Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Day 4

CLEVELAND BROWNS TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 4 (8/1/16)

1. August is Upon Us: Day 4 of Browns camp kicked off on the first day of August with no threat of rain in the forecast. Temperatures were around 82 degrees, but with little cloud cover, it was a hot one in Berea. If you missed it, Cleveland made a couple of roster moves earlier in the day before practice began at 3:00 PM again.

2. More Veteran Days Off: We’ll see if this becomes a trend, but LT Joe Thomas, OLB Paul Kruger, and CB Tramon Williams received another “veteran’s day off” after having been off for Day 2 of practice. Those three guys are receiving the special treatment this year, but I don’t mind it. It sends a message that players who have earned their stripes get rewarded, and it also allows the Browns to give more work to their two rookie tackles (on the offensive line) and to see whether a guy like CB Justin Gilbert or CB Jamar Taylor can contribute this year. Taylor was with the first-team defense again in Williams’ spot.

TE Gary Barnidge also had a rest day, but his might be due to the team still taking it easy after his sports hernia surgery. According to Scott Petrak of the Chronicle-Telegram, the team has been holding him out of team drills:

3. Siren Period Sees Backups: According to reports, the sirens hit about 90 minutes into practice, which would’ve been a little after 4:30 PM. Here were the highlights, according during the period, per Scott Petrak of the Chronicle-Telegram:

• The period consisted almost primarily of backups.
• The best play was a long run by speedster RB Raheem Mostert.
• WR Jordan Payton had a nice catch-and-run, and QB Austin Davis connected with WR Darius Jennings for a good gain.

4. E.J. Bibbs Getting Chance to Shine: With FB Malcolm Johnson out indefinitely (concussion) and FB Patrick Skov (left foot in boot) also missing practice, that left E.J. Bibbs more of an opportunity to shine. He’s already turned heads as a receiving threat, taking advantage of the fact that TE Seth DeValve has been out. If he keeps this up, maybe he’ll be the team’s second FB/TE receiving threat after TE Gary Barnidge.

5. Pryor Continuing to Come Along: With the type of reps that WR Terrelle Pryor is receiving early in camp and the fact that his route-running is up-to-par, there’s a good chance he’s going to be a factor for this club in 2016. Below are three video clips highlighting Pryor’s work today, with the third showing off his impressive hand size.

6. Hand Fighting: We’ve heard a lot about Joe Kim and his MMA/hand fighting work with the players this year. Here are two clips of him demonstrating with ILB Demario Davis and OLB Paul Kruger:

7. Up Close and Personal With Chris Tabor: It’s always fun to catch what coaches are saying during drills. Right now, WR Corey Coleman continues to receive reps and look comfortable as though he’s going to handle punts for the team in 2016.

8. Brownies: The team held OT Shon Coleman out of practice, presumably just to watch his reps since he’s coming off of knee surgery. ... Head coach Hue Jackson spoke after practice about how often the team will be in pads, as well as what the format of this Friday’s and Saturday’s practices will be. ... Coaching intern Chad Johnson has fulfilled his duties for the time being, but the door might still be open for him to assist a little bit more. ... S Don Jones had his right leg wrapped during practice, per Nate Ulrich of the ABJ. ... Practice concluded about 45 minutes early due to the heat and players laboring a bit after two straight days in full pads. ... There were reportedly 2,068 fans in attendance at practice.