn’t give much detail about much of anything, he’s a different kind of guy too. He is the first GM I can remember going out to interact with fans and sign autographs. Then, after he spoke to the media, I overheard him say he had to go back over to the fans to meet with someone who had a résumé for him. Let’s just say I never saw Mike Lombardi and Tom Heckert or any of their bosses do anything like that.
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(Photos: Scott Sargent and Craig Lyndall / WFNY)
3 Comments
“But assuming they can still play and do so at a level higher than the guys they’re replacing, the leadership and experience are much-needed bonus…”
This seems like a huge, important difference from our recent past.
Good stuff, Craig. Thanks.
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Between the heat and the drills moving to the other side and the overall boredom, I left early. One guy though stuck out: #86 had two really nice catches including a deep ball against Joe Haden. Also, Connor Shaw looked better than Tyler Thigpen.