Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Day 18 - Fort Making Strides

The injury report did not get any smaller during Monday morning's session of training camp for the Cleveland Browns, but a couple of players did return to action during the afternoon walk-throughs. Who were they? Find out after the jump.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 18 (8/13/12)

1. Fort Expected to Start: After another day of practice with the first-team defense at middle linebacker, this time in full pads, rookie L.J. Fort is expected to start against the Packers on Thursday ahead of Benjamin Jacobs. During Monday morning's practice, Fort ended an 11-on-11 drill near the goal line when he intercepted a pass thrown by Colt McCoy.
   
   
2. Good News for Massaquoi & Benard? All 15 players who missed Sunday afternoon's practice remained out Monday morning. However, two players were involved in the afternoon walk-through, which is open to the media: wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi and defensive end Marcus Benard. Grossi also noted that linebacker D'Qwell Jackson participated in the walk-through.
   
   
3. Working on Some Drills, Not Very Effectively: Our friends over at WFNY talked about one of the more interesting parts of practice, even though it didn't go over very well:
   
   

   "The team worked on short yardage passing today. They simulated 3rd and 5 in some 11 on 11 work. It didn’t go well for the first team offense to be honest. Or the second team for that matter. Monterio Hardesty had a couple of nice runs for first downs, including one over the left side on third and one." -Rick, WFNY

4. Little Still in the Slot: Now that Massaquoi and Travis Benjamin have been missing reps, the team's three-receiver set has looked like this: Joshua Cribbs and Josh Gordon on the outside, with Greg Little in the slot. This is Cribbs' chance to show that maybe it'd be worth it to keep him involved in the offense to a greater capacity. Ruiter noted that in 7-on-7's, when there were 4-receiver sets, Jordan Norwood was brought into the mix.
   
   
5. The "Evan Moore" Day: With Ben Watson and Jordan Cameron out, tight end Evan Moore is bound to receive more action. What seemed unusual is that many reports had different nuggets on Moore's busy day. The main nugget thrown out there was the fact that he got into a scuffle with defensive end Emmanuel Stephens, and Stephens took a swing at him. Another report said that he advised Josh Gordon to not cut off a route so soon. A third report said that safety T.J. Ward gave him a legitimate tackle during practice, and Moore got into it with either him or some fans afterward. Maybe he's learning from tight end Alex Smith, who seems to draw the ire of opposing defenses on gameday.
   
   
6. McCoy Giving Weeden Some Tips: Either that, or he's trying to SABOTAGE (/sarc) him. From the Canton Repository:
   
   "Speaking of exchanging points ... Colt McCoy is sharing knowledge with Brandon Weeden. During one break when the focus was on special teams, McCoy and Weeden were off by themselves conversing about something that had just happened in an 11-on-11 segment.
   McCoy demonstrated with his hands and his steps. Weeden nodded his head and kept asking questions." -Doerschuk, Canton Repository
   
   
7. Falling and Falling? ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi suggested on Twitter that cornerback Buster Skrine is falling down the depth chart. For the past two days, with Dimitri Patterson out, rookie Trevin Wade has seen action at nickelback over Skrine. Grossi notes that on Monday, it appeared as though James Dockery was seeing reps ahead of Skrine.
   
   
8. Brownies: Wide receivers Jordan Norwood and Josh Cooper are getting the opportunity to shine more now that there are less receivers, so the competition for the No. 6 receiver is heating up. ... The starters are expected to play a full half, and possibly more, against the Packers this week. ... There were 2,029 fans at practice on Monday. ... The team's next practice is Tuesday morning in shells and shorts. ... Training camp reports are obviously getting a bit dull at this time of camp, as are the practices due to the number of injuries.
   

Link Collection / Training Camp Sources

• Cleveland Browns training camp report, 8/13/12 (Waiting For Next Year, Rick)
• News, notes, and observations from camp (Akron Beacon Journal, Ulrich)
• Observations from Browns practice (Chronicle-Telegram, Petrak)
• Camp news and notes, Monday (92.3 The Fan, Ruiter)
• Is Wade another lucky 7th? (The OBR, Greetham)
• Childress says battle of backups QB's too close to call (News-Herald, Schudel)
• McCoy mentoring Weeden, tempers flare (Canton Repository, Doerschuk)
• Training camp notes (WTAM, Knott)