NEW YORK JETS (1-0)		GAME #1		CLEVELAND BROWNS (0-1)
		VS.
24				20

After the craziness of a one-hour lightning / heavy thunderstorm delay in the first quarter, the Browns lost their first preseason game to the New York Jets by a final score of 24-20 Thursday night. I always like to look at what happened when the starters were in the game though, and from that perspective, the Browns won with a 7-0 advantage.

It didn't take long on Friday for the Pittsburgh Steelers, a hated rival that we'll be playing in a little over a month, to make a statement of their own. It took the Steelers eight plays to travel 80 yards down the field for a touchdown, as QB Ben Roethlisberger connected with Ohio State product Santonio Holmes. I think Roethlisberger still has his flaws as a top-level quarterback in the league, but he can make defensive backs pay on the deep ball by buying just a little bit of time.

Why did I bring up the Steelers in this review of the Browns / Jets contest? Because I'm stressing that if anything happens to our starting cornerbacks, it won't matter how improved our defensive line is: we're going to be ripped apart. Here are my bullet points from the first preseason game...

PRESEASON GAME 1 - JETS vs. BROWNS (GENERAL THOUGHTS)

1. Defensive Lackfield: Here is the line for second-year wide receiver David Clowney against the likes of A.J. Davis, Mil'von James, Steve Cargile, and Nick Sorenson: 4 catches for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns. On both of Clowney's touchdowns, all it took was a simple playaction fake for him to be as open as you can get on a deep pattern.
Jets WR David Clowney kept getting past the Browns' safeties on playaction fakes. Credit: Associated Press


2. To be Fair: On both of Clowney's touchdowns, it seemed like it was the safeties that dropped the ball by not staying home on the playaction fake. Sorenson isn't going to make this team as safety depth, so he'll have to rely on his special teams abilities again. As far as Cargile goes, he'll probably be an early roster casualty.
3. Back to the Beginning: I liked what I saw on our first defensive series. The run defense was getting an excellent push against the Jets' much-improved offensive line. Shaun Rogers was just fun to watch, and I can't wait to see the unit at full strength when Corey Williams receives his regular reps. We saw how much Kamerion Wimbley will be a beneficiary from the defensive line this year when he chase down Thomas Jones across the field after the line had clogged things up.
4. Wright and McDonald: I think the biggest difference between Wright and McDonald and the undrafted free agents is clear: Wright and McDonald understand our bend-but-don't break philosophy. Everything was kept in front of them, and although it allowed the Jets to pick up a good amount of yardage, when they needed to come up with a big play, McDonald made an outstanding man-to-man tackle to stop a receiver just shy of a first down.
5. Fullback Handoff? C'mon: What's why all of the complaining about the Browns not stopping the Jets' first-drive handoff to FB Tony Richardson? You can't expect the defensive line to crush everything; sometimes you give the opposing teams their props for executing.
6. Working in Stallworth: I was correct in my training camp battles preview that Derek Anderson would focus exclusively on throwing the ball to Braylon Edwards and Donte Stallworth on the first drive. I definitely liked what I saw early on from Stallworth, but the plays designed for him aren't the ones I was envisioning -- ones with a defender right on top of him.
7. Getting Cleveland Excited: If you weren't excited about this team's potential heading into the game, or were keeping a reserved attitude, then I don't see how you could've kept calm after seeing Braylon Edwards one-hand a two-yard touchdown pass from Anderson. The throw, the catch, the celebration, the fans...all of that combined resembles what Cleveland fans hope this season is all about.
8. Wilson Locking Up: I think Travis Wilson has pretty much taken the key for the third receiver role and thrown it away to a place where no one else can get to it. He looked very smooth on the three passes he caught, most of which were in tight coverage.
9. Mixed on Rucker: I was a little surprised at how well-received Martin Rucker's performance came off on message boards and such, because I thought he showed that he still needs to be a little more polished. Yes, I'm excited about the plays he made. However, I'm not excited about him letting a ball go through his hands in the end zone -- a play that most times would end up in an interception. He also dropped a fairly open pass earlier in the game with Ken Dorsey in at quarterback. Not a bad game overall for Rucker -- who had 5 catches for 70 yards -- but I think we need to watch his progression over the next three weeks before deciding on whether or not he can be a reliable gameday contributor by Week 1.
10. Negative on Hubbard: Mixed on Rucker, but negative on rookie receiver Paul Hubbard. I did mark out on his awesome-looking 44-yard reception in the fourth quarter, but I was very frustrated by his inability to haul in two would-be touchdowns on the last drive. He doesn't seem to know how to use his size to his advantage at all yet, though maybe I'm just too spoiled with what Edwards can do.
11. Screens From Hell: Another year, a lot of practice, and yet the same failure rate when it comes to screen plays still exist. On the first series, I'm not in favor of running a screen play to Jamal Lewis often. When Ken Dorsey was in the game, the offensive line didn't hold their own too well, but Dorsey didn't help matters by telegraphing the throws from a mile away.
QB Derek Anderson and WR Braylon Edwards celebrate after their two-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. Credit: Associated Press

12. Bernie Rules: All hail Bernie Kosar again for his beautiful work in the announcer's booth Thursday night. His constant bashing of the Jets' plays, intelligence on plays that were/should be run, and all-around wit made the game worth watching until the final seconds. One thing though: his man-crush on Ken Dorsey remains, even though the guy went 0-for-12 in his last 12 attempts and was sacked numerous times in between.
13. Wright / Harrison: Another thing I was surprised with was people on other message boards saying they thought Jason Wright did better than Jerome Harrison did. I don't think either players did anything worthy of mentioning, but I'm still a fan of Harrison's ability to run to the outside. Travis Thomas didn't look very impressive to me though -- not enough burst on his touches, and he really blew a blocking assignment once that resulted in a sack I believe.
14. Ali a Keeper: With how much the Browns utilized Charles Ali in the first preseason game without putting another player (like Kolo Kapuni) back there, I think his roster odds just improved dramatically. We're not going to allow an in-season injury to Lawrence Vickers to deter a gameplan: having Ali available is a must.
15. Cousin Check: Early on in the game, Terry Cousin did a nice job breaking up a third-down pass to force a punt. If that's what he can do consistently for us, then I'll be a happy camper.
16. Leonard Making Bid: After having a relatively quiet camp thus far, Louis Leonard was in on a team-leading four tackles. Four defensive linemen already have roster spots locked up, and Leonard may have the early lead on being the fifth.
17. Quinn's Day: Overall, I thought it was an average day for Brady Quinn. He still shows a lot of timidness when it comes to throwing deep; I'd love for a reporter to get his reasoning for that. Some people are blaming Syndric Steptoe for his interception, but I place the bulk of the blame on Quinn. Rocketing a short pass right where it's crowded and ahead of the receiver is not ideal.
18. Dorsey was Dorsey: I wasn't surprised with what I saw from Ken Dorsey's play: he's not mobile and therefore gets brought down often with third stringers in front of him. However, I loved the fact that he was really trying to win the game. Sure, a lot of that had to do with the plays that Rob Chudzinski was calling in, but Dorsey did seem to have a reserved fire in his eyes as he led the team to two decent drives, one of which ended in an interception and the other being the incompletion that ended the game.
19. Favre on the Sidelines: I think this will be a much better Jets team with Brett Favre as their news starting quarterback. I initially stated that it would've been nice for our defensive backs to face Favre in the first preseason game, but I take that back now. I liked that the starters weren't forced with the burden of being almost in awe of the whole Favre situation.
20. Bad Containment: What happens on a punt return when the coverage gets down their in time, only to stop, believing that the runner will have no where to go? Well, the returner just runs right by all of those stationary players. I'm sure Ted Dashier has something to work on during the week now.

Now, bring on the New York Giants. The Browns don't play for awhile again -- until next Monday to be specific. Against the defending Super Bowl champions, it'll be a better test to see our starters get a quarter and a half to a full half of action.

In the coming days, I'm going to compile my first "projected 53-man roster" list, based partially on what I saw in the first preseason game. Of course, that list will go under weekly revisions if necessary, as I've done in the past.

I know a lot of you out-of-towners love to read these training camp reports here on Dawgs By Nature. Thanks to sfanscott over at the Munilot (OBR Blogs), you can view a three-minute video from today's practice session! The first two minutes or so are some basic agility type drills, but after that you get to see the offense in action.

Sunday's practice was a little light compared to the past couple of days. We're under a week away from the team's practice at Cleveland Browns Stadium, meaning the excitement continues to build day-by-day.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 5 (7/27/08)

1. First and Foremost: There were no pads today in practice, which you should've surmised if you watched the video above.
2. Names to Faces: So that you can better know the names to the faces (or jersey numbers) in the offensive plays above, I'll go through each play below.
3. Play 1 (Quinn to Hill): QB Brady Quinn fired a quick slant route to WR Efrem Hill -- a player he seems to have chemistry with. The strange thing is that he was being covered by No. 28 on the play -- however, I cannot find that jersey number anywhere, even on the team's official site. If anyone can identify this player, let me know.
4. Play 2 (Quinn to Hubbard): QB Brady Quinn threw a pass over the middle that rookie WR Paul Hubbard dove to the ground to bring in. It was a nice play, but reportedly Hubbard still failed to stand out amongst the crowd. The primary defender on the play was rookie DB Mil'von James. You can also see rookie LB Alex Hall with a pretty decent pass rush coming off the right side of the defense.
5. Play 3 (Anderson to Winslow): This was a thing of beauty; at least if you're dying for Browns football. QB Derek Anderson stepped back and zipped a pass down the right sideline to TE Kellen Winslow with two defenders chasing him. The defenders on the play were LB Leon Williams and S Sean Jones. Presumably, after the play, Winslow and Williams exchanged words with a little head shoving mixed in too (though that could have been later, depending on how the video was spliced).
   
QB Derek Anderson plays around with second-year WR Syndric Steptoe at practice. Anderson has looked well enough in camp to put aside any threat of Brady Quinn taking over the position.
Photo Credit: Official Site.
6. Play 4 (Winslow Reception): The QB was not identifiable on this play. After a few quick nifty jukes, TE Kellen Winslow caught a pass to his right with LB Kris Griffin covering him.
7. Players Absent: The following players missed practice due to bumps and bruises, according to the official site: TE Steve Heiden (knee), DE Corey Williams (shoulder), OG Seth McKinney (ankle), FB Lawrence Vickers (hamstring), WR Kevin Kasper (hamstring) and OL Marvin Philip (back).
8. Wright Way: After missing several consecutive practices, RB Jason Wright returned to practice, but only for individual drills. WR Donte Stallworth also continued working on individual drills.
9. Edwards is Too Good: You won't hear a negative thing about Braylon Edwards at any of these sessions it seems. The guy is a natural receiver -- other receivers in this league would kill to be able to make things look so easy.
10. Anderson Still Ahead: If this were a quarterback competition, which it's not, Derek Anderson would be far ahead of Brady Quinn. Anderson still has some things to work on, but he looks like the reigning starting quarterback of this team while Quinn continues to try and find his accuracy.
11. After Practice: When the session was over, Quinn was getting some extra work in with WR Steve Sanders. I'm sure many fans can't wait to see the local product (Sanders) in another preseason game at the very least.
12. Punt it Up: No complaints in camp yet about Dave Zastudil, who is booming his punts well. We don't want to see Paul Ernster again.
13. Unrelated: In unrelated camp news, the New England Patriots signed former Browns practice squad offensive lineman Pete McMahon today.

If you loved seeing the video at the top of this post, sfanscott also posted two more videos on Sunday: one from the Day 4 Evening Practice, and the other from a Day 2 Practice Session.

Here is your latest link collection (Note: the top link is to Pluto's Sunday article -- have to get my weekly mention of him in):

Terry's Talkin: Rogers & CB Situation (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Pluto)

Eric Wright bringing swagger, glow (Official Site, Jackson)

Winslow aims to grow, improve (Official Site, King)

Pontbriand going strong (Official Site, King)

The Browns hit the field twice again on Monday -- once for a morning session and once for an evening session. As always, don't forget to take my training camp pocket schedule with you when you go to Berea! I'm sure you'd hate to forget what time practice started, eh? You can keep the thing handy in your wallet 24/7.

Anderson's short-game indeed seems to have improved, and he's outdone Quinn through four days. Credit: Official Site

Considering the time of this posting, it wouldn't make a lot of sense for me to make two different posts -- one for Day 4's morning practice and the other for Day 4's evening practice. Instead, I'll combine the two into one post, with the appropriate subheadings.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 4 [MORNING] (7/26/08)

1. Winslow Held Out: We've seen this in each of the past few seasons now: Kellen Winslow receiving a day off. Romeo Crennel stated that Winslow was perfectly fine to practice, and it was merely a coach's decision to allow him to rest his surgically-repaired knee. The Plain Dealer reports that Winslow spent the morning practice acting as a coach / mentor for rookie tight end Martin Rucker.
   
2. Heiden Twists Knee: After it looked as if tight end Steve Heiden was back to 100%, he twisted his knee in the morning session and was forced to leave practice.
3. McKinney Twists Ankle: Boy, what's with the burden of the bad news from the morning, eh? Although Rex Hadnot returned to practice, now it was Seth McKinney who had to leave with a twisted ankle.
4. Stallworth Debuts: While it wasn't a full debut for receiver Donte Stallworth, he was in pads and participated fully in the individual drills. He did not participate in team drills, and the team did not provide a timetable as to when he'll be ready to do so.
5. Rogers Continues Dominance: One of the most impressive players in camp thus far is Shaun Rogers. After an interception yesterday, he had a nice upper edge on offensive lineman Eric Steinbach on at least one play. Here's a quote from a user over at the OBR who saw the play personally:
   

   "Rogers knocked Steinbach back a foot and had him off balance with one arm. Rogers punched him with his a left hand to the ribs which knocked him off the line and then ripped with the right arm to easily get by Eric and finish the play."

   Sounds great. Do it to the Steelers now.
6. Daily Wilson: No where near the negatives as last year for receiver Travis Wilson. In the morning session, he made a nice catch on a hitch route with a defender blanketing him.
7. Throw Left, Not Right: In a drill where the quarterbacks would roll out to a certain side and throw the ball, Brady Quinn had mixed results. While he struggled going to his right (2/5 success rate), he did fine going to his left (5/5 success rate).
8. Gotta Love Smith: You have to love how defensive lineman Shaun Smith gets people riled up in a good way. Today's conflict was reportedly with center Hank Fraley. Watch out, Hank.


Smith and Fraley lock up. Credit: Official Site

9. Anderson's Consistency: A note that seems consistent throughout camp thus far: Derek Anderson seems to be ahead of Brady Quinn, as he should be after last season's effort. Anderson's throws in the short game appear to have less zip on the with improved accuracy.
10. Getting Names Out There: It's not always about the Winslow's and Edwards'. At tight end, Brad Cieslak, who I said to watch out for in my training camp preview, is playing fundamentally well. Darnell Dinkins still has no hands as a receiver, but that's not his "specialty". With the blocks that Charles Ali has been delivering, it's no wonder he made the final roster last year. It'll be tough to cut Ali, but not so much Dinkins.
11. Thomas & Scott I didn't seem to give Notre Damer running back Travis Thomas a shot in my training camp preview, but so far, he's draw some favorable reviews in comparison to Austin Scott. Scott was also hit hard on screen passes twice -- once by Shantee Orr and once by Mil'von James. The two of them should be fighting for a practice squad spot.
12. Pittman Making Bid: Second-year man Chase Pittman is making his bid for one of the few backup defensive lineman spots. So far, he's made more noise than Melila Purcell has.
13. Linebacker Report: A better defensive line is indeed allowing more freedom for our linebackers. Even veteran Willie McGinest has looked pretty darn good. Alex Hall continues to draw favorable reviews for having the size of Kamerion Wimbley with potential too. Most impressive of all though could be *gasp* Andra Davis. Davis, who is battling with Beau Bell for the starting role, seems to have lost weight and is delivering better shots / tackles than he has in the past.
14. Dropped Passes: Both Paul Hubbard and Syndric Steptoe dropped passes during practice. With Joe Jurevicius out, none of these "young guys" seem to have taken advantage. Heck, even someone like Efrem Hill, with a great camp in the next few weeks, could earn a roster spot still.
15. Speaking of Hill: He flourished in camp last season, and he's making plays again this year. Hill stretched out to make a nice catch over the middle on a pass from Ken Dorsey, according to the official site. I'm telling you -- don't rule out this guy making the final roster if he keeps this up.
Animated as always, special teams coach Ted Dashier calls out rookie Beau Bell for not being ready. Credit: Official Site
16. Animated Dashier: The ever-so-animated special teams coach Ted Dashier ripped into rookie Beau Bell for not getting out with the second-team special teams unit quick enough. If you've heard of Dashier's reputation, then..."enough said"...
17. Highlight Play: On a deep corner pattern, Braylon Edwards beat defensive back Steve Cargile on a pass from Derek Anderson.

And now, for the evening practice (with shorter details):

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 4 [EVENING] (7/26/08)

1. Less Intense: Part of the reason for a shorter evening report was due to the fact that it was less intense. Also, several veteran receivers received the evening off.
2. Veteran Breaks: The veteran breaks went to Jamal Lewis, Willie McGinest, Corey Williams, and Robaire Smith. None of them missed practice because of an injury.
3. Injury Breaks: These are the players that sat out with an injury: Seth McKinney (ankle injury from morning), Steve Heiden (knee injury from morning), Jason Wright (hamstring), and Marvin Philip.
4. Winslow Collides: Tight end Kellen Winslow, who was rested as a precaution in the morning, returned for the evening. According to the Plain Dealer, there was a scare though after Winslow collided with cornerback Brandon McDonald and was down for 20 seconds before getting up fine.
   
5. Baxter at Corner?: Reportedly, Gary Baxter was working a few drills with the cornerbacks, as opposed to the safeties.

Yep, that's it folks. Here is your link collection of sources for the morning and evening sessions:

Camp notes: the heat is on (Official Site, King)

Browns morning practice notes (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cabot)

Can Browns pay Sean Jones? (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cabot)

Stallworth improving, trying to catch up (Official Site, Jackson)

AM Update: Stallworth, Hadnot back (Official Site, Jackson)

Confident McDonald thinking big (Official Site, King)

Camp observations (Dawg Talkers)

Saturday morning in Berea (OBR Forums)

Saturday PM: Who practiced, who didn't (Orange and Brown Report)

The Browns will be back on the field for an afternoon session on Sunday from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM.

You couldn't ask for better weather than we're having right now, which surely has to make a lot of the Browns players happy (as well as the fans in attendance). Sooner than later though, it's going to get hot -- something that supposedly helps condition players for those conditions at a later date. Hmm.

Before I get to my recap, I highly recommend that you check out ATENEARS training camp post over at thebrownsboard.com. His recap was outstanding for the evening session -- and he even got a rather stalkerish closeup shot of the Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 2 [EVENING] (7/24/08)

1. Slower Pace: The pace of the evening practice was dramatically slower than the morning's. With it being the first two-a-day, it's not a surprise to hear that. None of the players wore pads in the night-cap either, meaning no Shantee Orr / Jamal Lewis encores just yet.
2. Anderson Has Two Picks: You won't see me going emo over this note, but still worth mentioning. Quarterback Derek Anderson was reportedly picked off twice (details below).
3. First Pick (Davis): Not Andra Davis, but the rookie, A.J. Davis. A.J. Davis intercepted a deep ball intended for Braylon Edwards. After the play, Edwards threw Davis to the ground. That drew the attention of Nick Sorensen, who then came in and shoved Edwards.
4. Second Pick (McDonald): During team drills, Brandon McDonald intercepted an Anderson pass off of a fleaflicker. The pass was reportedly underthrown and intended for Edwards. Beyond that, McDonald was a standout amongst the players in the secondary.
   
5. QB Discussion: I really didn't mention anything about the quarterbacks this morning. In the evening, Anderson had both shaky passes and perfectly zipped passes. Quinn seemed to work on routes underneath and did well, but stayed away from going deep.
6. Cribbs' Tricks: The team practiced at least 2-3 trick plays for Cribbs on offense, including a nice pass deep that Travis Wilson couldn't come up with. If they're practicing this many plays with Cribbs in just the second day (both morning and evening sessions), that has to be a tell of what's to come this season, right?
7. Cribbs' Troubles: Reportedly, Cribbs actually struggled quite a bit on punt returns, almost reverting back to his issues from two seasons ago. Hopefully that's just some heavy rust that wears away soon.
8. Kasper & Wilson: In the absence of Donte Stallworth and Joe Jurevicius, Kevin Kasper and Travis Wilson were interchanging the No. 2 receiver role. However, Kasper may still have the edge in terms of reps at that spot right now.
9. Other Receivers: The next two receivers getting in on the action seemed to be Syndric Steptoe and Paul Hubbard. Steptoe drew cheers after making a catch while on his backside following a fall. Hubbard reportedly looked "good" catching a few balls in traffic.
10. Opps!: The reliable (and Pro Bowler) Ryan Pontbriand sent a snap over the head of Dave Zastudil.
11. Biggest Misconception: I've said this on Dawgs By Nature before: it's Shaun Rogers, and NOT Shaun Rodgers. I know the mistake is tempting to make; I've done it myself a few times. However, it's still a nuisance to see so many people making the typo.
12. Mil'von Time: Besides A.J. Davis having a good practice, Mil'von James wasn't too bad either. Both of them could end up making the final roster if Jereme Perry doesn't impress.
13. Injury Updates: So far, so good. Steve Heiden remained on the field and looks 100%. Fellow tight end Kellen Winslow doesn't seem to have any lingering effects and is catching balls very well. Donte Stallworth didn't practice, but was doing wind sprints on the sideline. Jason Wright sat out of the evening practice with an unspecified injury, but he was riding the bike and it didn't seem to be anything serious.

A brief note here before I sign off for the night: Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer has an article up on Kellen Winslow's contract situation. Here's the part that tickled me:

The Browns will probably re-work Winslow's deal after they extend safety Sean Jones, who's up after this season, and receiver Braylon Edwards, up after next year.

Now, let me quote something that I said this past Sunday:

Personally, I would imagine that Jones would have to be higher on our priority list than Winslow, right? Arguably the best member of our secondary, whether he's Pro Bowl caliber or not, cannot be lost.

I should be a weatherman. Or not. Here are your training camp sources for the nightcap:

• Browns training camp log, Day 2 (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cabot)
• My camp report - Thursday evening (The Browns Board)
• Raw practice footage from Thursday (Official Site) << VIDEO!
• Day 2 PM session "the fresh view" (OBR Forums, Dougefresh)

The Browns have one session Friday, from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM. Remember, if you haven't done so already, you can print off our DBN Training Camp Schedule 2008. Feel free to print off as many as you can and hand them out at camp too ;) Friday's temperature is expected to be partly sunny, 84 degrees, with 10 mph wind.