What to Expect at the Browns' Family Day Scrimmage in Akron

The Cleveland Browns will host their annual Family Day scrimmage at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium from 11:30 AM to 2:10 PM on Saturday, August 2nd, 2014. Gates will open at 10:30 AM, but fan entertainment will take place from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM on Vine Street. Capacity was set at 25,000 fans and registration "sold out" within ten hours.

Scrimmage Details

Here are some details about what fans can expect to see from the scrimmage:

• It will be a live scrimmage and tackling will be permitted except on the quarterbacks. The whistles will blow if the officials feel the quarterback would have been at risk of a sack.
  
  
• There will not be a "Brown Team vs. White Team" type of deal in which the rosters are split in half. Instead, it will strictly be offense vs. defense in various drills. The first-team offense will face the first-team defense, and the second-team offense will face the second-team defense.
  
  
• Head coach Mike Pettine has indicated that there might be some variations with the units -- for example, later in practice, the first-team offense might face the second-team defense. Pettine and the coaching staff were supposed to hold meetings after Friday's practice to determine what matchups they wanted to see and how they wanted to align the depth charts.
  
  
• Per Kevin Jones of Browns.com, Pettine revealed the following information about the scrimmage: "There will be no kickoffs or kickoff returns. The offense will start with the football somewhere between the 20 and 30-yard line. Then the Browns will call several plays, either ending in a touchdown, field goal or a punt. The Browns will simulate a halftime and then focus more on red zone work in the final portion of the scrimmage."

Quotes from Mike Pettine About the Scrimmage

On what he’s specifically looking for in the scrimmage tomorrow: "Who can step up and make plays in a live situation – Everything so far has been scripted. This is now a true unscripted period. Early on in the week we kind of wean our guys off a little bit. We’ll show them the script. They’ll know what reps they’re in there. They’ll know what they’re responsible for. They get a chance to study a little bit. It’s really the first opportunity, other than a few move-the-ball periods, where we’re essentially taking the training wheels off. Some guys can handle the transition easily. Some guys you’ll see step up and maybe some guys fade away."

On how much he’s looking forward to seeing Manziel play in a more unscripted setting since that seems to be something he excels at: "I am. I’m looking for all our guys to compete, especially the quarterbacks. He still won’t be live on it, so some of the things that maybe he was able to escape from in college will be whistle-dead in tomorrow’s scrimmage. You always want to protect our guys when we’re going against each other. The first true live contact for the quarterbacks will be in Detroit."

On if Manziel will get some first team reps tomorrow during the scrimmage: "We’re going to do the format. We’re going to meet as a staff and we’ll figure out how we’re going to mix it."

Any Browns Fans Attending?

If any Browns fans will be attending, please feel free to share your photos and/or observations with us here at Dawgs By Nature!