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Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Day 25 - Sims Picks a Pair

By Chris Pokorny
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Day 25 of Cleveland Browns training camp was closed to the public, but the members of the media still got to see all of the action. Besides practice, there were some interesting things that head coach Pat Shurmur mentioned after practice during his news conference, so I will highlight a few of those here before posting the full transcript a little bit later.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 25 (8/20/12)

  1. Sensational Sims: Forgive me for the corny alliteration. Building off of a solid effort in his first two preseason games, S David Sims continues to make his mark in practice too. According to reports, Sims had two interceptions during Monday morning's practice. The first came in 7-on-7 drills, when he intercepted a slant route thrown by Brandon Weeden that was intended for WR Josh Gordon. The other one also came in 7-on-7 drills, when he had a pick six against Seneca Wallace. He also broke up a pass in a two-minute drill. With Usama Young having missed a significant amount of time this camp, don't be surprised if Sims leapfrogs him on the depth chart to begin the season.

  2. Good Day for Gordon: After struggling for the past couple of weeks in practice, rookie WR Josh Gordon had a "good day" with several nice catches, including an acrobatic catch up the sideline on a pass by Brandon Weeden with CB James Dockery having tight coverage, per the ABJ. He also had a nice catch for a touchdown, according to ESPN Cleveland. I know the Browns don't want to reveal a lot of stuff to the Eagles this Friday, but one of the things they can certainly work on is building up Gordon's confidence.

  3. Mitchell Returns Again, Needs to Prove Himself: WR Carlton Mitchell returned to practice again after missing the second preseason game and a couple of practice sessions. It is do or die time for Mitchell, and when Pat Shurmur was asked about him after practice, Shurmur basically said that he needs to really turn it on over the final two games:

    "I think the important thing is, he’ll get a chance to play a lot. I want him to show up so we sit back and say, ‘Wow, this guy has made great progress and we really have to consider him being a part of this team’"

  4. Hughes Sits Out, Other Injuries: Rookie DT John Hughes missed practice with an undisclosed injury, which gave sixth-round pick Billy Winn more playing time in the starting rotation. RB Chris Ogbonnaya suffered a leg injury during a two-minute drill after LB D'Qwell Jackson came down on him, forcing him to sit out. CB Antwuan Reed also injured his leg trying to cover a punt, per the ABJ, and walked off with a trainer.


  5. Lewis Could Make Things Interesting: QB Thaddeus Lewis could make the team's backup quarterback situation interesting. He is not practice squad eligible, but Shurmur made it sound like he wants to keep him on the roster. He acknowledged that he performed well in Detroit despite having limited practice reps, and that, "there’s something to Thad that I think is worth developing." When asked a follow-up question on if Lewis could affect the quarterback situation, he said, "Yeah, I think so."

  6. Cribbs at Receiver: The question about Joshua Cribbs at wide receiver was brought up again, and Shurmur conveyed that he should still see at least some snaps on offense: "I think it’s realistic that he’s going to get his snaps at receiver, much like he did last year."

  7. Brownies: According to the ABJ, during the afternoon walk-throughs, DE Emmanuel Stephens walked to the facility with a trainer. ... The next practice open to the public is Tuesday morning. ... DE Frostee Rucker saw some with in team drills. ... OL Jeff Shugarts and DE Auston English got into a minor scuffle with a few punches exchanged. ... CB Buster Skrine intercepted a pass thrown by Colt McCoy in 11-on-11 drills. ... CB Joe Haden continued his stellar preseason with a few pass breakups.

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