Cleveland Browns Training Camp Recap: Day 5 - Defense prevails at the goal line

Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report - Day 5 (7/31/17)

1. The Pads Stay On: Contrary to expectations, head coach Hue Jackson left the pads on and permitted live contact for the third consecutive day.

2. Managed Days Off: The managed days off are being extended to even more veterans, even those who haven’t really been with the club that long. Monday’s list of players sitting out included RB Duke Johnson, WR James Wright, TE Seth DeValve, C J.C. Tretter, RG Kevin Zeitler, OL Matt McCants, DE Desmond Bryant, OLB Jamie Collins, MLB Tank Carder, and CB Jamar Taylor.

3. Take the Publicity and Run: News was a bit scarce on Day 5 of training camp, but I’ve seen some low-key notes over the past couple days of WR Jordan Leslie catching passes. Here he is making a one-hand stab, albeit with no defense, in individual drills.

And here is some more stationary work in the end zone. Per Fred Greetham of The OBR, the clip shows QB Cody Kessler hitting WR Kenny Britt, QB Brock Osweiler hitting WR Ricardo Louis, and then QB DeShone Kizer overthrowing WR Mario Alford.

And not to leave anyone out, here are clips of WR Rashard Higgins, WR Kenny Britt, and TE David Njoku.

4. Defense Dominates at the Goal Line: According to Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 the Fan, the Browns ran 9 plays of live contact from inside the 5 yard line. The defense dominated and didn’t allow a single score until QB Cody Kessler found TE David Njoku in the corner of the end zone from 1-yard out.

Prior to that, Ruiter said the team failed to punch it in on 7 run attempts (out of the 9 plays). So overall, the one score allowed was hardly a loss for the defense.

5. Offensive Line: Earlier, we mentioned that Browns were resting their starting center and right guard. That bumped C Austin Reiter and OL John Greco into the starting lineup, per Zac Jackson of The Athletic. The rest of the first-team line had Joe Thomas at LT (sometimes), Joel Bitinio at LG, and Shon Coleman at RT.

6. He Brock’ed Up: In this video clip from Ben Axelrod of WKYC, you can see why some things haven’t changed when it comes to QB Brock Osweiler. Osweiler is throwing the quick slant to WR Ricardo Louis, but CB Marcus Burley reads it, jumps it, and then misses the interception in an 11-on-11 drill.

Speaking of Burley, a little bit later, he got a nice hit on RB Matthew Dayes, albeit after a catch-and-run.

7. Two-Minute Drills: The Browns conducted more two-minute drills. Here’s how they turned out for the team’s top two quarterbacks:

• QB Cody Kessler went couldn’t move the ball on four plays, with the final one being a 4th-and-29, per Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 the Fan.
• QB Brock Osweiler got the second-team offense to the 14-yard line, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal, but the drive ended after a touch sack by DE Myles Garrett. Scott Petrak of the Chronicle-Telegram notes that Garrett had been beating OT Roderick Johnson repeatedly on the drive.

8. Red Zone Highlights: The Browns’ offense picked up a few scores during their red zone drills. Here is QB Cody Kessler hitting WR Kenny Britt, with CB Alvin Hill in coverage, for a touchdown.

Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com says that QB Kevin Hogan hit WR Corey Coleman for a touchdown. Also in red zone drills, LB Ladell Fleming bit hard on this read-option play, allowing QB DeShone Kizer to keep it and run for a touchdown.

On the very next play, Zac Jackson of The Athletic says that Kizer hit TE David Njoku on a bullet in the end zone...but that the rookie tight end dropped it. Ugh.

9. Parkey Out-Kicks Gonzalez: A lot of Browns fans aren’t going to want to hear this, but K Cody Parkey out-kicked K Zane Gonzalez to close out practice. The veteran isn’t going to crumble in the face of pressure to the rookie.

10. Brownies: The team announced that they collected 535 pints, which helps about 1,600 patients, via their Blood Drive over the weekend. ... Owner Dee Haslam was photographed talking to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. ... With veteran MLB Tank Carder resting, the first-team MLB was Joe Schobert. ... After practice, head coach Hue Jackson said they’ll re-evaluate the quarterback situation after Friday’s stadium scrimmage. ... Rookie DT Caleb Brantley had surgery on a broken finger and will be out 1-2 weeks. ... Scott Petrak of the Chronicle-Telegram credits DT Danny Shelton, S Ibraheim Campbell, and DT Xavier Cooper for stuffing runs for losses. ... DL Trevon Coley got some work in with the first-team defense.

11. Next Up: The Browns have a day off of practice on Tuesday, as teams can only practice for five consecutive days at the most. Practice continues Wednesday in Berea, from 3:25 PM to 5:55 PM. The team is not scheduled to be in pads.