Camp thoughts Vol. XII

 

There’s an old adage in sports that occasionally rings true. It goes like this: Sometimes, the best trades are the ones you don’t make.

 

It was first uttered way back in 1948 by Bill Veeck, at the time the owner of the Cleveland Indians. He sought to trade Ken Keltner, his slugging third baseman, in 1947, but found no equitable deal. So he kept him.

 

Keltner was instrumental in helping the Indians win the 1948 World Series against the Boston Braves. It was then that Veeck delivered the famous adage – attempting to trade a player and failing, and that player turns out to be more valuable on your team.

 

The player reported apocryphally in that scenario since then was Tribe player-manager Lou Boudreau, with Veeck relenting and not dealing his shortstop because Indians fans railed against such a move. It was Keltner, not Boudreau.

 

So what does all that have to do with the Browns? It has to do with trades that are not made.

 

In the wake of the Minnesota Vikings trading for Jacksonville defensive end Yannick Ngakoue Sunday, here’s another expression that befits the situation. It goes like this: Sometimes, the best trades are the ones that should have been made.

 

Browns General Manager Andrew Berry was searching for a defensive end and targeted Houston free agent Jadeveon Clowney and Ngakoue. He reportedly made an offer to Clowney, which he declined, and maintained his interest in Ngakoue.

 

The four-year veteran desperately wanted out of Jacksonville and refused to sign his $17.8 million franchise tender. It is not known exactly what Berry proposed to the Jaguars, who reportedly wanted a No. 1 draft choice. That would have and should have been a hard no.

 

On Sunday, Ngakoue found a new home in Minnesota with the Vikings. All it cost the Vikes was a second-round pick next year and a conditional fifth-round choice in 2022 that would become a four if Ngakoue makes the Pro Bowl this season and a three if Minnesota wins the Super Bowl.

 

Oh, and one more little item. Ngakoue took a sizable pay cut. Instead of signing the large tender, he agreed to a one-year, $12 million contract. Plus, the Vikings could franchise him next season if problems arise in securing a multi-year contract. The Browns, who have scads of salary-cap space, couldn’t have afforded that?

 

When the trade was announced, I wondered why Berry couldn’t agree to such a sweetheart deal – relatively speaking – like that. A two this year and a five (maybe a four, maybe a three) in 2022 is a bargain for what Ngakoue would have brought to a Cleveland defense that is mediocre at best.

 

Berry instead reworked Olivier Vernon’s contract from $15.25 million non-guaranteed to $11 million guaranteed. This for an oft-injured player who missed six games last season, played just 47% of the snaps, made only 26 tackles and a paltry 11 quarterback hits and contributed a measly 3½ sacks. 

 

Suffice it to say, Ngakoue would have been the perfect player opposite Myles Garrett on the Browns’ defensive line. Together, they could have played let’s-meet-at-the-quarterback for at least the next five seasons.

 

I won’t bore you with the statistics the 25-year-old Ngakoue put up in his four seasons with the Jaguars. They scream Pro Bowl and eventually All-Pro. Now he gets to play opposite Pro Bowler Danielle Hunter (54½ sacks in five seasons) on the Vikings’ defensive line.

 

And that is why this one qualifies as one of  “the best trades are the ones that should have been made.” And wasn’t.

*       *       *

The Browns were off Monday – why with the season opener less than two weeks away and all kinds of problems on offense? – after a scrimmage at the stadium downtown on Sunday. But they did receive some good news.

 

Mack Wilson, who severely hyperextend a knee in camp a couple of weeks ago, will not need surgery after all. Instead, the second-year weak side linebacker is expected back in about six weeks after allowing the injury to heal on its own.

 

If he proves a quick healer, Wilson could return as early as the home game against Indianapolis in week five. If it takes longer, a more pessimistic return date would be somewhere around the week-nine bye.

 

As it stands now, B. J. Goodson will work inside replacing the departed Joe Schobert and pro sophomore Sione Takitaki takes over on the weak side in the Browns’ basic 4-2-5 alignment.

Goodson, who started only 29 games in four seasons with the New York Giants, has never started all 16 games in a season. Takitaki started only one game in his rookie season.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. XI

 

Won’t be long now until Browns fans learn whether Jedrick Wills Jr., the rookie left tackle who never played on that side of the offensive line until now, can make a successful transition.

 

With the season-opening game in Baltimore looming, the only action Wills has seen is in training camp, where he plies his trade against teammates. That’ll be it until the real games begin.

 

No OTAs, no rookie minicamps, no full-team minicamps, no exhibition games. It’s one-on-ones against teammates. Basically, Wills will enter the professional ranks with no practical game experience whatsoever.

 

It’s hard enough to make the transition from one side of the offensive line to the other side in the National Football League. Doing it this way places unfair pressure on the young man from Alabama.

 

In order to give Wills a feel of what it’s going to be like, Browns coaches have slotted Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon, two solid pass rushers, opposite him in practice. That’s nice, but it no way replicates the speed at which the games will be played starting Sept. 13.

 

Wink Martindale of the Ravens is one of the shrewdest and most innovative defensive coordinators in the NFL. He is no doubt licking his creative chops at the prospect of welcoming Wills to the league with an assortment of tricks.

 

Browns offensive line coach Bill Callahan, who persuaded General Manager Andrew Berry to select Wills with the club’s first pick in the college draft with Tristan Wirfs still on the board, dismissed the suggestion by the media that Wills was having trouble with the switch.

 

“I wouldn’t say that,” he said. “I’ve gauged his rate of improvement. You’d love to have it much higher like at the veteran level, but let’s be realistic. That’s just not going to happen in this day and age because of the tardiness of techniques of not having the offseason and things of that nature.

 

“I do think players learn more once they get into games. They are really more in tune to what is going to occur and what they can expect. The rate of improvement is key.” And that is what awaits Wills.

 

What Callahan is looking for is steady improvement. “I want to see his technique get better and want to see him graduate to a level where he can handle just about anything,” he said.

 

What I think Callahan is saying is do not judge Wills from what you see in the first few games (because he probably will have typical rookie problems). See how he’s doing, say, midway through the season and compare him to how he looked in the early stages.

 

In the meantime, head coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt had better adjust to the likelihood of Wills struggling and design quick-developing pass plays or designed runs by Baker Mayfield to the opposite side of the formation to avoid possible problems.

 

Callahan said Wills will alternate two- and three-point stances depending on the play call. “We have given a little more flexibility . . . to the open side of the formation where there is no tight end (next to him) because that’s where their best defensive player is located,” he explained.

 

In this case, Wills can expect to see a lot of wizened veterans Calais Campbell, Mathew Judon, Pernell McPhee and Derek Wolfe. Wolfe and Campbell are new to the Ravens defense, which recorded only 37 sacks last season.

 

What Wills must learn quickly is developing a very short memory, especially when he encounters trouble and is responsible for the failure of a play. Failing to do so could easily affect the outcome of the next play.

 

“We have worked hard at trying to get a mind-set for Jedrick and all of our players of getting on and getting forward with the next play,” said Callahan. They key word in that sentence: Mind-set.

 

Wills rarely had bad plays, let alone bad games, during a terrific career at Alabama. It’s his performances the last two seasons that enabled him to rise in the eyes of scouts and elevate him to the top of draft boards.

 

Now it’s a whole new game and he has to do it all over again. He is going to see the professional game in a way he probably only envisioned. It most likely will be startling at first. How he adjusts is what Callahan is anxious to find out.

 

The past is, or should be, ancient history to Wills. He is playing the second-most important position on the offense. How he handles that responsibility is what many fans will be watching closely this season.

So, too, will Stefanski and Callahan.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. X

 

With the season opener just 15 days away, time to take a quick look at one specific area on the current Browns roster with wonderment. What in the world are they, most notably General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski, thinking when it comes to the population of the wide receivers room?

First of all, why are there 11 players in that room? And why are they plucking someone like Damion Willis off the waiver wire when he has no chance of making the final cut? Maybe training-camp fodder?

So why? Here is what Stefanski told the Cleveland media Saturday: “I just think Andrew and his staff have meetings every day and discuss what we went to do roster-wise and discuss it with the coaches, see what’s available and see if it can help us improve,” he answered in exquisite non-answer fashion.

It is no secret the Browns will be a vastly different team on offense this season. They will run the ball a lot. Then they will run it even more. This offense will employ the infantry route heavily in order to set up the forward pass.

Stefanski is wedded to the ground game. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, that part of the offense has always been a favorite and I never quite understood why coaches like Hue Jackson and Freddie Kitchens did not grasp the importance of that.

 

While it’s true the National Football League has become a passing league the last decade or so, the reason it is so effective for most teams is their ground games were strong enough to make it work.

 

Stefanski’s offense also heavily features tight ends, rendering the wide receivers position lower on the play caller’s go-to list. With running backs and tight ends getting close to two thirds of the play calls, where does that leave the wides?

 

As Minnesota’s offensive coordinator last season, Stefanski called on quarterback Kirk Cousins, who had averaged 574 passes and 4,351 yards a season a season in his previous four seasons, to throw the football just 444 times. He threw for only 3,603 yards and cut his interceptions from 11½ a season to just six.

 

It’s all about taking care of the football for the new head coach. The best way is to run football. Don’t know this for a fact, but Stefanski seems to adhere to the notion first espoused by the legendary Woody Hayes at Ohio State who said: “There are three things that can happen when you throw a pass, and two of them are bad.”

 

Of the Vikings’ 942 plays on offense from scrimmage last season, running backs and tight ends were featured in 610, or 64.8%. So you can bet with a large degree of assurance the Browns’ offense this season will feature running backs and tight ends at least 60% of the time.

 

Unless something spectacularly surprising occurs in the next couple of weeks with regard to player movement, Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. will be the Cleveland wideouts the vast majority of the time this season, at the same time playing a much smaller role than, for example, last season.

 

In the Kitchens offense in 2019, quarterback Baker Mayfield targeted Landry and Beckham a ridiculous 50.7% of the time, or once every other time he called a pass play. They accounted for nearly half ((49.5%) of Mayfield’s completions, 57.7% of his total passing yardage and 10 of his 22 touchdown throws.

 

Those numbers will not be anywhere near the same this season. Why not? They are way too unbalanced for Stefanski, whose goal is a 50-50 split.

 

All of which means Landry and Beckham are most likely going to see far less of the football this season and might even be called on to block for the run game. How Beckham handles that is something on which to keep an eye. His throw-me-the-damn-ball personality is likely to get in the way.

 

The danger to heavily emphasizing the ball-control game is the possibility of having to abandon it in the event the opposition establishes a lead that requires changing strategy and switching to the passing game. And with this season’s marginal defense, that is more an inevitability than a possibility.

 

In that event, though, the Browns are well equipped to handle the situation with the likes of Landry, Beckham, Rashard Higgins, rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge. The ability to come back is much more dangerous this season than last.

So get used to seeing a lot of Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, Austin Hooper, David Njoku and rookie Harrison Bryant this season in addition to Mayfield taking advantage with much more play action.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. IX

 

Alex Van Pelt said something the other day that resonated and needs strongly to be taken into consideration as the launch of the 2020 National Football League season rapidly nears.

 

The Browns’ offensive coordinator – whether by design or sudden realization – acknowledged the side of the football for which he is responsible is “still trying to figure out who we are.”

 

That’s a rather frank admission with the season opener in Baltimore less than three weeks hence. “The sense of urgency has to be high,” Van Pelt told the Cleveland media. “We don’t have any time to waste.”

 

Ya think?!

 

Installation of a brand new offense and teaching it are still in the early stages. Contrast that with the Ravens getting ready for the Browns with the same offense that propelled them to a 14-2 record last season.

 

This is going to be a slow-growing process for the Cleveland offense. It is rhythm-based, making it even more difficult to get used to, let alone master. It will take time.

 

The lack of spring OTAs and minicamps would have helped with the early stages of overall installation. The pandemic waylaid that, leaving head coach Kevin Stefanski with precious little time to totally convert the offensive philosophy of this club.

 

It is now relegated to being an offense still in progress, a stage that might continue into the early stages of the season, perhaps even a little beyond. Developing an entirely new personality on offense does not happen overnight.

 

It is being radically converted from a pass-happy attack to one that is much more methodical and features significantly more running. That requires even more precision, which might be tough at first with a rebuilt offensive line.

 

Van Pelt, who might or might not call plays this season (more on that later), is correct. Time’s a-wastin’. Honing the offense by the time the Ravens game arrives is much more hope than realism.

 

“As we get through this next stage . . . and we start scaling down our installations and start repping who we want to be and who we are, I think we’ll see that tighten up,” he said optimistically.

 

Taking Wednesday off doesn’t help the situation even though it was scheduled. At this point, the players, especially on offense, need all the work they can get. Offense is all about rhythm and timing. Working on it every day should be a must.

 

When the team resumes practice Thursday, Van Pelt said he would zero in on personnel groups and specific schemes as he takes the program to the next stage. “We are moving in that direction,” he said, citing the urgency of the situation.

 

Stefanski, who called plays for the Minnesota Vikings offense last season, has not indicated who will call the plays for the Browns. He originally said Van Pelt would handle some of the exhibition games, but that plan evaporated with the pandemic.

 

It is not often that rookie head coaches in the NFL succeed when also being responsible for one side of the football. It tends to interfere with the most important aspect of a head coach’s job: Responsibility for the performance of the entire team.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. At the rate the Browns are adjusting to a new offense and new defense, there is a distinct possibility they will be nowhere close to where they need to be on Sept. 13.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. VIII

 

I’m baffled, torn, befuddled and being yanked at from both sides. And strangely (for me) wracked with indecision about it.

 

Should the Browns, in the wake of losing rookie free safety Grant Delpit for the season, go after free agent Earl Thomas, who was unceremoniously booted off the Baltimore Ravens roster the other day?

 

Part of me says why not? The other part wonders whether I’ve taken leave of my senses. I have weighed this mental conundrum to the point where it’ll be much easier to reach a decision by simply using the pros and cons method. Here we go,

 

PRO: Thomas has been a well-decorated free safety for 10 National Football League seasons. Seven Pro Bowls, including last season in Baltimore, three-time 1^st-team All-Pro. What more do you want? Besides, he would fit right in with the Browns and immediately upgrade the secondary, especially the deep secondary.

 

CON: He’s 31 years old and not the outstanding player he used to be. Right now, he’s more of a popular name than a former outstanding football player. His reputation as a playmaker resides in the past. He isn’t getting any younger.

 

PRO: His résumé suggests there is still some fuel left in the tank. Would you rather have Andrew Sendejo or Sheldrick Redwine at free safety or Thomas? I’ll take Thomas every time.

 

CON: He comes in with the reputation as a troublemaker. That’s the reason he became a free agent. He slugged a fellow safety (Chuck Clark) during an argument in Baltimore’s training camp late last week, triggering his release. The Browns don’t need problems like that, especially after all the dysfunction last season.

 

PRO: He is still a playmaker and heaven knows this defense desperately needs players to show up in critical situations. Right now, they have precious few.

 

CON: The reason he is out there is because he wore out his welcome in Seattle, where he starred for nine seasons, and last season with the Ravens. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski doesn’t need a headache and that’s what you get with Thomas.

 

PRO: He has played for winners his entire career. That’s a feeling the Browns haven’t experienced since, well, since they reentered the NFL in 1999.

 

CON: Not certain Browns General Manager Andrew Berry is a fan of Thomas. Adding an aging, seen-his-best-years veteran doesn’t sound like a Berry move. He likes young players with bright futures.

 

PRO: Still, with Thomas dangling out there, the thought of going after him has to be bouncing around between Berry’s ears. It’s awfully enticing.

 

CON: Just remember why he is available. If there’s one thing that really upsets a head coach, it’s discipline issues. Ravens coach John Harbaugh, it seemed, thought long and hard before pulling the plug on Thomas. Discipline in this case overrides talent.

 

PRO: Thomas would provide the Browns with valuable inside information about how to defend against the Ravens' offense, particularly in the season-opening game in Baltimore. That surely must count for something. He knows that Ravens' attack, facing it every day in practice before being jettisoned.

 

CON: It is a big gamble to bring in a newcomer at such a late date. Less than three weeks to the season opener. Better to get Sendejo and Redwine ready for that one.

 

PRO: When you have been the NFL’s doormat franchise for nearly the entire time the last two decades, there is nothing wrong with gambling on Thomas. What do the Browns have to lose? More football games? So what else is new?

 

CON: It bears repeating: Thomas was flat out let go (not even shopped) by one of the heavy favorites to win the Super Bowl. If that doesn’t strike a note of discord, then nothing will. The Browns do not need trouble off the field. They’ll have enough on the field.

 

So . . .

 

After careful consideration, it was close. Both sides made good points. But in the end, what John Harbaugh did in Baltimore weighed the most heavily in the final decision. It was the wisest move.Team over individual.

With a new head coach, new coaching staff and brand new attitude and approach to the 2020 season, the Browns are better off letting Thomas continue his career anywhere but on the lakefront.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. VII

 

There is no truth to the notion – made here exclusively – that Joe Btfsplk showed up at Browns training camp Monday in Berea.

 

How else, then, can one explain Grant Delpit going down with a season-ending torn Achilles tendon? Or Greedy Williams leaving the field with a shoulder problem? Not to mention the lacerated liver suffered by Kevin Johnson late last week.

 

So how does Joe Btfsplk factor into a story about professional football injuries? Time once again to dive deep into the generation gap to explain just who this guy was and how he relates to the Browns.

 

Btfsplk is a disheveled cartoon character who appeared in the iconic – but long since forgotten – comic strip L’il Abner, which ran for 43 years until it ended in 1977. His creator, cartoonist Al Capp, billed him as “The World’s Worst Jinx.”

 

He was accompanied wherever he went by a rain cloud hovering over his head, dripping raindrops on his wide-brimmed hat. (Google Joe Btfsplk to see him in person so to speak.) He was a disaster waiting to happen. After what happened Monday, he had to be in Berea.

 

Williams, Johnson and Delpit had a good chance of comprising 60% of the Browns’ starting secondary. And it’s only the second week of padded practice. At this rate, the thinning secondary is going to be down to second- and third-string troops just to get to the Sept. 13 season opener in Baltimore.

 

Delpit, who probably would have been the starter at free safety, and Williams, who has locked down one of the cornerback spots, were teammates at Louisiana State. Both were taken by the Browns in the second round of the college draft, Williams in 2019 and Delpit this past May.

 

The Cleveland defense, which does not project as one of the National Football League’s top units to begin with, can ill afford injuries on that side of the football. It had already lost inside linebacker Mack Wilson for what might be the entire season if he requires surgery on his hyperextended left knee.

 

I know other teams are suffering injuries, probably because a lot of these athletes are not in good football shape because there were no OTAs or minicamps to get used to playing the game again after the offseason. But this is getting out of hand.

Soft-tissue injuries are the most frustrating. Delpit’s injury, for example, happened during interception drills, which involves backpedaling and then jumping up to catch a football. The injury occurred when he landed.

 

The rookie, who entered his final season at LSU as a sure-fire first-rounder in the draft, played quite a bit last season nursing a high ankle sprain. It cut down on his effectiveness, which ultimately cost him in the draft, dropping him into the second round.

 

The Browns jumped all over Delpit at pick 44, citing his versatility. He was having a good camp after successfully rehabbing the ankle in the offseason when Monday happened. No news on where Joe Btfsplk was at the time.

Amateur prognosis – practicing medicine without a license again – says Williams will be ready for the opener at cornerback, but Johnson (the presumptive starter at nickelback) and Wilson won’t be, missing significant time, maybe the entire season.

 

Never mind

 

What was it Emily Litella said all those years ago on the Weekend Update portion of Saturday Night Live when being corrected after a ridiculously mistake-filled rant?

 

Actually it was the late Gilda Radner who so beautifully captured the dimwitted character who always ended the bit by apologetically saying, “Never mind.” And the audience would laugh.

 

Sorry if there is a generational gap buried in there somewhere. It’s the only way I have for explaining this little rant. Actually, it is an embarrassing correction of the previous one (Camp thoughts Vol. VI) posted several hours ago.

 

Just about every news outlet reported the Browns had canceled their Sunday training camp workout when many of the COVID-19 tests taken Saturday came back positive.

 

Turns out the false positives the Browns received were identical to those reported for 10 other National Football League teams. In all, 77 false positives were reported by the same lab in New Jersey.

 

Once that was determined, the Browns reopened for business and rescheduled their original 2:25 p.m. practice for 3 p.m. and went with no pads instead of what was supposed to be a padded practice.

 

Those who tested positive Saturday did not participate, but will be allowed to enter the building in Berea Monday if they test negative.

 

The Browns, who exercised caution when initially informed, immediately scrambled when the news was reversed and went ahead with the light practice following a number of virtual morning meetings.

 

It was an embarrassing few hours for the NFL, which overreacted to the initial report as it turned out. All 11 teams involved in the report were able to resume practice. As far as we know, the Browns’ light practice went off without a hitch or injury.

 

So after all this nonsense, there is only one thing I can say at this point about the earlier post: With a deep bow to that wonderful SNL character . . . Never Mind.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. VI

 

Here we go. The first warning shot has been fired at the National Football League’s bold attempt (gamble?) to successfully complete an entire season, including playoffs, in the middle of a deadly pandemic.

 

The Browns Sunday cancelled their scheduled afternoon practice after Saturday’s daily COVID-19 testing revealed double-digit positive results from a New Jersey laboratory.

 

“Saturday’s daily COVID testing returned several positive tests from each of the clubs serviced by the same laboratory,” the NFL said in a statement. “We are working . . . to investigate these results while the clubs work to confirm or rule out the positive test.”

 

This little outbreak right now seems to involve the several teams using that lab. “Other laboratories used for NFL testing have not had similar results,” the league reported.

 

The Browns, meanwhile, chose to err on the side of caution instructed those who tested positive to self-quarantine, or until a determination is made whether they are false positives.

 

The Chicago Bears, using the same New Jersey lab, received similar results for nine people that were ultimately determined to be false positives. The club then shifted its scheduled morning practice Sunday to the afternoon.

 

This obviously caught the Browns by surprise as they were in the midst of preparing for the start of the 2020 season in three weeks. They just entered the full-pad/contact phase of training camp as they ramped up for the season opener in Baltimore on Sept. 13.

 

The notion the NFL could pull off this little miracle in the face of the novel coronavirus was met with some skepticism. Until now, nothing COVID-related popped up on the radar.

 

Optimists would say it’s only one day. Don’t worry. The Browns will be back at it Monday when the tests come back as false positives. Pessimists will take an entirely different and more realistic view.

 

Yes, it’s only one day, but it’s one less day to get ready for the season. Considering the team had a scheduled day off Friday, that’s only one practice over a three-day period for a team installing a new offense and new defense. Those are days they’ll never get back.

 

It’s going to be hard enough for new head coach Kevin Stefanski, who now has to accelerate the program in order to catch up, which probably means even more mistakes and blown assignments.

 

This all eventually could turn into a daily gnashing of teeth as the uncertainty of the power of this mysterious virus continues to threaten this country with no end in sight, especially dealing with a sport that features collisions.

 

There is no such thing as social distancing in football. You won’t find players wearing COVID facemasks behind the attached protective facemasks on their helmets. There also appears to be some pushback against league-proposed plastic shields on the helmet.

 

One more thing: False positives are frustrating enough to cause some consternation. Far more dangerous are false negatives. This virus, is seems, can mask itself in several different ways. It is possible to test negative, but be a carrier.  

The NFL nevertheless will continue to plunge ahead on this precarious journey until or unless it reaches the point of futility and common sense takes over. The first warning shot has been fired. There will be more. Stay tuned.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. V

 

Today’s thoughts piece centers on someone who is not in training camp with the Browns. No, he’s not hurt. And no, he is not in trouble for something he either did or said.

 

As a matter of fact he isn’t a member of the Browns in any way, shape or form. That’s because he is under contract with another National Football League team.

 

So why is he today’s subject? Because he doesn’t want to be under contract with that team and is doing everything he can to escape. It has been an exercise in futility, however.

 

By now, you no doubt have figured out our subject is Yannick Ngakoue, the very young, very talented defensive end for the Jacksonville Jaguars with the hard-to-pronounce surname. It’s en-GAH-kway.

 

So how do the Browns factor into this scenario? A short time ago, they were on the hunt for a defensive end and targeted free agent Jadeveon Clowney. But he rejected some reportedly very attractive offers and the Browns moved on.

 

They restructured the contract of veteran Olivier Vernon, who was a disappointment last season and that seemed to be that. Until word leaked out along the NFL Rumor Monger Network that the Jaguars were close to moving Ngakoue.

 

Rumors had the New York Jets, Las Vegas (haven’t yet gotten used to that) Raiders and New England Patriots were interested. But not the Browns, and I haven’t figured out why not.

 

Ngakoue, who turned 25 in March, lists four very productive seasons on his résumé (37½ sacks, 42 tackles for loss and 14 forced fumbles). He is looking to escape what looks like a grim future for the Jags.

 

He would be the perfect partner for Myles Garrett, who is a load by himself. Can you imagine what it would be like with both of them on the same line? The adjectives begin with scary.

 

So what would it take to convince the Jaguars to let him go? Early rumors suggested a first-round pick in the college draft. The Browns wouldn’t – and shouldn’t – do that. Neither, it seems, would any other team.

 

A second-rounder would be more palatable. I know the Browns like to hoard draft picks (they’ve got 10 in next year’s lottery), but a second-rounder is worth surrendering to obtain a talent like Ngakoue.

 

He’s a bit on the light side for the position at 6-2 and 255 pounds. He is reminiscent of Dwight Freeney (6-1, 268), who stuck around the NFL for 16 seasons and notched 125½ career sacks, mostly with the Indianapolis Colts.

 

That’s the kind of production this season’s Cleveland defense needs. A second-round pick would be more than worth it. It could – no, would – solidify the defensive line with Garrett and Ngakoue terrifying quarterbacks for at least the next half decade.

 

One scouting report on Ngakoue lavishly says he “can beat you with speed, power, finesse and technique.” His high number of tackles for loss strongly hints he could be that rare three-down defensive lineman.

 

It make no sense from a personnel standpoint if the Browns are not players for Ngakoue with the start of the regular season just three weeks away. The only possibility for their reluctance might be fiscal.

 

He has yet to sign his franchise tender ($17.8 million) and is reportedly also looking for a long-term deal. The Browns lead the NFL in cap space and can afford to bring him on board now. (It’s fun spending their money.) The larger picture can be handled once he arrives in Cleveland.

 

And yes, the Browns face some hefty contracts coming up in the next year or two. But the future with Ngakoue is now, not next year or the year after. Obtaining and signing him would be a significant and wise step in that direction.

 

Meanwhile, the longer this standoff in Jacksonville lingers, the less the Jags will receive in compensation if they really want to move him and he certainly has given them enough reason.

 

Three possibilities remain: He (a) reluctantly signs his tender and remains in Jacksonville, (b) chooses to sit out the entire season or (c) sits out the first 10 games, then reports to get accreditation for next year and becomes a free agent.

One way or the other, Ngakoue, who made only $2 million last season, is going to be a rich young man in the near future. It sure would be nice if James A. Haslam III and/or Susan (Dee) Haslam signs those paychecks.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. IV

 

What in the world is going on in Berea? Players are falling like pins in a bowling alley during the early stages of training camp.

 

Browns’ training camp 2020 is turning into a mini M*A*S*H unit.

 

Monday, it was Nick Chubb, whose helmeted head hit the ground after a hard tackle, causing an immediate trip to concussion protocol. Label return of the running back uncertain.

 

Tuesday, it was Mack Wilson’s turn. The young inside linebacker, who caused Chubb’s injury, damaged his left knee defending a pass. Diagnosis: Significant hyperextension of the knee. Prognosis: A lot grimmer than Chubb.

 

The injury trend continued Wednesday when cornerback Kevin Johnson went down, again defending a pass. He and rookie tight end Harrison Bryant, the intended receiver, dove for the football and fell to the ground simultaneously. Bryant landed on top of Johnson, lacerating the corner’s liver.

 

Now I’m not a doctor, but I do know a lacerated liver is serious. Anything involving the liver is serious. As a precaution, Johnson was hospitalized for a couple of days. Prognosis: Unknown, but leaning grim.

 

Johnson, a five-year veteran who has had an injury-riddled career, signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Browns during the offseason and was having a good camp.

 

On Thursday, no one, at least that we know of, got hurt seriously enough to cause alarm and warrant a story. Definitely cause for a celebration.

 

All three men figure prominently in the Browns’ plans this season. Right now, though, it looks as if Chubb might be the only one to escape missing a significant amount of time.

 

The Browns’ offense is rich enough from a talent perspective to overcome injuries. Not so with the defense. The weaker side of the football can ill afford injuries that last longer than a game or two.

 

So are the Browns out of shape? Hard to tell at this point. Too much too soon after a layoff of about eight months, perhaps, with no OTAs or minicamps? Ditto.

 

Just plain dumb luck? That’s a much better guess. All three injuries were sustained making football plays, as opposed to soft tissue injuries without contact.

Now let’s see what Friday brings.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. III

 

Browns defensive line coach Chris Kiffin cranked up the hyperbole machine the other day when discussing one of his players to the media.

 

“From the day I met him. I could tell just how hungry he is, how eager he is and that he wants to be great,” the new assistant coach said of three-year veteran tackle Larry Ogunjobi. And then he added this nugget.

 

“He is chasing greatness. He has all the intangibles. He has the tools, the athletic ability, the skill set and the strength. . . . He sees all those other guys getting all the accolades as far as top defensive tackles in the league and wants to put himself up there.”

 

Kiffin sounds more like Ogunjobi’s agent than his position coach. Not only is that hyperbolic, it is borderline Coachspeak 101. You’d think Ogunjobi was on the cusp of superstardom if you didn’t know any better. Let’s take a closer look at this budding star.

 

There is no question Ogunjobi is a wonderful physical specimen. He is chiseled at 6-3, 305 pounds. He definitely possesses all the physical attributes that should add up to the kind of player Kiffin sees. He doesn’t.

 

What Kiffin does not see is the inconsistency the young man has displayed in his three seasons as a professional. He’ll get the chance up close and personal this season.

 

The Browns’ pick at the top of the third round of the 2017 college draft has racked up 102 tackles, including 20 for losses, and 11 sacks the last two seasons as a starter after making 32 tackles in part-time duty as a rookie.

 

Statistically, this might be as good as he gets. His National Football League stats are similar to the ones he put up in his two collegiate seasons at Charlotte: 127 tackles, 29 for loss, and 5.5 sacks.

 

He has proven he is not a game changer, a difference maker, a playmaker thiclose to achieving stardom. He can only dream of being great.

 

His inconsistency has been a puzzle searching for a solution the last two seasons. For every solid game he has, he’ll go AWOL the next two or three before turning in another solid effort.

 

No coach at this level has unlocked the secret that could elevate Ogunjobi to the next level. Defensive line coaches Clyde Simmons and Ken Delgado tried and failed in 2017 and 2018; ditto Josh Lupoi last season. Now it’s Kiffin’s turn.

 

He wants Ogunjobi to achieve the kind of consistency that would make him a three-down player. But unless he all of a sudden becomes the kind of player the Browns believed they got when they drafted him, that’s not going to happen.

 

He is not getting any better. His consistent inconsistency is what is holding him back. He is just good enough to not embarrass himself at this level. This very well might be as good as he gets. That’s something Kiffin will find out sooner or later.

 

Ogunjobi has the speed (4.95 in the 40), strength and brains (he was a double major in biology and computer science in college), but that’s it. It seems as though he has reached the zenith of his football growth pattern and this is as good as he will be.

*       *       *

It appears the Browns are trying to scare placekicker Austin Seibert, who began training camp with no competition. That changed Wednesday when four free-agent kickers showed up in Berea and tried out. NFL veterans Nick Folk, Kai Forbath, Matthew McCrane and Cody Parkey accepted the invitations.

 

Folk (age 35) has kicked for Dallas, the New York Jets, Tampa Bay and New England; Forbath (32) with Washington, New Orleans, the Patriots, Dallas, Jacksonville and Minnesota; McCrane (26 next month) with Pittsburgh, Oakland and Arizona in 2018; and Parkey (28) for the Browns (2016), Philadelphia, Miami, Tennessee and Chicago. All but McCrane are NFL vagabonds.

 

Maybe the Browns are messing with Seibert’s head after his uneven rookie season when he connected on 25 of 29 field-goal attempts, but missed five of his 35 point-after boots. Then again, they might not want to wear him out before the season begins because he’s the only kicker in camp.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. II

 

Mack Wilson is having a training camp with the Browns this summer he will never forget. At least the first two days, that is.

 

On Monday, the first day of 14 padded practices in preparation for the 2020 National Football League season, the linebacker horse-collared running back Nick Chubb to the ground, causing a concussion.

 

Then less than 24 hours later, Wilson suffered what is being described as a significantly hyperextended left knee while defending a pass and was carted off the field.

 

There is speculation that surgery is a possibility, which could mean the second-year linebacker, who was slated to start on the weakside this season, might miss the entire 2020 season.

 

In the Chubb incident Monday, the running back apparently hit his head on the turf as a result of the rough Wilson tackle. He was immediately evaluated for a concussion and placed in concussion protocol Tuesday. The coaching staff and several teammates reportedly upbraided Wilson immediately after the hit.

 

Tackling to the ground is no-no in the early stages of padded practices before being slowly eased into the defensive regimen. The coaching staff thought it had made certain that members of the defense knew that. Guess not.

Some thoughts: First of all, you do not tackle the star running back that way early on. Period. Too many bad things can happen. Chubb, who needs all the work he can get, must now sit out and await the green light from the medical staff.

 

Concussions are funny. They can last just a few days or, depending on the severity, as long as weeks, even months. And with the NFL extra cautious when it comes to concussions, Chubb must pass strict protocols before he can return.

 

Fortunately, it happened early enough in camp where he should not miss much time. All he can do now is watch Kareem Hunt take his reps in practice and hope he is a quick healer.

 

Wilson was remorseful after the Monday incident, tweeting, “I just practice with a lot of passion, my intention is to never hurt anyone on my team nor any other player I’m going against. We good though keep the comments to yourself. #NoBarkALLBITE.”

 

As a result, he was punitively dropped a notch on the depth chart and was working with the second unit Tuesday when he suffered the knee injury.

 

Wilson is the only player in the linebackers room who was a regular starter last season as a rookie. He replaced injured veteran Christian Kirksey in game three and played the rest of the season, winding up second on the team in tackles with 82.

 

The seriousness of this injury further weakens a position that was weak to begin with. The Web site profootballfocus.com ranks the Browns’ linebackers 31^st in the NFL, just ahead of the Los Angeles Rams linebackers.

*     *     *

It is being reported the Cleveland defense is clearly the better side of the football after two days of camp. That's the way it should be after two days. If it were the other way around, that would be a problem.

 

Defense is all about aggression. There is no rhythm to speak of. What they do for the most part is react to what the offense is attempting. Offense is all about timing and cohesion. Just one blown assignment can throw off the rhythm of a play

 

Right now, the Browns’ offense is in the embryonic stage. Two new tackles, one a rookie; a rookie center filling in for the injured starter; a brand new system that takes time to master; and a serious lack of rhythm due to the newness of that system.

It’s only natural the defense is better now. That should begin to change in about a week. If it doesn’t, trouble looms because that side of the football is the Browns’ best chance to play in January.

 

Camp thoughts Vol. I

 

(Cogitating the goings-on at training camp in Berea as the Browns get ready for the season opener in Baltimore Sept. 13.)

 

Why in the world did center JC Tretter wait until just before training came began to undergo knee surgery? What in the world was he thinking?

 

Tretter is s smart dude. Ivy League graduate. Newly elected president of the National Football League Players Association. What gives?

 

He knows he plays the most important position on the offensive line from a strategic and tactical standpoint. His likely absence in the opener in Baltimore means Nick Harris, a raw rookie who has never made a meaningful pro football snap, will be at center.

 

Considering the offensive system is brand new – installation doesn’t take root just like that – and there are no exhibition games this season to work out the kinks, not much thought was put into the timing of this surprise.

 

The arthroscopic procedure reportedly was performed to “clean out loose bodies” that have bothered the pivot for some time. Doing it earlier would have made more sense. It would have given him more time to heal.

 

It is believed now that recovery time is in the vicinity of a month, which will put Tretter on the cusp of day-to-day territory on the injury report. If he cant go, Harris, a fifth-round pick in the last college draft, will make all line calls.

 

This team can ill afford to lose anyone on the revamped offensive line even for one game. And there is no assurance Tretter will be ready for the trip to Baltimore, let alone the second game of the season at home against Cincinnati.

 

The earliest he returns, unless he’s a super quick healer, won’t be until days before the Baltimore game. Even then, he will have missed every practice, raising the question as to whether his body can withstand contact after an extended period without it.

 

Of course he says he will be ready for the opener. To say otherwise would be frowned upon from a public relations angle.

 

Having had knee surgery myself (torn medial meniscus 20 years ago), the recovery time Tretter and the club anticipate just might be a little longer than a month.  

*       *       *

So Baker Mayfield now admits he lost confidence in himself during his very forgettable sophomore season in the NFL. He was the antithesis of the quarterback who set a league record with 27 touchdown passes as a rookie.

 

If I recall correctly, he acted quite differently at the end of last season, boasting he knew exactly what was wrong and that he would go back home, work on it in the offseason and be ready to be his normal self in 2020. The confidence might have been damaged, but the brashness remained.

 

Well here we are and a new Baker Mayfield has emerged.  “I’m in a much better state mentally,” he told the Cleveland media recently, humbling himself along the way.

 

“Having success all through high school and college and having that standard so high and then the last couple of years have been a rollercoaster of emotions and not nearly as much success as I’m used to,” he said..

 

“I would say I lost myself not having that success, not finding out what was working. I tried different ways of trying to have that success and didn’t find it. I lost myself in that and wasn’t able to be who I am for the guys on the team.”

 

That had to be difficult to admit for someone so cocksure of himself.  But, he said, all that has changed. The confidence, it seems, is back. Perhaps it’s because the Browns are starting all over again with a new head coach, coaching staff and philosophy.

 

Mayfield needed a change, although he didn’t know it at the time. Little did he know the problems that affected his performance last season would disappear just a few days after the Browns’ final game of the 2019 season.

 

The firing of Freddie Kitchens, the main cause of Mayfield’s nosedive to the bottom of the NFL’s quarterback rankings, was the first step. It became obvious early on last season that the Mayfield-Kitchens duo often misfired. It lasted all season. The supreme self-confidence and public brashness disappeared.

Now the slate is clean. Everything is new. His new head coach has connected with him, helping him regain the lost confidence. And there is a good chance his public humbling with regard to last season will more than temper that brash personality.