Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Day 5 - Live Tackling

After having a league-required day off on Wednesday, the Cleveland Browns returned to the practiced field in Berea on Thursday for Day 5 of training camp. The attendance was labeled at 3,770 fans, the 4th largest amount since the team started keeping track. That's a pretty high figure for a weekday. Live tackling was supposed to be permitted for Thursday's session, so let's take a look at what went down.

CLEVELAND BROWNS TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 5 (7/31/14)

1. Greco & Winn Back in the Fold: Two players participated in training camp for the first time this year after starting on the non-football injury list: OG John Greco and DE Billy Winn. Both players took it easy in their first practice of the summer, so we can't get into depth chart questions just yet. If both players continue to get back into a groove on Friday, though, it'll be interesting to see how they are utilized in Saturday's scrimmage -- will Greco "start" at right guard, or will Garrett Gilkey continue to man that role?
   
   
2. Sharp Orange Jerseys: If you recall back on Tuesday, the defense won a best-of-five competition against the offense, which earned them the honor of wearing orange jerseys at Thursday's practice. Seen below is not only proof of Winn's return, but the pride of what the orange jerseys represent: being able to "finish" in a simulated end-of-the-game situation.
   

   #Browns DE Billy Winn suited up today for his first practice of training camp. Was on non-football injury list. pic.twitter.com/qW2cXd1NLL

   — Nate Ulrich (@NateUlrichABJ) July 31, 2014

   
   
3. Offense Starts Hot in Goal Line Drills: At the end of practice, the Browns worked on some goal line drills. Early on, the offense was having success. According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer, RB Ben Tate and RB Terrance West scored touchdowns on back-to-back run plays. Then, QB Johnny Manziel found TE Jim Dray for a touchdown off of a rollout. Nonetheless, the "orange jerseys" competition once again came down to who could finish at the "end of the game."
   
   
4. Defense Wins Final Goal Line Stand: The final goal line situation put 0:20 on the clock with the offense down by 5 points and facing a 3rd-and-goal from the 2 yard line. Here is how things went down:
   
   -Play 1: RB Chris Ogbonnaya was stuffed at the line for no gain.
   -Play 2: QB Brian Hoyer went for TE Jordan Cameron, but ILB Chris Kirksey knocked the pass away. It would have been the end of the drill with a victory for the defense, but a defender was flagged for being offsides.
   -Play 3: With an untimed down at the 1-yard line, RB Ben Tate got the carry and was reportedly driven back by NT Ish'maaily Kitchen and ILB Karlos Dansby. Here is a video clip of the final goal line play.
   
   Ball game. Perhaps for the first time in camp, the offense bested the defense when it came to the overall vibe of practice. When "everything was on the line," though, the defense prevailed again and will wear the orange jerseys on Friday.
   
   
5. Don't Forget About Fullback: The king of all position battles will always be fullback, right? The primary competition remains MarQueis Gray vs. Ray Agnew, although I guess you could toss Chris Ogbonnaya's name in there still. At the very least, if Gray continues to get first-team reps as a fullback, the team could be utilizing him in a role besides just a blocker:
   

   First 2 plays of 11-on-11s go to FB MarQueis Gray. He's solidifying himself at that position, an important one in Kyle Shanahan's offense

   — Kevin Jones (@Mr_KevinJones) July 31, 2014

   
   
6. The Miles Austin Buzz: It's not that WR Miles Austin made highlight-reel plays, but he obviously stood out enough during Thursday's practice to warrant these comments:
   

   #AllAboutTheHammy Miles Austin, 30, has sold me as not only the likeliest No. 1 wideout, but also as an acceptable one by league standards.

   — Steve Doerschuk (@sdoerschukREP) July 31, 2014

   Miles Austin goes to the Pro Bowl this year as a Brown. I said it.

   — mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) July 31, 2014

   I said the other day that the 2009 Miles Austin showed up for #BrownsCamp. Looks like @mikefreemanNFL agrees.

   — ryan (@RyInCBus) July 31, 2014

   
   The Browns needed an offensive player to help stunt the momentum that the defense had been building in practice, and with WR Josh Gordon absent (traveling to his appeal hearing), it sounds like Austin filled the void of a No. 1 receiver.
   
   
7. Injury Updates: NT Phil Taylor, WR Chandler Jones, OL Randall Harris, ILB Tank Carder, and ILB Darius Eubanks all missed practice. Taylor shouldn't really have much to worry about, but Eubanks is missing out on his opportunity to make an impact, and Jones might get lost in the shuffle at a crowded wide receiver competition.
   
   
8. Brownies: CB T.J. Heath intercepted a pass thrown by QB Tyler Thigpen after it deflected off of WR Willie Snead. ... RB Isaiah Crowell had a stiff-arm that people raved about on S Darwin Cook. ... FS Tashaun Gipson reportedly had a big hit on TE Emmanuel Ogbuehi in goal line drills that broke up a would-be touchdown. ... New Browns S Jim Leonhard is wearing No. 30. ... Practice is in Berea on Friday, and I am scheduled to be in attendance again.

Link Collection / Training Camp Sources

• QB competion is even and defense wins orange jerseys again (Cabot, Plain Dealer)
• Coaches say no QB ahead in competition (Grossi, ESPN Cleveland)
• Other Notes From Day 5 Of Camp (Ruiter, 92.3 the Fan)
• Browns Camp Report: Day 5 (McManamon, ESPN)
• Greco and Winn return to practice (Jones, Browns.com)
• Browns notes from camp: Day 5 (Burge, WTAM)