Midweek thoughts

Call it a hunch. A stab in the dark. A moment that woke me at 3 o'clock one morning. 

It's a question that will finally be answered by Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski Friday. I'm here to beat him to the punch.

Here we are with just one exhibition game left before the 2021 National Football League season begins in earnest and Stefanski has basically excused the starters on both sides of the football from entering the playing field.

Second-, third- and fourth stringers have won the first two games over Jacksonville and the New York Giants. With an opportunity to finish unbeaten in the meaningless exhibition season for the first time since 2017 -- the Browns were  4-0 that year, then went on to lose the next 16 games -- does Stefanski finally unleash his regulars and provide momentum for the regular season?

No, he does not. The explosiveness of the Cleveland offense, now in its second season under Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, allows the head coach to feel confident about what lies ahead, especially with the return of Odell Beckham Jr.

He doesn't need to see it first hand now in order to be convinced that keeping it under wraps is the wisest move until the money games arrive.

And although the defense will feature as many as eight or nine new faces, it is a considerably more talented unit than last season's crew, which imploded on a regular basis. If Stefanski wanted to see if it would become cohesive, he would have done so by now.

A 17-game season awaits. No need to expose your most valuable assets until you have to. Injuries, of course, are a big part of this collision sport. This training camp has had more than its share, mostly of the soft-tissue variety. 

That won't deter Stefanski. I think he runs out his backups -- he still has an 80-man roster with which to work -- one more time against the Falcons before making the gigantic trim to the final 53-man squad. Even then, there probably will be some roster juggling with regard to players not quite ready physically.

He's seen enough and will make it official Friday. You'll see Mayfield, Chubb, Hunt, the terrific wide receivers corps, the solid line on offense, and Garrett, Clowney, Jackson, Ward. Owusu-Koramoah, Hill, Johnson and Harrison on defense soon enough. You've waited this along. A little while longer shouldn't be a problem.

Now watch Stefanski go out Friday and blow that hunch, stab and 3 a.m. to smithereens.

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Jadeveon Clowney has rather interesting thoughts about members of opposing offensive lines, in particular the two men who flank the center. The defensive end shared them with the media Thursday.

Clowney, whose ability to stop the run far exceeds his ability to rush and sack opposing quarterbacks, occasionally will move inside to tackle in certain sub packages. As an end, he tangles with opposing tackles. Inside, he encounters guards. He doesn't think highly of guards.

"We love that matchup," he said. "We feel they're the unathletic guys. That guard position, they're just physical and maulers, not real athletes down there. We try to get in there and create those matchups for certain guys and hopefully we get some wins."

Wonder what he thinks of Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller, the two guys he faces in practice when he lines up at tackle. I wouldn't call them unathletic, not after watching them pull and trap, pull and lead and rank up there with the best pass-protecting guards in the league.

Clowney is clearly painting a picture with a broad brush. Most of the strong running teams around the NFL have guards who are decidedly the antithesis of unathletic.

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Quick thoughts . . . Don't know why, but I get the feeling wide receiver Rashard Higgins might be among the roster cuts next Tuesday. It's one of those hope-I'm-wrong moments based strictly on a feeling. He's too valuable to lose. . . . If he makes the final 53, Johnny Stanton IV can thank his versatility (fullback, tight end). It'll be close between Stanton and tight end Jordan Franks. . . .  Cutting Joe Jackson in favor of Porter Gustin at defensive end is also a mistake. . . . Even though Takkarist McKinley has missed a huge chunk of training camp time with what the club called a personal problem, he'll make the cut. It's unfortunate because it deprives someone more deserving of the move up. . . . Rooting for Malik McDowell (based on just one game)  to be one of the four defensive tackles. That's because he looked so good against the Giants, even though it was against their scrubs.