Browns Preparing for First Preseason Game on Friday

The NFL preseason kicked off Sunday Night on NFL Network with the Hall of Fame game, as the New Orleans Saints took on the Arizona Cardinals. The Saints' offense looked crisp as usual, but Cardinals fans witnessed the type of start that had to make them groan. Kevin Kolb's first pass of the game was an interception. Shortly after that, he was pressured in the end zone, rolled out to his right, and tossed a pass out of bounds. With regular officials, a safety might have been called on the play due to what appeared to be a holding penalty. A little bit later, Kolb was done after being knocked to the ground with a rib injury.

That is about as disastrous of a start you can get for a quarterback fighting for his job. As much as we want Brandon Weeden to succeed, the possibility is there that he will struggle as bad as Kolb did in his first NFL action. The difference between the two? Kolb has had a few years to prove himself and has failed. Weeden is being given the keys to the offense in year one, and he's not going to be on a short leash. In fact, it would not surprise me to hear Pat Shurmur "officially" proclaim Weeden as the team's starting quarterback soon.

This is a busy week for the Browns. The team will have an afternoon session of practice in Berea today, starting at 2:00 PM. The team also announced a change for Tuesday's practice over the weekend. It was originally scheduled to take place in the morning, but it has been moved to an afternoon session (2:00 PM - 4:30 PM). On Wednesday, practice will take place at the stadium for Family Fun Day at 7:00 PM. The players will be off Thursday as they get ready to head out to Detroit, leading up to the team's first preseason game of the year on Friday. The game will take place locally on WOIO, Channel 19. The first game is not on WKYC due to NBC's coverage of the Olympics.