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Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Day 8 - Orange & Brown Scrimmage in Columbus

By Chris Pokorny
Erik Drost on Flickr

Day 8 of Cleveland Browns training camp took place on Friday and brought about the Orange & Brown Scrimmage in Columbus! Many of you had the opportunity to see bits and pieces of this in person or on the NFL Network, so please feel free to provide your own insight in the comments section.

CLEVELAND BROWNS TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 8 (8/7/15)

  1. Setting the Stage: Even though the Browns gave out 70,000 tickets, the actual attendance was reported to be 49,734. That's still not bad at all for a scrimmage, as last year's scrimmage in Akron did half of that amount. One side of the stadium looked nearly empty because it was in the sun, while the side with the shade looked to be filled to capacity: Here is how practice was generally structured for the "first half:" (1) individual/positional drills, (2) 7-on-7 drills, (3) 11-on-11 drills for the full field, (4) 11-on-11 drills near the red zone.

  2. Inactive List: Let's get this out of the way so you already know who did not participate at the scrimmage:

    Offensive Inactives: RB Terrance West (calf), RB Duke Johnson (hamstring), RB Luke Lundy (concussion), RB Glenn Winston (knee), FB Malcolm Johnson (shoulder), WR Dwayne Bowe (hamstring), WR Terrelle Pryor (hamstring), TE Kevin Haplea (knee), TE Randall Telfer (foot), OL Joe Madsen (concussion)

    Defensive Inactives:     DL Billy Winn (ankle), OLB Barkevious Mingo (knee), CB Pierre Desir (hamstring), CB Robert Nelson (hamstring), CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu (knee)

  3. Difference a Year Makes: In last year's scrimmage, the offense failed to score a touchdown in 12 offensive series. The offense performed much better in 2015's scrimmage, putting together several touchdown-scoring drives instead of just settling for field goal after field goal.

  4. Two Starters Get Rest: In 11-on-11 drills, the Browns opted to rest one starter on each side of the ball: C Alex Mack (leg) and CB Joe Haden (muscle tightness). Mack was replaced by C Ryan Seymour and Haden was replaced by CB Justin Gilbert.

  5. 7-on-7 Drills: The two quarterbacks who saw action in the 7-on-7 drills were QB Josh McCown and QB Johnny Manziel. Spoiler alert: Manziel did not see any first-team reps during the scrimmage. Both quarterbacks did well in 7-on-7s, and here are the quick highlights:

    -McCown: He was 3-of-4 on his first drive. CB K'Waun Williams broke up a pass that McCown tried to zip to the end zone. On his second drive, he was 2-of-4 with this touchdown pass to WR Brian Hartline:
    -Manziel: He was 4-of-4 on his first drive with a 34-yard touchdown pass to WR Josh Lenz, with DB Johnson Bademosi in coverage. He also had a nice connection with WR Andrew Hawkins. On his second drive, he was 3-of-4 with this touchdown pass to WR Darius Jennings:
  6. McCown's 11-on-11 Series Ends With TD: This is where the fun really starts because live tackling is permitted. The 7-on-7 drills were basically still warm-ups -- the 11-on-11 drills begin the scrimmage, and QB Josh McCown engineered a touchdown-scoring drive. How'd he get there?

    -The drives begin at their own 25 yard line (need to go 75 yards for a touchdown).
    -The first completion for McCown was a 14-yard pass to WR Travis Benjamin.
    -The defense stuffed the run and then OLB Paul Kruger batted away a pass, which was then nearly intercepted by ILB Karlos Dansby.
    -Facing a 3rd-and-11, McCown stayed patient in the pocket and zipped a pass to TE Gary Barnidge, who went for 48 yards on the catch-and-run.
    -Off of a playaction fake, McCown bootlegged and showed off his speed by running away from OLB Paul Kruger and then firing a pass to WR Brian Hartline for a touchdown.
    -McCown finished the drive 3-of-4 for 72 yards and 1 touchdown.
    -K Travis Coons converted the extra point.

    Below is a video clip of the 48-yarder to Barnidge.
  7. Manziel's 11-on-11 Series Ends With FG: QB Johnny Manziel must have said, "I'm just going to keep throwing to WR Josh Lenz." Manziel threw a pretty-looking deep ball to Lenz on his first pass. The ball was on target, but Lenz appears to slow up for some reason, so it fell incomplete.

    Manziel connected with Lenz on back-to-back completions. Facing a 3rd-and-3 on the drive, NT Danny Shelton generated pressure and then OLB Nate Orchard cleaned up with a sack, forcing a punt. McCown was 2-of-3 for 12 yards on the drive.

  8. 3rd Teamers in 11-on-11 Drills: QB Thaddeus Lewis entered before QB Connor Shaw, but things went pretty awful for Lewis on the day. His first throw to WR Shane Wynn was over his head and picked off by S Landon Feichter.

    That was it for Lewis -- now it was Shaw's turn. Shaw had good touch all day, including a 19-yard connection with WR Josh Lenz and a 28-yard completion to WR Vince Mayle down to the 6 yard line. RB Timothy Flanders then punched it in from three yards out. Despite being in the third-team offense, OL Cameron Erving entered the game for that one goal line play at right guard. If Erving starts the year on the bench, could they consider him as an extra lineman at the goal line? Kicker Carey Spear converted the extra point. Shaw was 2-of-2 for 47 yards on the drive.

  9. Red Zone Drills: Next up were 11-on-11 red zone drills. Things started with QB Josh McCown and the first-teamers. McCown tried to hit WR Brian Hartline in the corner of the end zone, but CB Justin Gilbert broke it up. Gilbert hurt his hand in the process, but it's nothing serious. K Travis Coons was sent in for a field goal attempt and connected from 47 yards.

    On the second red zone drive, QB Johnny Manziel was in the game with the second-teamers. The second-team offense started run heavy with carries of 8, 13, and 1 yard by RB Shaun Draughn. On 2nd-and-goal from the 3 yard line, Manziel found TE E.J. Bibbs streaking across the goal line on the left for a touchdown.

    For the second series in a row, things didn't go too hot for QB Thaddeus Lewis. He was sacked twice by DL Dylan Wynn, and on 3rd-and-21, was incomplete for WR Vince Mayle. K Travis Coons was sent in to try a 53-yarder, which he connected on. That concluded the "first half" of action.

  10. Starters Finished: The starters were all wearing ballcaps to start the second half, meaning their day was finished. QB Johnny Manziel's first drive included a first down, but it stalled after NT Danny Shelton generated pressure on 3rd-and-6, leading to a punt.

    QB Connor Shaw came in and threw a great deep ball to WR Vince Mayle, who had it go right through his hands. Shaw continued making good throws, even if he didn't have points to show for it this time around.

    The final drive for Manziel was a good one. On the first play, he fired the ball into a tight window to WR Marlon Moore over the middle. On the second play, Manziel stepped up in the pocket, rolled to his left, and then fired the ball to TE Rob Housler for another first down. On the third play, he found Moore again on a pass at the line of scrimmage. That is when NT Danny Shelton showed that he was hungry to clean the play up: On the fourth play, he fired the ball out quickly to WR Darius Jennings for a couple of yards. After a delayed draw play to RB Shaun Draughn that went for no gain, Manziel found WR Josh Lenz on a nice back shoulder throw in the end zone for 18 yards with CB Kendall James in coverage. That wrapped up practice for the day, with Manziel being 5-of-5 for 65 yards on the final drive.

  11. Injury Update: Besides CB Justin Gilbert hurting his hand a little, as far as we know, the team escaped with a clean bill of health!

  12. Brownies: There were 3,187 fans who attended practice, the highest amount of camp. ... In the first half, WR Travis Benjamin fielded punts. ... In the second half, WR Taylor Gabriel and WR Shane Wynn fielded punts. ... TE Rob Housler was working with the second-team offense. ... The big performers of the day were considered to be QB Johnny Manziel, WR Josh Lenz, NT Danny Shelton, and DL Dylan Wynn. ... Even though Lenz had a lot of catches, he also had several penalties in one stretch, per BrownsBeat. ... The Browns are off on Saturday, but training camp will resume with Day 9 on Sunday at 10:00 AM in Berea (gates open at 9:00 AM).

Link Collection / Training Camp Sources

Thanks to The OBR for all the videos they took of practice, which we embedded in the recap above. Check out Mike Pettine's post-practice transcript here.

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