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Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Day 14 - Benjamin Thrives

By Chris Pokorny
Erik Drost on flickr

The Cleveland Browns took to the field on Wednesday for Day 14 of training camp. They will have one more camp session open to the public after this (Friday), followed by the final camp session open to the media (Saturday). What happened on the eve of the day when the starter vs. Washington will be announced? Let's find out!

CLEVELAND BROWNS TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 14 (8/13/14)

  1. The Transition From Armstrong to Benjamin: We have been seeing a transition of sorts in Berea. When WR Anthony Armstrong signed earlier this offseason, not much was thought of it. Then, he became the "star" of the offseason practices, and his name was being called left-and-right to begin training camp. He is a guy who specializes at stretching the field. Over the past week or so, Armstrong has sort of faded from the picture, whether it be dropped passes, defensive backs getting the better of him, or him just being targeted less.

    When it comes to being targeted less, that might have something to do with WR Travis Benjamin, who told reporters after practice that he feels he is "faster than he has ever been" after rehabbing from a torn ACL. To start off 11-on-11 drills at practice, QB Brian Hoyer launched a deep pass to Benjamin, who dropped it. A little later, though, Benjamin caught a 50-yard bomb from QB Johnny Manziel. Benjamin was also credited as this being his best practice of camp. The one dropped pass isn't good, but if we're cherry picking, he's one of the few receivers who has been able to get behind our secondary, and that spells trouble for Armstrong's chances of making the team.

  2. Hurry-Up Offense w/ Hoyer: The Browns ran hurry-up offense drills in non-two-minute situations on Wednesday, marking the first time they've done so at camp this year. QB Brian Hoyer operated the first-team offense in practice, and he led a touchdown-scoring drive.

    According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer, Hoyer was 5-of-7 on the drive, with one of his completions being a third-down conversion to WR Travis Benjamin. The final play of the drive came on a 19-yard pass in the flat to RB Ben Tate, who scored untouched thanks to Hoyer going through his progressions and OLB Barkevious Mingo falling down.

  3. Hurry-Up Offense w/ Manziel: We don't have details of what happened, but QB Johnny Manziel reportedly got two cracks at the no-huddle offense and went three-and-out for each of them. Practice wasn't just judged by the hurry-up offense, though. Up until the hurry-up drills near the end of practice, Hoyer reportedly did not have the greatest accuracy on his passes, while Manziel was putting the ball on his receivers well.

  4. The Ghost of Greg Little: Even though WR Greg Little is no longer with the Browns, his drops still haunt Cleveland receivers. According to Pat McManaom of ESPN, there were at least five drops during practice (presumably during the 11-on-11 drills), and as many as six drops.

    From a combination of reports, we saw the following names cited for drops: WR Travis Benjamin, WR Willie Snead, and FB Ray Agnew. Brendan Leister of DraftBrowns.com did have a different perspective on the deep "drop" by Benjamin, though:
  5. Putting in the Extra Work: According to Kevin Jones of Browns.com, WR Charles Johnson put in the extra work after practice, working an additional half hour extra on the jugs machine. I appreciate a good work ethic, but the machine doesn't guarantee results: we used to frequently here about the countless hours that WR Greg Little would put in on the thing.

  6. Phil Taylor Stirring the Pot a Little: During the hurry-up offense run by QB Brian Hoyer, DL Phil Taylor seemed to try to slow things down a bit:
    Amidst that scuffle, Taylor and C Alex Mack went at it:
    DL Calvin Barnett cramped up during one of the hurry-up drills, though some wondered if it was one of those defensive tactics to force the offense to slow things down a bit.

  7. Injury Report: DE Billy Winn returned to practice. TE Jordan Cameron and FB MarQueis Gray both continued to practice, but with the non-contact jerseys on. The following players continued to miss practice due to injury: WR Josh Gordon (abdominal),  CB Aaron Berry (groin), DE Desmond Bryant (wrist), WR Nate Burleson (hamstring), ILB Darius Eubanks (shoulder), OL Paul McQuistan (ankle), OL Randall Harris (knee), OLB Eric Martin (concussion), and OLB Keith Pough (ankle) did not practice.
  8. Brownies: CB Joe Haden, DL Ahtyba Rubin, and CB Isaiah Trufant each had a "veteran's" day off. ... In a red zone drill for the orange jerseys to end practice, TE Gary Barnidge reportedly fell down as QB Brian Hoyer tried to get him the ball in the corner of the end zone on fourth down. ... OLB Paul Kruger had a sack on the aforementioned drive after he "successfully bull-rushed LT Joe Thomas." ... Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was at practice and had lengthy conversations with head coach Mike Pettine and WR Josh Gordon. ... S Josh Aubrey took some reps with the first-team defense. ... QB Rex Grossman, wearing No. 3, took reps during practice. ... The Browns are off Thursday before having their final public camp session on Friday.

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