That’s what my brain keeps telling me, just calm down. However having seen a ton of first preseason games in my life, that game had a different feel. In the first drive the Browns went hurry up, two minute offense in a preseason game. I don’t recall ever seeing that happen before. Freddie had a set of scripted plays, they worked and the starters were off the field. Oh by the way, no Landry or Beckham on the field during that series. They picked up where they left off last year. Five for Six, 77 yards and a touchdown. Every time the Browns win the coin toss, they better take the ball first, because I don’t see anyone stopping this offense.
On defense without Richardson and Vernon, Myles Garrett was a force. I don’t know if the NFL keeps this record, but Garrett may set a record for holding calls against a player. Coming out of college the supposed knock on Garrett was he was slow off the line. Really. The rest of the defense played well against the redskins in their first series.
Back ups: QB. Stanton looked rusty on his first series, but handled the offense very well on the second series. I think with the starters he would be fine if called upon. Gilbert really surprised me. His arm strength is really good for a guy who bounced around the league. He handled the offense well. Glad to see Freddie get really upset at the offense for giving up the sack right before half time. Blough is a camp arm and threw a touchdown pass late in the game.
RB. No more Duke Johnson. By the way, to get a 4th rounder that can turn into a 3rd rounded if Johnson is active for 10 games was pure genius by John Dorsey. Dontrell Hilliard ran well and caught the ball well. He did have the fumble on the goal line, but the coaches love the guy. D’Ernest Johnson impressed me as well.
WR. I think the sixth receiver, behind Beckham, Landry, Higgins, Callaway and Willies will come down to Strong or Hyman. Strong was more impressive only because Hyman fumbled close to the goal line. He was holding the ball too far from his body and was stripped by the DB, who was his college team mate at James Madison. Now the question is the dilemma that is Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi. Do you keep an established wide out or a returner who could play wide receiver? Two names come to mind, Josh Cribbs and Travis Benjamin. Sheehy-Guiseppi brings a spark on special teams that this team needs. Wait a minute, as I write this, I just saw where Callaway will be suspended the first four games of the season for violation of the NFL sustenance abuse policy. Oh boy.
TE. Njoku played the first series, believe me I saw him, but got no looks. Pharoah Brown was disappointing. Missed a key block and just looked uninspired. No one else really stood out. DeValve and Harris are injured.
OL. I think the starters right now, as said in a previous blog are Hubbard, Kush, Tretter, Bitonio and Robinson. Corbett played center with second and third teams, so maybe this is his new position. Lamm is the swing tackle and I was impressed with Witzmann. Forbes is practice squad and Seaton maybe as well. The Browns signed T Travis Vornkahl and waived John Yarbrough today.
Defense: DL. First, Chad Thomas was there last night and played really well. In the touchdown series by Washington, Thomas abused the right tackle several times and made the QB hurry twice. Devaroe Lawrence had a sack, but lets face facts, Washington’s OL stinks. Tracy Sprinkle was cut today and they signed DT Brandin Bryant.
LB. Mack Wilson had two more interceptions and is a very good cover linebacker but still needs work against the run. Takitaki was his usual physical self. He over ran some plays but that is going to be expected from a rookie. Both will contribute this year.
DB. Greedy Williams missed coverage on some plays, but he’s still on track to start. Terrance Mitchell looks to be playing like he did last year before getting hurt. Now I see why the coaches love Jermaine Whitehead and Redwine was around the ball in the second half.
Kickers. Both looked good, but I wish Joseph wouldn’t get so close to the uprights on extra points. Got to hit the extra points and not the uprights because this team is going to score a lot of touchdowns. All in all it was a pretty clean game. No major injuries, not a lot of penalties. The special teams started the game with a double team block on the kick-off. Apparently, there’s a new rule on kick-offs, you can double team a member of the kicking team. Leave it to the Browns to explore the NFL rule book.
I had to watch the game on my laptop though a website the NFL would love to shut down but can’t, so I got the Washington broadcast team of Kenny Albert and Joe Theismann. This always happens in preseason games and sometimes in the regular season. Lets just say, It forced me to learn the Browns players numbers, because if it wasn’t a redskin player, they had no clue. Mack “Williams” intercepted two passes and Greedy “Wilson” intercepted one. And the Higgins touchdown pass was nearly intercepted. What? I call it nice touch by Baker Mayfield on the pass.
Finally, I usually publish this blog on Tuesday, but I’m changing to the day after games while the game is still fresh in my head. Hey I’m old, soon you’ll know what I mean. A reminder, YouTube’s “Building the Browns” new season starts Sunday August 11. A must see if you don’t live in Cleveland. On to Indy and GO BROWNS.