Veteran, OTA's & Rookie Camp Notes

D Bone

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/browns-hue-jackson-already-changing-141007782.html

Browns: Hue Jackson Already Changing Culture

Hue Jackson has not even coached a single game for the Cleveland Browns, yet his impact is already highly noticeable.

When the Cleveland Browns take the field in 2016 they will likely struggle, but that will not be a completely accurate reflection of the coach Hue Jackson has done. Jackson has not coached a single game for the Cleveland Browns, yet his impact is already highly noticeable. The days of simply preaching about change appears to finally be coming to an end, and the days of actual change taking place are here.

Fans of the Browns have been filled with empty promise after empty promise as each new regime has rolled in. With the possible exception of the Mangini era, no regime has been able to show any progress that backed up the lofty promises they made to the Cleveland faithful. Everyone looking at the Browns kept echoing the same response, you have to give your coaches time, change does not happen over night. Changes in the win loss column may take time, but changes in the mentality and attitude of a team seems to take place a lot quicker with Hue Jackson at the helm.

When Cleveland hired Coach Jackson it was met with an overwhelmingly positive response around the league. Coach Jackson is a highly respected coach in the NFL and for the first time in a long time the Browns were able to get their guy on the first try. The amount of respect other coaches in the NFL have for Coach Jackson is evident by the staff he was able to surround himself with. The Browns coaching staff could easily be considered one of the deepest in the league today. It may not been the Cleveland Browns coaching tree from the mid nineties when Bill Belicheck was running the show, but the amount of experience that is now in Cleveland will be evident starting this season. The silly mental mistakes and being simply outcoached appear as if they will be a thing of distant memory soon.

The experience of Hue Jackson is great, but it is his no nonsense approach and ability to relate to players that will have the biggest impact this year. Jackson has not been afraid to mince words, he comes right out and says what is on his mind and if you like it great, if you don’t find a way to get over it. With rookies coming to camp this past week, Jackson wasted little time to call out the entire rookie class, especially first round pick Corey Coleman. High on all of his picks, Jackson was not afraid to upset any of his new comers when he said that they all needed to be better conditioned. Jackson went on to talk about how talented Coleman was, but also noted how badly he needed to get in shape. To call out your prized first round pick receiver on day one of rookie mini camp takes some serious nerve and Jackson seems to have plenty of that.

How many coaches do you have to go back to find what Jackson has already displayed in his short time here? Romeo Crennel was too soft, but the players loved him. Eric Mangini was too much of a disciplinarian and drove his players away. Where do we start with the problems the Pat Shurmur era brought us. Rob Chudzinski couldn’t seem to get the fire lit in the belly of his players, but his sample size is probably too small. Mike Pettine was so afraid to mess up his first head coaching opportunity that he messed it up by not being tough enough on his guys.

People who were actually on the field at Browns training camps in the previous two years have said that Coach Mike Pettine would almost disappear in practice and you would have no idea who the actual head coach was. That won’t be a problem with Jackson. 92.3 The Fan’s Daryl Ruiter has even gone on to say that he saw more coaching on the first day of veterans voluntary mini camp then he saw in the last five years.

The change in Cleveland is already evident and it will take time to get to where the Browns are looking to go. For the first time in a long time the direction the Browns are going appears to be a positive one and not just filled with empty words and blind optimism. The right staff appears to be in place now. The fans and the organization just needs to be patient for the change to occur on the field.

Westside Steve

gumby73

Day 1 of 9 of the Browns OTA's has begun today. As Sam Rutigliano would say "A new broom (rookies) sweeps well but it takes a old broom (vets) to get the corners". Now Let's see who's in NFL shape? Hue, "You don't live in Cincinnati you live in Cleveland"..STAY HEALTHY, but work their ass off .

TexasAg1969

Nice interview with rookie center Matthews. He had already chosen the Browns as the place he wanted to go before getting the phone call. Nice to have a player who wants to be a Brown.

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/article-5/Rookie-center-wants-to-give-Browns-fans-a-new-Matthews-to-remember/3aa06ec3-36d3-45c4-b5d4-6d8a19133dc2

Tour2ma

So you're saying Mathews is not that bright... or maybe he is...

“We went through every single team, all 32 teams, and we decided who needed the most help interior-wise between guard and center,” Matthews said. “And then after the draft we went through the list and the Browns were No. 1 on the list.”

LogicIsForSquares

@tour2ma said:

So you're saying Mathews is not that bright... or maybe he is...

“We went through every single team, all 32 teams, and we decided who needed the most help interior-wise between guard and center,” Matthews said. “And then after the draft we went through the list and the Browns were No. 1 on the list.”

Marketed his skills to the place most in need of them. Smart kid.

Tour2ma

Decent Grossi article on Mike with plenty of input from Dad and Uncle Clay...

http://espn.go.com/blog/cleveland/post/_/id/1386/browns-undrafted-center-mike-matthews-continues-the-family-tradition

gftChris

He's basically looking at Cam Erving and thinking 'I can beat that guy in a competition'

D Bone

Most of us don't like her, but none the less, this is good to hear:

Mary Kay Cabot ‏@MaryKayCabot 38m38 minutes ago

#Browns Hue Jackson runs the most spirited, uptempo practices I have seen in 28 years of covering this team.

Mary Kay Cabot ‏@MaryKayCabot 1h1 hour ago

#Browns Haden: "Hue Jackson is the best thing that's happened to the Browns since I've been here.''

gumby73

Something about Browns & you Texas fellas? UDFA K Brad Craddock out of Maryland was cut. Browns claim K Jaden Oberkrom (went 3-3 from 50 plus) from TCU off waivers from Jags.. Coon Dawg in a 3 man kicker battle . Yes, Kickers lives matter too 🥷

Zombo

Coon Dawg will be here 12 years.

Z

Tour2ma

Some MKC observations... FWIW...

Pryor "flashing"; belongs on the 53.
Coleman, Kessler and Louis are missing a lot (NFL Rookie Premier Invitees).
McC looks 20-something.
Gilbert getting a look.
Hue's practices are "lightening fast".
Al Saunders' enthusiam.

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2016/05/terrelle_pryor_is_flashing_and.html#0

Tour2ma

Interesting note for lingering Pettine haters from the MIA section of yesterday's OTA summary:

LT Joe Thomas appeared to have his standard veteran day off.

http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2016/5/19/11715528/recapping-what-happened-during-the-first-set-of-browns-ota-sessions

gumby73

Zombo said:

Coon Dawg will be here 12 years.

Z

Well, The Great and Powerful Zombo has spoken & apparently either winked at another women in a hotel lobby or when Zombo post Kicker's listen. The Great & Powerful Coon Dawg is the last Kicker standing after OTA's. After a 2 day visit to Cleveland, K Jaden Oberkom decided to Retire his kicking career. Browns picked up WR 6' 2" Dennis Parks UDFA from GB that played again in Texas from Rice.. Go Owls!! Z stay out of his Hotel Lobby .. but, they will leave the light on for ya

gumby73

Back to OTA activities today with plenty of videos & interviews at CB.com. Coleman, Duke, Crow & Pryor on the good day list. Looking like C. Coleman will be our PR specialist also. Gilbert getting a good look with a new stance & it seems like RG3 is "all in" this time. They can't seem to get him out of the building at night.. Go to work 3!! VK,JT says he's taking his days off, despite what you think

wargograw

So the experiment of moving Gilbert to receiver is over now, right?

gumby73

@wargograw said:
So the experiment of moving Gilbert to receiver is over now, right?

Kinda think that ship sailed than sunk. Hard enough to believe Pryor as a starter WR for now. But thinking Gilbert & Coleman were drafted in 1st round as return specialist may even be worse. If we have to watch the train wrecks that happen on returns Gilbert, T. Williams, M. Moore or Mostert would be easier to watch than seeing Coleman go thru what Duke did with concussions.. Game comes with risk though.

joedawg69

Have not been able to see much this year; but, Higgins is being said to be looking like a starter at receiver (keep in mind that this is just OTAs and things can change once the pads come on). Mostly just talk of showing potential and have to wait and see. Not sure Ogbah can make the change but I am always skeptical of 4-3 DEs changing to 3-4 OLBs. Anyway, I have seen worse on this team and others. At least they are showing improvement and the desire to improve (no divas so far).

gumby73

E. Ogbah inks his deal 4yr. 6.6mill. Jackson invites H. Dixon, Kosar, S. Sanders, J. Thierry & Felix Wright to OTA's today. Gilbert chance with 1's. Browns headed your way Z. Browns announce will practice with Bucs 8-23 & 8-24 before preseason game 8-26. should be a good sweat..

jiggins7919

I really, really dislike hearing about "changing the culture" and all of that nonsense. We've heard that for way too long, and let's be honest, for the first 11 games of Pettine's tenure, we actually THOUGHT we had it. Obviously, we know how THAT ended. The "culture" will change ONLY when two things happen: We finally get our QB, and we start winning games IN OUR DIVISION. I'm not hating on Hue Jackson, not at all, I actually REALLY like the coaches we have (Horton is the only one I'm kind of nervous about).

I'm very encouraged about what I read and see about Pryor, and I'm guessing he's the reason that Hartline was let go now, and not earlier. Coaches got a look at what Pryor can really do, and I don't think he's a "gadget" player anymore. The icing on the cake would obviously be Gordon, but I'm not even sure we'd take him back.

I'm also very encouraged about our offense in general. Hue knows how to run the ball, and we have to get the ground game rocking to take SOME pressure off the passing game. If Hue thinks Crow can carry the load with some Duke sprinkled in, so be it. I love running the ball, and I'm hoping beyond hope we have the right guys.

If we're going to win a few games this year and not COMPLETELY suck, we're going to need a few things to go our way. First, we need the injury bug to be gentle. It's the NFL, and injuries happen to every team, but we can't have the "big ones" to certain players. Next, we need our defense to get to the QB and force some turnovers. We need as many extra possessions as possible, and when we DO get in the red zone, we need to increase our red zone percentage. How will we do against the run? That's another HUGE aspect we need to improve on. I know the QB is the hottest topic, but it won't matter who is back there if we're getting our ass blown off again.

I see that our coaches and writers are also trying to make me drink the "Justin Gilbert Kool-Aid"...I am resisting. Perhaps the only good thing about Haden having surgery is Gilbert is getting another look, but I remain very pessimistic. I hope to hell and back that Gilbert works out, but I'll believe it when I see it.

I think we're going to be a tougher team, and that alone is a big plus to me. Of course, we won't know until the pads come on, but let's face it...Pettine didn't run a tough camp, or physical practices. I heard that from a bunch of witnesses and our radio guys said the same thing. Hue Jackson doesn't play that crap, and it sounds like "summer camp" is over and our boys will have to work their asses off. We won't be in a situation where we get "out conditioned", and I like that. Ogbah and Nassib seem like "tough guys", and that's what I want. Ogbah could honestly be the steal of the entire draft. I can't WAIT to see him. Nassib won't have the stats (in my opinion) right away, but I wouldn't sleep on him either.