BEREA, Ohio — The Browns still took the practice field Thursday, in the hours after quarterback Deshaun Watson’s official announcement of 11-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
On the field, it was the first day Cleveland had to face a practice opponent other than themselves as the Browns welcomed the Philadelphia Eagles to the city in the first of two practice sessions ahead of their preseason game Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.
“I met with (Eagles head) coach (Nick) Sirianni and his staff last night,” said Kevin Stefanski. “I brought the two coaching staffs together to prepare for today, to go through the plan and all that stuff. I think it will be very good for us. This is a playoff team. Schematically they are very different on offense and very different on defense, so I think it’s very helpful for us to get two solid days of work against each other and then of course the game on Sunday. I am looking forward.”
Here are some highlights from the 15th training session at the training camp:
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Jacoby Brissett with those Watson Deep Shots
As promised by Stefanski, we’ve seen the Browns move more towards giving Brissett looks as a starter. This continues as Watson is expected to do more off-the-job and individual work as the Browns prepare Brissett for the first 11 games.
It’s obviously a different look compared to Watson’s absence. Watson isn’t afraid of big shots, but Brissett is more likely to choose the easiest option available to him. During 11-on-11 and 7-on-7, he threw a lot of quick looks down the first line of defense, hitting guys like Donovan Peoples-Jones and David Bell instead of firing too many deep shots. However, he met David Njoku early in practice for a solid 20-yard gain and found Amari Cooper for a play that would have put the Browns about 30 yards into the net in a real game.
Watson, on the other hand, made some big throw-ins with the second unit. As the squads split into two fields and the Browns offense went against the Eagles defense (and vice versa), he hit Anthony Schwartz on a go route in what appeared to be a 65+ yard gain.
Watson also connected with Nakia-Griffin Stewart for an explosive play, making a nice throw on the run to the tight end during 11-on-11.
Work in the trenches
We expected the trench warfare to be interesting in these drills, and it was a pleasure to see the Browns’ inside offensive line take on a strong Eagles defensive line.
PFF ranked the Eagles ninth in their defensive line rankings and the Browns offensive line second. However, the Browns have since lost starting center Nick Harris for the year with a knee injury. Ethan Pocic stepped in and held his own against Fletcher Cox and Jordan Davis. The pulling of Wyatt Teller and Joel Bitonio was also vital in those matchups, and seeing them on Thursday was just a reminder that they are two of the league’s top pulling guards.
Cox and Davis got some running stops early on, but after that the Browns kept them at bay for most of the afternoon.
Defensive takeaways
Parnell Motley and Jacob Phillips were each intercepted for the Browns when they came up against the Eagles offense. Phillips even added “Fly Eagles Fly” in celebration and flapped his arms like a bird after picking off Gardner Minshew. He later paid for it in the 11-on-11 period when he was ratted out by Eagles guard Landon Dickerson.
Philadelphia receiver Dallas Goedert had a really nice practice, but Ronnie Harrison got a good pass separation against him.
Brown’s rookie Martin Emerson Jr. also had a nice pass break, but DeVonta Smith gave him stiff competition for most of practice.
Jedrick Wills is out during 11-on-11, Myles Garrett still apologizes
Brown’s starting left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. attended practice but was replaced by Alex Taylor during the final 11-on-11 session when both teams competed on the same field.
On the other side of the ball, the Browns were still without Myles Garrett. As reported by cleveland.com, Garrett has been excused from training for the fourth straight day to be by the side of a critically ill family member, but is on his way back to Cleveland and could be on the field for Friday’s second joint practice session against those on the field his eagle.
injuries
Denzel Ward appears to be recovering well from his foot injury which cost him two months. He took part in 7v7 practice on Thursday but not the team portion of practice. He only did individual exercises on Monday and Tuesday of this week when he came back.
The Browns’ other starting XI, Greg Newsome II, was left out with a hamstring injury. Isaiah Thomas (hand), Chase Winovich (hamstring) and Michael Woods II (hamstring) were also sidelined due to their respective injuries.
You said so
Watson on beating his former team, the Houston Texans, in his first game: “Right now, that’s down the road. Right now my focus is on preparing for training against Philly and focusing on being the best person and getting back in shape and preparing for that moment whenever it comes.
Stefanski on Brissett: “Jacoby, as you get to know him better, and I get to know Jacoby too, I think back to the time we took over Jacoby and just the phone calls I had with people he played for and People who he played with it was very, very consistent that you get the pro of a pro, someone who leads from the front, works very hard at their craft and is just an excellent teammate.
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