Training camp was originally scheduled to take place outdoors for the public Tuesday morning, but it was moved indoors to the threat of rain. All of the reporters noted that it is a tight squeeze inside the facility, since there is only one field with 70 yards to work with. In a way, though, I think that actually allowed the members of the media to get a better (or rather, closer) look at how certain players were doing at practice. Unfortunately, things didn't go over too well.
TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 19 (8/14/12)
- Not a Day to Remember: Take a look at these quotes from various reporters to understand how bad things were on Tuesday:
"Tuesday was one of the worst offensive practices since training camp started. The amount of mistakes was astounding." -Will Burge, ESPN Cleveland
"Dropped passes, poor routes and throws and even a fumbled snap disrupted any rhythm as the team crammed all 90 players into the 70-yard indoor facility." -Daryl Ruiter, 92.3 The Fan
"Browns offense today indoors has been shockingly bad. Conclusion: Not a great dome team." -Tony Grossi, ESPN Cleveland
Let's take a look at some of the details.
- Tallying the Bad Plays: There are too many "bad plays" that were reported on, so rather than making each of them a bullet point, here is everything lumped into one section. RB Montario Hardesty dropped a wheel route that was thrown "perfectly" by Brandon Weeden in the corner of the end zone. TE Evan Moore had a ball hit him right in the hands on a slant route, and it bounced out. RB Chris Ogbonnaya and WR Greg Little dropped easy passes, according to Burge. TE Alex Smith had a drop, Weeden threw some passes behind receivers, and the other quarterbacks weren't great either. Burge had the total drop number between 8-10, and the coaches reportedly were not in a very good mood during the session because of it.
- Massaquoi and Benard Practice: WR Mohamed Massaquoi returned to practice, again claiming that he did not have a concussion. He was with the first-team offense and might play against the Packers on Thursday. The other player who returned was DE Marcus Benard, but DE Emmanuel Stephens remained with the first-team defense at right defensive end. I wonder if Auston English isn't even in the mix at this point.
- Working on Red Zone Drills: Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan noted that the team tried to work on red zone drills. Given the smaller space the team had to work with, it's a drill that makes sense. Although plenty of the negative plays mentioned earlier came in the red zone, there were touchdown passes thrown to WR Greg Little (from Weeden) and TE Evan Moore (from McCoy). Weeden was also intercepted in 7-on-7 drills by CB Emanuel Davis after a miscommunication with TE Alex Smith.
- Two-Minute Drills Unsuccessful: In trying to run the two-minute drills, Brandon Weeden's drive ended on fourth-down when his pass for Mohamed Massaquoi was broken up by S T.J. Ward. When Colt McCoy got his opportunity, his drive ended when his pass to the end zone was broken up by CB James Dockery.
- Brownies: QB Colt McCoy will be the No. 2 quarterback again against Green Bay. ... A day after being signed, DT Ronnie Cameron was practicing with the team. ... FB Eddie Williams was waived/injured to make room for Cameron. ... The Browns are off on Wednesday as they head to Green Bay for Thursday's preseason game. ... The next session of training camp open to the public is Sunday afternoon.
Link Collection / Training Camp Sources
- Browns in the rain - where are all the good hands guys? (Canton Repository, Doerschuk)
- Eyes on Berea, 8/14/12 (ESPN Cleveland, Burge)
- Massaquoi returns to practice, says he didn't have a concussion (Akron Beacon Journal, Ulrich)
- Massaquoi never had a concussion (Chronicle-Telegram, Petrak)
- Camp news and notes, Tuesday (92.3 The Fan, Ruiter)