Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Conditioning Day

Even though the first day of training camp is Friday, today had a camp-like feel to it because the local media, players, and coaches were all back in Berea as the players took part in their conditioning tests. Here is a recap of all of the Cleveland Browns news from today:

CLEVELAND BROWNS TRAINING CAMP REPORT - CONDITIONING (7/28/16)

1. Hue Jackon, Sashi Brown, and Paul DePodesta: The Browns’ new management team met with the media at noon to answer questions. Here are the main points they hit on:

• What Isaiah Crowell did was obviously disappointing, but they hope some good can come of it (i.e. through the actions Crowell has taken since the incident) and they will be able to use it as a teaching point for the rest of the roster.
• The team is welcoming Josh Gordon back and giving him a clean slate, much like the rest of the team. They aren’t sure why he received a four-game suspension along with his re-instatement. The ball is in Gordon’s court in terms of him proving that he has turned a corner in accountability.
• When will the team’s starting quarterback officially be unveiled? Pretty soon -- Jackson says everyone will know leading into the team’s first preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, which is on August 12th.

2. Desmond Bryant Officially Done: The Browns placed Bryant on the reserve/non-football injury (NFI) list, officially ending his season. He had been hopeful that he could recovery quickly and return at the end of the season, but that’s out of the question now. Taking his roster spot is TE David Reeves (6-4, 255 lbs); he is an undrafted free agent out of Duke.

3. Chad Johnson Ready to Coach: The former Bengals receiver is a coaching intern at camp this year “to see if coaching is for him,” says Hue Jackson. Johnson was out on the fields in a hoodie and sweatpants as players went through their conditioning tests:

4. Joe Haden Looking Close to Ready: Despite starting camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list after ankle surgery, Haden took part in the conditioning tests. According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer, that included a series of 40-yard sprints.

5. Josh Gordon Speaks: For the first time in 20 months, Gordon spoke to the media in an official capacity with the Browns. He said he was a selfish person in the past but has taken steps to change that and wants to be here. Funny enough, he found out about his re-instatement to the NFL on an alert from Bleacher Report. When the media toured the locker room, you could see that Gordon’s locker was right next to Robert Griffin III’s. That’s not an accident:

6. Isaiah Crowell Trying to Make Amends: The Browns didn’t try to shield two of their most controversial players from the media, which is probably a good sign to shut down any lingering questions about this before camp begins. I’m referring to Josh Gordon (see above) and Crowell, who continues to takes steps toward making amends:

7. Berea Renovations on Display: Thanks to Hayden Grove of The OBR, we got a full sneak peak of the new renovations in Berea, which are a lot of added amenities for players. There is also a new phrase plastered all over Berea, and it is, “EXPECT TO WIN” to replace “PLAY LIKE A BROWN.”

8. Conditioning Tests: It is unclear at this time whether anyone failed their conditioning test. Tom Withers of the Associated Press said that someone appeared to pull a hamstring. He also said that this is what it looks like at the conclusion of the conditioning test: everyone drops to the ground to collect themselves:

9. Training Camp Reports: As we do every year, once training camp starts, we’ll recap everything that went down, based on media reports (or our own reports on any day we are there). Since practices are in the afternoon this year, I’ll have to see whether I can get the reports up by the evening, or if they’ll have to be the following morning.