Saturday Dawg Chow: Browns news (9/10/22)

Cleveland Browns:

• Kareem Hunt says he’s ‘ready to take care of business,’ will play hard like always despite lack of contract extension (Browns Zone) - The season has arrived and running back Kareem Hunt has turned the page from a trying offseason. “Man, everything’s cool, I’m just excited I get to go out there and play football again, the game I love,” he said Friday. “It is what it is, I’m going to control what I can control and that’s going out there and playing football, which I enjoy doing. I’ve done it all my life.”
• Myles Garrett isn’t just eyeing Baker Mayfield: ‘There are a lot of guys we’ve got the bull’s-eye on’ (cleveland.com) - Myles Garrett has already stated, “I’ve got to take out” Panther quarterback Baker Mayfield, but he’s not the only one. “I don’t think I’m going after one man in particular,” Garrett said Friday. “I’m supposed to take more than a couple down. They have tight ends, wide receivers, running backs and the quarterback, so there are a lot of guys we’ve got the bull’s eye on. It’s not a matter of just going after one guy.”
• Browns’ Jack Conklin to be ‘game-time decision,’ but rehab has been ‘better than planned’ (Beacon Journal) - When Jack Conklin joined his fellow Browns offensive linemen in diving on a massive, orange pad during a fumble recovery drill last week, the two-time All-Pro right tackle looked like a man who would be ready for the beginning of the 2022 season. However, the proverbial brakes have been pumped since then.
• Demetric Felton Jr. ready to show progress as Browns’ primary returner (clevelandbrowns.com) - Demetric Felton Jr. has come a long way since he attempted his first punt return in a live NFL game. It happened against the Jaguars last year in the preseason, and Felton, then a rookie sixth-round RB, was still new to the art of the returning punts. Catching footballs that are boomed into the air and come wobbling down at weird angles — all while tacklers run full speed in your direction — wasn’t something Felton did in college at UCLA was quite comfortable with yet. But he knew he had to do it to make the Browns roster and had no choice but to push those fears aside.

NFL:

• Ravens fail to reach contract extension with QB Lamar Jackson before Friday deadline (The Baltimore Sun) - The Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson did not agree on a contract extension before Jackson’s Friday deadline, the team announced. With the cessation of negotiations, the narrative that has loomed over the Ravens’ offseason ground to a temporary halt, while questions about Jackson’s long-term future in Baltimore intensified.
• Bad weather ahead of Charlotte FC, Panthers games means new look for Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte Observer) - The threat of a rain-soaked weekend will have Bank of America Stadium looking a bit different on Saturday. Markings for both the Charlotte FC soccer pitch and the Carolina Panthers football field have been painted to the stadium’s turf ahead of Charlotte’s sports-packed weekend, Tepper Sports and Entertainment announced Friday. TSE did this to ensure that the lines needed to play both games will be in place prior to the weekend’s looming storms.
• Trey Lance’s time to be San Francisco 49ers’ starting quarterback has finally come (ESPN) - Over the course of 72 hours, the full Trey Lance experience was on display, mixing tantalizing highs with frustrating lows. It became the theme of Lance’s first training camp as San Francisco’s starter. And it’s a thread the Niners expect to carry into the regular season for Lance, who, at 22 years and 125 days old entering Sunday’s opener against the Chicago Bears, will be the youngest 49ers quarterback to start a season opener since the team joined the NFL in 1950.
• Jets LT Duane Brown (shoulder) ruled out vs. Ravens, could be placed on injured reserve (NFL.com) - The New York Jets’ offensive tackles might be cursed. Gang Green lost another OT for at least the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens. Coach Robert Saleh told reporters Friday that Duane Brown is out for Sunday, and the team is still gathering information on his shoulder injury.