Cleveland Browns quarterback ![]()
In addition to developing a rhythm in terms of the flow of the game and chemistry with his teammates, Weeden and the Browns will get exposed to the pace of a typical, regular-season work week leading up to the team’s preseason finale against the Chicago Bears at Cleveland Browns Stadium Thursday night.
“This is a Wednesday schedule for us, so that the new players can get a feel for the rhythm of a Wednesday, but within this day, we’re working on the corrections from the past game and we’ll be competing against each other,” Browns coach Pat Shurmur said Sunday morning. “It’s a Browns vs. Browns day with the idea that we’re doing what we can to get better.”
Shurmur said the coaches and players broke down the game film from last Friday’s 27-10, preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Cleveland Browns Stadium and held to what he told the media following the game.
“When you play a good team, you’ve got to play your best,” Shurmur said. “Any team you play, if you give it to them with turnovers and kicking game issues -- and I don’t think we played with the same emotion that we played with when we played Green Bay -- when you do those things, then, you get the results that we got. That was the message to the players. We cleaned up the tape.”
Third-year guard ![]()
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“I think they do a better job -- both of them -- of blocking their guy individually and then, as they play together with the center and the tackles, as a unit, if we can keep that group together, the longer we do that, they’ll play better as a unit,” Shurmur said. “That synergy there is so important, so important. We’ve got that unit right now and they’ve played a lot of snaps together.
“If you look at the last two preseason games and just count reps for the ones, we’ve had over 90 snaps for the ones in two halves of football. That’s very rare you get 46 and 49-play first halves. That’s helped me, as far as seeing our guys execute.”
ON THE MEND
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“He dislocated his elbow, so they fixed it,” Shurmur said. “We’ll just see how quickly he’ll progress.”
Shurmur also gave an update on rookie running back ![]()
“He is making great progress; he’ll be out there soon,” Shurmur said. “We’ll see how soon. He’s doing great. Being able to run the football is extremely important and I’ve always believed in it. If you have a running back there that folks need to defend, then, of course, it helps. It helps in a lot of ways.”
MAKING MOVES
The Browns announced nine roster moves when they waived offensive linemen Jake Anderson and Matt Cleveland, punter Spencer Lanning, defensive back Emanuel Davis, wide receivers Carlton Mitchell, Bert Reed, Jermaine Saffold and Owen Spencer and linebacker JoJo Dickson Sunday morning.
The roster currently stands at 80 players and needs to be down to 75 on Monday. The Browns need to be down to the league-mandated 53-man limit on Friday.
“This is the tough time of year for a coach because you develop a relationship with the players,” Shurmur said. “They compete extremely hard for you and then, you’ve got to make tough decisions and let guys go.”
Mitchell, a late-round draft pick of the team in 2010, spent much of the last two training camps recovering from injury and unable to participate in team drills.
“He was one of the guys we were hopeful could show us everything that he could,” Shurmur said. “When you talk about why guys make it or don’t make it and how it relates to injuries and not being able to practice, if you’re a guy that’s proven that you can play in this league and you’re injured, well, that’s in your favor. You’ve proven it. For guys who haven’t proven that they can play in this league and you struggle to stay on the field in practice, that’s not in your favor. Quite frankly, that may be the case. I’ve got a lot of respect for Carlton. He’s flashed and done some good things here, but unfortunately, he’s not with us anymore.”
UNDERSTANDING HIS ROLE
Browns quarterback ![]()
“He’s done an outstanding job here in training camp and I’m very pleased with where he’s at,” Shurmur said. “I gained an even greater appreciation for him and the way he’s competed, the way he’s handled the situation. I’m very impressed with how he’s doing and I think that’s good for our team.
“He understands one of the primary things you need to understand as a backup: to be ready to play because you’re an ankle injury away from being in there and he’s been on both sides of that coin. He understands it.”