Sunday Dawg Chow: Browns news (8/21/22)

Cleveland Browns:

• Jimmy Garoppolo trade is Cleveland Browns’ last best hope of saving the season (Beacon Journal) - Quarterback Deshaun Watson’s 11-game suspension makes 2022 virtually a lost season for the Cleveland Browns, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Competing in a loaded AFC, Andrew Berry shouldn’t punt on 2022. He needs to trade for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

• Football love for Amari Cooper, offense sometimes sloppy (Terry Pluto) - During some 7-on-7 drills and a few 11-on-11, I focused on Amari Cooper. The new Browns receiver glides across the field. He doesn’t appear especially fast, but he keeps getting open. Listed 6-foot-1 and 211 pounds, Cooper has nice size. But he is one of those guys who seems to play even bigger because of how he uses his body to create space and hold off a defender.
• The Winning Mix: 3 keys to success vs. Eagles (clevelandbrowns.com) - After a 24-13 preseason win over the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, the Browns will return to FirstEnergy Stadium for the first time this season in their Week 2 preseason matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. Both sides are expected to rest their starters following two joint practice days at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus, but plenty of guys will still have opportunities to build positive impressions among coaches as the Browns look to settle a few roster battles and finalize their depth.
• Why did NFL settle with Deshaun Watson? Look at the team owners (Yahoo! Sports) - Some in the league — maybe many — see Deshaun Watson’s 11-game suspension and $5 million fine as proof positive that the NFL pulled back at the very end of the process. Others — many of whom orbit the quarterback — see it as far steeper than the evidence warranted in the sexual assault and misconduct allegations that have followed Watson since March of 2021. But even inside those warring vantage points, there is an undeniable reality coming out of this week.

NFL:

• Panthers rookie quarterback Matt Corral suffers foot injury, sidelined indefinitely (The Charlotte Observer) - Carolina Panthers quarterback Matt Corral suffered a setback in his rookie campaign Friday night, even before his season really got going. The Panthers’ signal-caller suffered a tear of the Lisfranc ligament in his left foot during his final series in the fourth quarter of the team’s second preseason game at New England. Initially, the team believed Corral was stepped on, causing the injury. But Rhule said he is unsure exactly when the injury occurred.
• Lovie Smith: Nico Collins is ‘capable’ of being Texans’ big-play receiver (NFL.com) - Nico Collins provided one of the standout highlights of the 2022 preseason with a leaping touchdown grab during the Houston Texans’ 24-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Friday night. Houston believes it’s a prelude to what can potentially be a breakout season from the second-year wideout.
• Who is Jim Marshall, and Why Should he be in Canton? (The 33rd Team) - Growing up in Minnesota, it was always this time of year when my heart and excitement turned to NFL training camps. For me, it signaled the yearly ritual when my dad and I made our pilgrimage of 90 miles from Minneapolis to Mankato to watch our beloved Vikings. Dad and I always arrived early, very early! I sat patiently at the Vikings’ locker-room door for my heroes to arrive for practice so I could get autographs. The first to arrive that late July morning was the easily recognizable Jim Marshall.
• What we did and didn’t learn from Steelers training camp in 2022 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) - The Pittsburgh Steelers held 18 open practices and played one preseason game while living in Latrobe since July 26. It’s a pivotal part of “team development,” as Mike Tomlin calls it, and they’re still more than three weeks away from Week 1, but training camp has come and gone. All those subplots going into it, all the players to watch and position competitions to monitor — what did we learn? And what did we not learn?