Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Day 2 - Camp Opens to the Public

Torrential showers hit the Cleveland area Saturday morning, which surely led some fans to wonder if the team would move practice indoors. Gates were originally scheduled to open at 7:45 AM -- an hour before practice would begin -- but they were closed until the weather could be better evaluated.

The rain started to clear, so the gates opened at 8:30 AM as a reported 2,937 fans attended the first day of practice. That beats last year's opening number, which reportedly had 2,923 fans in attendance. The practice report for Day 2 of camp is after the jump.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 2 (7/28/12)

1. Eyes on Gordon Again: After the media got their first look at WR Josh Gordon on Wednesday, the fans were very interested in seeing the overly-hyped second-round supplemental draft pick in action. The fans reportedly cheered for him after an early reception from QB Colt McCoy in 11-on-11 drills, which made him happy.
   
   
2. "Wow, this is a big sucker:" According to the OBR, now that the defensive backs are allowed to do bump-and-run coverage in training camp, head coach Pat Shurmur wanted CB Joe Haden to challenge Gordon early on by bumping him at the line of scrimmage. What was Haden's feedback to Shurmur afterward? "In this league, you get challenged," Shurmur said. "Joe came back to the sideline and said ‘Wow, this is a big sucker’." Gordon seems to be picking up on things fast, so he might end up being a big part of the offense early in the season if he keeps it up.
   
   
3. Schwartz at Right Tackle: For anyone who might have wondered if there will be a competition at right tackle after Oniel Cousins lined up with the first-team offense on Friday, fear not: rookie second-round pick Mitchell Schwartz took Cousins' place at right tackle on Saturday. He might not be with the first-team offense every day of camp, but Shurmur had no qualms about their intentions for him. "We anticipate he’ll be our starter," said Shurmur.
   
   

QB Brandon Weeden struggled during his first day in front of fans. (photo credit: Doc's Kid)

4. Weeden Still Trying to Get Comfortable: For the second day in a row, the defense was ahead of the offense, and that meant some more struggles for quarterback Brandon Weeden. Per Scott Petrak of the Chronicle-Telegram, Weeden threw an ill-advised deep pass while rolling to his left, which was nearly picked off by S T.J. Ward.
   
   Steve Doerschuk of the Canton Repository said that even though Weeden ran with the first-team offense all practice, he didn't play throw like a first-team quarterback. He was supposedly off-target on three passes in the easy 7-on-7 drills, and he badly overthrew a wide open Benjamin Watson down the sideline. You have two choices as a fan: hit the panic button immediately, or stay patient. I think most of us here at DBN will stay patient...for now.
   
   
5. Dockery Continues to Stand Out: With Wade out, second-year CB James Dockery had a great start to training camp by breaking up three passes, including at least one by Weeden, per the Akron Beacon Journal. Dockery reportedly had tight coverage in minicamp/OTA's, so it's not going to be easy for Wade to win a roster spot over him if it comes down to one-or-the-other.
   
   
6. Quickness for Hardesty: Quickness? Montario Hardesty? You don't say...according to several reporters, Hardesty had a quickness that turned heads, as he worked as the No. 2 running back behind Trent Richardson. Hardesty lost over 10 pounds in the offseason and is trying to hold off Brandon Jackson as the No. 2 running back, and Chris Ogbonnaya for a roster spot.
   
   
7. Still the Owner...for Now: All of the news on Friday revolved around team owner Randy Lerner and the inevitable sale of the team. That didn't stop him from being an observer during Saturday morning's practice session, though. He's still the owner until we hear otherwise.
   
   
P Reggie Hodges looked fine in punting drills after missing all of last year with an Achilles injury.
(photo credit: Doc's Kid)

8. Fujita Still Playing on First Team: Evan though he will miss the first three games of the regular season, Scott Fujita is still practicing with the first-team defense at strongside linebacker. Shurmur said they are already crafting their plan to replace Fujita for those three games. Considering they haven't seen much of the rookies yet, it probably means that Chris Gocong will shift over to his spot with Kaluka Maiava filling in for Gocong, just like the end of last season.
   
   
9. Cribbs Drops Some Weight: Per Tony Grossi, Joshua Cribbs was asked to report to camp at 215 pounds to improve his quickness, something I thought he has lost a little of the past two seasons. Grossi says that Cribbs showed up to camp at 210 pounds.
   
   
10. Hagg Remains in Front: Second-year safety Eric Hagg stayed on the first-team defense for the second day in a row, in front of veteran Usama Young. According to CBS Sports, both Hagg and CB Buster Skrine looked good in coverage.
    
11. Tight End Position: With Moore out, TE Jordan Cameron saw a lot of reps, likely putting him ahead of TE Alex Smith early on. When asked about the team's starting tight end, Shurmur was very complimentary of veteran TE Ben Watson, and made no secret about the fact that he is the definitive starter. Brad Smelley saw some action at tight end, but Shurmur said he will be used in the backfield too.
    
    
12. Missing in Action: As we reported earlier, DT Ahtyba Rubin will be out about two weeks with a pelvic tear, while TE Evan Moore should return soon with a non-football injury that he suffered during offseason workouts. The other players who missed practice were WR Carlton Mitchell and CB Trevin Wade, both of whom are competing for roster spots. CB Joe Haden reportedly had his big toe stepped on by Mohamed Massaquoi and was in some pain, but battled through it.
    
    
13. Brownies: We're sorry to hear that something unfortunate seems to have come up for Daniel Wolf, and he may not be able to cover training camp this year. ... P Reggie Hodges is booting the ball very well to begin camp. ... 92.3 The Fan reports that Brian Schaefering, John Hughes, and Kiante Tripp all rotated in Rubin's spot. ... Saturday was a helmets-only practice. ... Sunday's session begins at 8:45 AM and will be in full pads (I hope to make it out to Berea).

Link Collection / Training Camp Sources

• Gordon flashes in first practice (The OBR, Greetham)
• Cast of thousands watch wobbly Weeden (Canton Repository, Doerschuk)
• Observations from training camp (Akron Beacon Journal, Ulrich)
• Eyes on Berea - 7/28/12 (ESPN Cleveland, Burge)
• News and notes from first open practice (92.3 The Fan, Ruiter)
• Randy Lerner, good crowd watch practice (Chronicle-Telegram, Petrak)