- How Baker Mayfield’s most-targeted routes changed under Kevin Stefanski (cleveland.com) - The Browns were on their fourth offensive drive in last season’s Week 1 matchup with the Ravens when it started to become clear something was missing: Odell Beckham Jr.
- Browns DBs coach envisions ‘multitude of schemes and personnel groupings’ with new faces in secondary (clevelandbrowns.com) - Jeff Howard can count on one hand the amount of days he’s been able to coach a full-strength Browns secondary. The Browns’ pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach worked with a fully healthy secondary for just five days in 2020. None of those days occurred during the regular season.
- JC Tretter sends reminder of benefits players received in exchange for 17th game, asks for understanding from fans (USA Today) - NFL Players Association president JC Tretter said he understood the concerns voiced by his fellow players and that he doesn’t fault any of them for begrudgingly gearing up for an extended season. He wants NFL players to remember that, in exchange for that 17th game, they have and will continue to receive improved working conditions and benefit packages thanks to provisions negotiated into the collective bargaining agreement that the owners and NFLPA hammered out last year.
NFL:
- Meet the 5-foot-7 running back on a mission to play in NFL (ESPN) - If you followed college football during a sports-starved 2020 season, chances are you have heard of Jaret Patterson.
- Is Mac Jones a first-round talent? (NFL.com) - The first round of the NFL draft is generally reserved for superheroes. And the prospects with the most extraordinary physical gifts are viewed within the scouting community as top-10 talents due to their ability to transform franchises. With that standard in mind, I just don’t understand why Mac Jones is being hailed as a potential top-five pick in the 2021 class.
- Kirk Herbstreit slams ‘reckless’ Dan Orlovsky over Justin Fields NFL draft drama (New York Post) - Kirk Herbstreit isn’t accepting Dan Orlovsky’s explanation. Orlovsky touched a nerve this week during an appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show”, answering a question from the host about Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields and why it appears he may be falling in the 2021 NFL Draft.
- Jalen Hurts gets new number with Philadelphia Eagles (al.com) - Jalen Hurts was the Philadelphia Eagles’ No. 2 quarterback during the 2020 NFL season, and that’s the number that he wore on his jersey. In 2021, Hurts is slated to be the Eagles’ No. 1 quarterback, and that also will be his jersey number.