WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV- On Thursday, July 27, under the scolding hot temperatures, the media had access to the Cleveland Browns practice at the Greenbrier Sports Performance Center.
The team was full of energy and had loud music blaring through the speaker system which set the mood for the upbeat, intense day.
At the beginning of practice, on the far end of the field, the quarterbacks and receivers went through some basic throwing and catching drills. That eventually turned into a light scrimmage session after about a half hour or so where they would simulate passes and runs against a positioned defense.
The near side of the field had defensive linemen on one side, and they were running drills with assistant coaches guiding them through tackling techniques with tackling dummies. All-Pro Myles Garrett was especially smooth in that particular drill and proved up close why he is arguably the NFL’s best defensive end.
Beside of the d-linemen on the other field were the offensive linemen. They were running similar drills, but their focus was more on footwork and backpedaling and getting their arms out to stop a pass rusher from blowing past them, and other basic o-line work.
As the practice moved on, the kickers and punters provided those in attendance with some entertainment. First, they were attempting to throw the football through the goal post rather than kick it. They would start around the 30-yard line and move back five yards after each successful throw. After that, they all then punted the ball through the uprights which was extremely tough, but each player had multiple conversions.
The practice concluded with some more intense scrimmage work. Both quarterbacks, starter Deshaun Watson and backup Josh Dobbs, rotated snaps in certain situations. Watson had a nice throw to tight end Harrison Bryant who made a leaping grab and turned it up field, but the defense stood out as well. Snapping from about the 10-yard line, Watson tried to fit a pass into the end zone between two defenders, but Martin Emerson, Jr. picked it off and that fired up his defensive teammates as they all chased him to the other end of the field to celebrate.
Aside from that play, the offensive play of the day came from receiver Elijah Moore. Watson threw a nice ball where only Moore could catch it and with a defender draped all over him, Moore caught the ball acrobatically and fell into the pylon for what would have been a touchdown (picture above).
All in all, the Browns seems to really enjoy their time at the Greenbrier. The experience was a positive for them and fans can see them in action this week when they open up preseason play against the New York Jets on Thursday, August 3 in the Hall-of-Fame game on NBC. More practice pictures will be posted in Thursday’s edition of the WVDN.
