Hue Jackson explains why the Browns have a punter on the practice squad

You typically don’t see teams carry a kicker or punter on their practice squad, but that’s what the Cleveland Browns are doing with punter Michael Palardy heading into Week 1. During his Thursday press conference, head coach Hue Jackson was asked about the unusual roster move. Even though Palardy had an inconsistent debut against the Bears in the final preseason game, they are intrigued enough about his potential that they wanted at least another week to evaluate him for the future.

On the Browns having a P on the practice squad and it seeming unusual:

“I think just for right now. We think the guy has talent. You want to make sure you get a chance to work with him. We didn’t get a long opportunity to work with him when we first got him here. We are taking a really good look at him to see what he is capable of doing. Very happy with (P) Britton (Colquitt). He has done a great job. Like you said, a lot of people don’t do that, but it is another opportunity for us to evaluate a player that we feel good about, and we will keep going from there.”

It doesn’t sound like Palardy will stick along for too long, but it could be a situation where Cleveland re-signs him to the practice squad near the end of the season, so that he can compete with Britton Colquitt for a job next year (that is, if the Browns re-sign Colquitt).