Written By: Scott

The Browns have only completed three-plus days of full-team drills, but rookie safety TJ Ward has already been turning a few heads in Berea. Whether he is playing in the passing lanes or forcing and recovering fumbles, Ward has stepped in with the first team defense right out of the gate and has not looked back.

Ward’s teammate and fellow starting stafety Abram Elam has taken note of the rookie’s progress since being drafted this past April and was quick to acknowledge how far his new colleague has come in such a short time.

“T.J.’s a great competitor and he has the will to learn,” said Elam. ”With those two things, you can be successful in this league. I’m just admiring going to work with T.J. each and every day because he wants to get better.”

Drafted with the sixth pick in the second round, many questioned the Browns’ decision as Ward not only had little name recognition, but was also the victim of an injury that hampered a significant portion of his collegiate career. The big knock against Ward coming out of Oregon was his size and lack of “big play” ability – mostly due to his low interception total.

However, now a member of the Orange and Brown, Ward has become quite familiar with the big plays.

During Wednesday’s morning session, quarterback Jake Delhomme hit Jerome Harrison with a pass to the sidelines which appeared to be destined for pay dirt. Ward instinctively played Harrison with a pursuit angle where the two players met at the five-yard line. The rookie safety not only jarred the football loose, but managed to recover the fumble as well.

A fumble recovery two days prior resulted in running back Chris Jennings running a lap. And while he has had his fair share of mishaps in the passing game, Ward continues to show his teammates and coaches that he is ready to step into a starting, contributing role come Week 1 of the regular season.

“[As a starter], you have to be a leader and you have to be vocal and sometimes,” said Elam. “As a young guy, you are fresh in so you really don’t know your role. T.J.’s really progressing and that’s something that he’s been assertive in and he’s doing a good job.”

Other tidbits from this morning’s training camp:

- Lane Adkins from The OBR noted this morning that cornerback Joe Haden continues to impress. He broke up multiple passes and showed stout abilities in run defense.

- Gerard Lawson had an excellent session, intercepting a pass from Seneca Wallace and then busting out a pick-six against Colt McCoy. He celebrated the touchdown by taking pictures of his abs for his Twitter avatar*.

- While he’s had a few passes broken up or intercepted, quarterback Jake Delhomme continues to be categorized as “accurate.” As I mentioned yesterday as well as this morning, the approach in grading Delhomme has been humorous at times. When the quarterback is successful, some want to peg it on a week defense. When he isn’t as lucky, it is allegedly a giant red flag. I understand that he isn’t the quarterback of the future, but fans really should at least give the guy a chance.

- And finally, an interesting development today had the first-team right side of the offensive line featuring rookie Shaun Lauvao at guard and newly acquired Tony Pashos at tackle. Last season’s starters Floyd Womack and John St. Clair spent a lot of Wednesday morning with the second team. Coincidentally, it was the right side of the line that cost the Browns many plays last season. Lauvao has also been spending some time at center with the second team giving the kid a ton of opportunity to succeed.