Cleveland Browns Training Camp Recap: Day 10 - Brock Osweiler lights it up

Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report - Day 10 (8/7/17)

1. New Sheriff at the Helm: I’m sure everyone knows by now that Brock Osweiler was named the team’s starting quarterback heading into their first preseason game against the Saints on Thursday. Two days of practice to build chemistry with the first-team offense isn’t a lot of time, which is why Zac Jackson of The Athletic says that the team presumably jumped right into 11-on-11 drills near the start of practice (usually, the first hour of practice is dedicated to position drills, 7-on-7s, etc).

And if anyone is still perplexed as to why the Browns went with Osweiler over Cody Kessler, here is a fresh take from Jeff Ridson of The Browns Wire, who is in town for Cleveland’s practices on Monday and Tuesday:

2. Example of Needing Practice Time: The Browns were doing installs for Thursday’s game against the New Orleans Saints, so there weren’t a lot of typical notes provided by the media. However, Jeff Ridson (mentioned in the first bullet point) provided a lot of unique coverage, including this type of nugget that shows why we do need to give QB Brock Osweiler a little bit of patience if he has some early communication issues with the first-teamers:

3. Osweiler Delivers Above-and-Beyond: Whew, if we were looking for a touchdown-fest from a quarterback, then Hue Jackson’s decision to start QB Brock Osweiler has paid dividends at least for one practice day. Disclaimer: he was facing the scout-team defense for much of practice, which of course will make it easier to produce.

Let’s start by talking about the fact that WR Corey Coleman came alive during Monday’s practice, thanks to Osweiler. Early in practice, Osweiler found Coleman on a 22-yard crossing route, per Ridson. A little bit later, Coleman was open on a deep corner route and put the ball right where it needed to be, but Coleman dropped it [video].

The play of the day came when Osweiler hooked up with Coleman on a 45-yard pass down the sideline amidst double coverage. CB Darius Hillary had the initial coverage, and S Kai Nacua was the safety coming over with late help.

Here is an alternate angle of that catch. Per Andrew Gribble of Browns.com, the two spent some time together after practice working on things.

4. More Osweiler Fluff: Among the other highlights plays I read about with Osweiler:

• Connected with WR Rashard Higgins “on a 40-yard dime” - sounded like a one-on-one drill. Here is another nice throw to Higgins [video].
• Found WR Ricardo Louis (hey, he’s alive!) for a 25-yard touchdown.

• After already hitting TE Seth DeValve on a deep pass in 11-on-11 drills earlier in practice, Osweiler hit him deep again, this time for an athletic catch over S Calvin Pryor. Granted, on this play, the ball was underthrown, but there’s also something to be said about knowing your personnel (maybe you take this chance with an athletic tight end and a safety in coverage).

5. Kessler Suffers Another Pick Six: The news for QB Cody Kessler didn’t get any better on Monday, completing a very rough four-day stretch that included a lackluster scrimmage performance, a pick six on Saturday, getting demoted this morning, and then another pick six in Monday’s session.

First, is started with Ridson saying that OLB Christian Kirksey "sat on a flat route and had an easy pick six if he hadn't dropped it." The next time he did it -- not too long later — LB Joe Schobert made him pay with a pick six:

6. Kizer Makes Some Plays: It wasn’t quite the day that QB Brock Osweiler had, but QB DeShone Kizer took a page out of his book with some downfield work as well. Mac Robinson of The Browns Wire complimented Kizer for a 30-yard throw to WR Rannell Hall during individual drills. Later in practice, he found WR Jordan Leslie (back from his concussion scare on Saturday):

Zac Jackson of The Athletic astutely pointed out that, with all the big catches, “today's overall practice YPA and YPC are like quadruple the camp average.”

7. BANG! Lookout! At least OT Rod Johnson was off the hook today, because the new player who felt the wrath of DE Myles Garrett was RB Terrence Magee:

8. Brownies: After leaving Friday’s scrimmage early on, OLB Christian Kirksey returned to practice. ... WR Jordan Leslie, feared to have a concussion on Saturday from a hit he took, was cleared to return. ... DL Caleb Brantley was riding the stationary bike. ... RB Duke Johnson was working with the receivers again. ... WR Rasheed Bailey will wear No. 10 and TE Nate Iese will wear No. 48. ... A total of 74 puppies have been adopted at the Browns Puppy Pound at training camp this year. ... Curiously, head coach Hue Jackson said after practice that TE Randall Telfer is indeed the No. 1 tight end on the depth chart right now.

9. Next Up: The Browns will practice from 3:25 PM to 5:55 PM on Tuesday. They are off Wednesday, and then play their first preseason game against the Saints on Thursday.