Sunday Dawg Chow: Browns news (7/29/18)

Cleveland Browns:

• Browns owner Jimmy Haslam firmly behind Hue Jackson (ohio.com) - Hue Jackson is on thin ice as he prepares for his third season with the Browns. Unless owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam truly decide to give Jackson a clean slate despite the Browns going 1-31 on the coach’s watch.
• Drew Stanton the mastermind behind quarterback RV (cleveland.com) - There are pros and cons to having a mentor. They teach you things. Bring up the learning curve faster. Provide a sounding bound. But they also sometimes make you do things you might not want to do, as is the case with Drew Stanton and Baker Mayfield. At the request of -- or order by -- Stanton, a 12th-year pro, Mayfield provided the quarterback with an RV at minicamp and training camp.

• Taylor, Landry take extra reps together after practice (USA Today) - The Browns new starting QB, Tyrod Taylor, has made it his mission to get work in with the new receivers he’ll be throwing to in Cleveland. After Friday’s practice session, the ex-Bills starter was spotted throwing several timing passes with ex-Dolphins wideout Jarvis Landry.

Hue Jackson likes players’ optimism, but there is still work to do (clevelandbrowns.com) - The Browns are as optimistic as they can be. After Cleveland’s disappointing campaign a season ago, linebacker Christian Kirksey made headlines when he tweeted the Browns would make the playoffs. He isn’t backing off that statement, either. Kirksey, along with Browns teammate Jarvis Landry, have made bold predictions for the 2018 season. Head coach Hue Jackson likes the optimism but knows the playoffs aren’t made with proclamations.

NFL:

• Bills to include QB Josh Allen in first-team reps (buffalobills.com) - It took all of two practices for Josh Allen to get a series with the starting unit at training camp. And though Allen had just one completion on three passes in his series of four plays Friday, which was a completion to LeSean McCoy out of the backfield, Allen will regularly rotate in with the ones going forward.
• Sam Darnold loses something by not reporting to Jets (NFL.com) - Sam Darnold’s contract situation officially caused the rookie to miss practice with the New York Jets. Coach Todd Bowles clearly wants his top draft pick in the building but shrugged off the quarterback’s absence.
• Top NFL wide receivers on post routes (PFF) - Training camps have now popped up all over the country and fans are getting their first glimpses of the 2018 iteration of their respective teams. As football draws closer, we continue our look at the top NFL wide receivers on each branch of the route tree from 2017, with an eye towards their possible success in the season to come.
• Ryan Shazier walking with a cane at Steelers’ training camp (PFT) - Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier is continuing his recovery from a serious spinal injury suffered on the field last season.