Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Day 24 - Live Report from Berea

I was live in Berea for my final training camp session of the year, and it might be safe to say that Monday morning was the coldest practice of the season (below 70 degrees). When I arrived in the morning, I was surprised to see the camera lifts surrounding the field that was closest to the fans, near the seating area that I knew would be in the shade the entire session. I scored "front row bleacher seats" since I arrived early, although it was definitely a lighter crowd today than any of the other sessions I had been to. Let's get to the review of what went on. I'm sure you're tired of hearing about injuries, so I will end the report with injury notes, rather than begin with them.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 24 (8/22/11)

  The players stretch before practice begins. You can see where I was sitting and how the shade covered us pretty much the entire practice session.

1. Early Drop for Watson: Tight end Ben Watson dropped a pass from Colt McCoy that was a very easy ball to catch. You'll get that sometimes with Watson, but he rebounded right after that with a couple of nice receptions. Later on, he caught a ball that somehow got by the hands of two converging defenders on a pass by Seneca Wallace. McCoy almost hit Watson on what would have been an awesome play that went almost back across the grain, but it fell just beyond the extended reach of Watson.
    
2. Windsor Goes Up Top: Perhaps the highlight of the day was wide receiver Rod Windsor, an undrafted free agent, jumping into the air to catch a pass from Colt McCoy. McCoy threw the ball deep down the right sideline. Some members of the media criticized it for being underthrown, but personally, I thought it was good enough given the defensive back's position. Windsor made the necessary adjustment to haul it in over cornerback Ramzee Robinson.
    
3. Brown Gets a Pair: Cornerback Sheldon Brown intercepted Seneca Wallace twice during the practice. They were nice, but not spectacular, plays by Brown. One of the interceptions saw him maintain his ground and catch the ball, while the other involved him jumping the route even though he already had tight coverage. More of the blame lays on Wallace, who really didn't seem to have a sharp day throwing the ball again.
    
4. Wondering About Weatherhead: I've trashed quarterback Troy Weatherhead in the past for not even being able to throw accurate passes from a couple yards away, but now he is just getting zero reps during practice. Maybe he sees more work in the walk-through sessions later in the day. Jarrett Brown's stock has fallen based on his last two preseason outings. He looked more confident again in practice today, but I wish that confidence would translate to the field during the games.
    
5. Marecic Drops Another One: During 11-on-11 drills, Colt McCoy threw a pass to the flat. The play was designed to gain about five yards, but it bounced in and out of the hands of fullback Owen Marecic. I'm not trying to rehash the Marecic debate from the past couple of days, but he doesn't seem reliable as a receiver right now. I'd rather see Brandon Jackson in there on two-back sets since he can catch and block well. Jackson remained out of practice with a toe injury.
    
6. Norwood, the Highlight Reel: I continue to be impressed with what Jordan Norwood has brought to the table. He caught everything thrown his direction and kept making shifty moves to gain yards after the catch. He once again showed quickness in returning punts too. One punt by Richmond McGee sailed near the crowd where I was sitting. The ball bounced out of bounds, and then went into the mini-bleachers about ten feet away from him (I caught it on video, maybe I'll upload it tomorrow). Norwood asked the fan for "a little help," to which the ball was thrown at Norwood's feet. Someone yelled, "what's up Jordy?" to which Norwood responded, "what's up?" before heading back to his position.
    

  It's Tony Grossi! I wanted to chat it up with him, but ended up chickening out.


7. Watching Robiskie a Little: Because of Tony Grossi's comments about Brian Robiskie the other day, I tried to watch him specifically on several plays. It is true that he seems to have a tough time getting separation compared to some of the other receivers. What I notice about Robiskie though, at least when Colt McCoy is throwing, is that he is still a safety valve. McCoy usually looks elsewhere first, but if he doesn't like what he sees, he starts winding up to throw the ball where he knows Robiskie will be. That happened several times in practice today. At least twice, Robiskie came away with catches despite the defender being right on him. The other two times, the ball was thrown behind him and fell incomplete.
    
8. Titus Does a Little Showboating: Wide receiver Johnathan Haggerty lined up on the right side of the field and was the intended target when linebacker Titus Brown made a nice deflection. He had tight coverage and after the play, which presumably ended his unit's time on the field, Brown grabbed the ball and fake punted it (he let it drop to the ground), alas Greg Little from this past Friday.
    
9. The Injury Report: The players who missed practice today included RB Brandon Jackson (toe), WR Mohamed Massaquoi (foot), WR Joshua Cribbs (hamstring), TE Evan Moore (concussion), LG Eric Steinbach (back), LB Chris Gocong (neck stinger), LB Steve Octavien (undisclosed), CB Buster Skrine (undisclosed), S T.J. Ward (hamstring), and S Usama Young (hamstring).
    
10. More Action for Cameron: I noticed less passes to the running backs today and more down-the-field action for the tight ends and wide receivers. That meant less action for running back Montario Hardesty and some more action for tight end Jordan Cameron, who had several catches in 7-on-7 drills. It doesn't seem like he's quite involved in the first-team offense yet, even with Moore out -- that time still went to tight end Alex Smith, who caught a few nice passes again during practice.
     
11. Not How You Script It: Quarterback Seneca Wallace had one of his passes deflected at the line of scrimmage, but it ended up being smacked straight back into Wallace's lap (he caught his own pass). He then proceeded to sprint up the middle for a good gain.
     
12. No Extended Drills: Practice ended after special teams drills about a half hour early, so there were no two-minute drills or any drills that kept track of yardage/clock.
     
13. Video Maybe? I shot video on my cell phone camera for about 14 minutes straight. Included in that video were Jarrett Brown leading the scout team offense (in preparation for the Eagles) against our first-string defense, Ben Watson's dropped pass, Rod Windsor's long catch, Titus Brown fake punting the ball, Scott Fujita being punished for spinning a ball carrier around in practice, and more. It's a large file beyond my uploading capabilities at the moment, but I'll see if it's possible to put it online Tuesday. Remember, if it does go through, it's not the greatest quality, and I was talking (briefly) in a few spots.

Monday's Link Collection / Camp Sources

• Cleveland Browns quarterbacks feeling the dog days of camp, too (Plain Dealer, Grossi)
• Notes and observations from Browns training camp (Akron Beacon Journal, Llyod)
• McCoy feels more comfortable, less pressure than at start of camp (Chronicle-Telegram, Petrak)