News

Browns Head Coach Pat Shurmur Press Conference 8-7-12

(Opening Statement)- “Practice started a little bit later because we were a little delayed getting back from Philadelphia, but the guys handled it well. We got a lot of good work in. The guys competed well. I could see that some of these guys have camp legs, which you get this time of year. We’re about four and a half weeks out from our first game so that’s natural. Part of the grind of training camp is fighting your body and your mind and making sure you come out here and compete, and I think our guys did that. It was a good afternoon of work and we’ll come back out tomorrow. As you know, tomorrow afternoon we’ll be doing our walk-through, and then we’re going to be in the stadium tomorrow night, which will be fun. It’s a fun event. It’s a great opportunity for our fans to watch us work. It will be a good chance for our rookies to play in our arena for the first time, which will be a good thing as well. We’ll do that tomorrow. It was a fun event last year, as you know we did it on a weekend, this year we’re doing it on a weekday. I know they have fireworks and there will be a lot of stuff going on. It should be a good night for everybody that wants to come watch us practice.”

(On Trent Richardson didn’t practice today)- “He had a sore knee. We’ll evaluate it and see as we move forward here. But that’s why we held him out.”

(On if Richardson missing practice will affect him playing in Friday’s game)- “It might. We’ll have to evaluate him further which we’ll do here after practice, then we’ll see where we go from there.”

(On if he said Richardson will miss practice tomorrow)- “I said it might affect Friday, so I don’t know. We’ll have to see. We’re going to evaluate him further here. There’s a chance he won’t play on Friday.”

(On how concerned he is with Richardson’s injury)- “I’m always concerned about injuries. I think at this point we’ll just find out what it is. He’s been practicing well. He’s just a little bit sore right now, so we’ll just see where he is.”

(On if Josh Gordon is one of the players with “camp leg”)- “I think that’s fair to say. He’s really getting better every day in our eyes, when we watch his body of work each day. I would say that I think his mind and his body are at battle right now. They are battling. I think he’ll push through it. This is unlike anything he’s probably ever been through in terms of an NFL training camp. But he’s getting better and he’s improving and he’s fighting through it. I think that’s the important part.”

(On John Hughes being listed with the first team on the depth chart)- “They’re going to play in there. I wouldn’t get too concerned about those depth charts right now. We have to put somebody in there, and he is a guy that will compete to play in that spot. Nobody’s earned anything there. We’re going to play a bunch of guys.”

(On Eric Haag)- “He’s done a good job. He’s also in the competition there. He’ll start the game this week, but I think we’re going to have to see some performance from everybody or most guys in the game.”

(On what Evan Moore has to do to get better)- “I think Evan Moore flashes out here of course because he’s tall and he can catch the football. I think Evan’s like every player. They have to just improve their total game. I think Evan would answer the question the same way. To say to get on the field, well he played a lot last year. He played a heck of a lot last year. It’s not like we didn’t play him. He’s like everybody, he’s out here working on his total game, whether its route running, blocking, all the things you do when you don’t have the ball. He’s back out here now healthy, so now he’ll have an opportunity to improve.”

(On Moore saying that he had to improve his blocking)- “That’s fair. I think that maybe came from me. I’m glad that they are repeating stuff I tell them (joking).”

(On if tomorrow will be a normal practice)- “It’s a normal practice. My concern about doing too much physical now is we’re pressed up toward that preseason game here on Friday. It’ll be a Cleveland Browns experience for the fans. Then there are certain things we need to get done in practice, we’ll do some red zone, we’ll move the ball, we’ll do some kicking. I think it’ll be a fun night. If I wasn’t involved with this team, it would be something I’d come watch.”

(On if he prefers practicing as much as possible leading up to the games compared to scrimmaging another team)– “I think that’s a philosophy. I think if the schedule permits I’m not against it, I’m really not. I think this year because we have it planned out the way we do, I wanted to just stay with the traditional format and then just see how it plays out and then of course next year, schedule permitting I’m not against it if it fits.”

(On how Benjamin Watson is doing)– “Ben’s doing fine. He will be back out here soon, very soon. We’re dealing with just some of those things that happen in camp, little soft tissues strains and pulls, that type of stuff.”

(On Marcus Bernard’s status)– “He wasn’t out there today. He’s doing fine.”

(On Colt McCoy saying he didn’t get a fair chance to be the starter)– “I think you’re talking to a guy that’s a competitor, that’s disappointed that he’s not the starter. I don’t tell him what to say and he has feelings that he expressed to you. I would say this, all the quarterbacks have had an opportunity to show us what they can do and we made a decision on who the starter is.”

(On what he wants to see out of the other running backs if Trent Richardson can’t play Friday)– “I want to see efficient play, I want to see good strong runs, if we throw them the football I want to see them catch it and then when we throw the football it’s very important that they pass protect. It will be good. We have a long line of backs there that are going to get a few more reps now if Trent doesn’t play in the game where they’re going to get a chance to show us what they can do. I think there was a question here earlier in the week, ‘Oh my goodness, how are you going to get a chance to see everybody?’ Well, here we go and I think it’s amazing how training camp takes care of some of that.”

(On which wide receiver has taken the biggest stride from last year)– “I think the guy who looks totally different to me this year from last year is Mo (Massaquoi). I think Mo’s done a fantastic job in camp. He came in healthy and had the right mindset. As you notice, we’re playing him outside and inside and I see a very focused guy that wants to have a good year.”

(On what Carlton Mitchell has to do to make up for his missed time in training camp)– “I think for him to catch up he needs to stay healthy and stay on the field and practice and then when he gets in the game, make some plays. I think that’s the reality of it. For guys that miss practice time, we’re out here judging and evaluating everything all the time and they miss opportunities to be evaluated, quite frankly. I think for guys that miss practice that really haven’t proven that they can play in this league at a consistent level, they need to practice and then they need to do it in a game.”

(On John Hughes being a run stopper and Billy Winn being a quick guy and if he has learned anything new about them)– “I wouldn’t paint them both into a run stopper or pass rusher box yet. Just because a guy is physical enough to stop the run doesn’t mean he can’t generate pass rush. Like Billy Winn, just because he’s got quickness doesn’t mean he can’t play the run. Those are at first glance what they’re attributes are. Now they need to develop into total players based on what they’re good at.”

(On if Trevin Wade has stood out the past couple days)– “Yeah, he actually stood out to me in the offseason. He’s carried through and had a good camp. The games will be important for him as well.”

(On if Ahtyba Rubin is carrying a few extra pounds this year)– “No, I think his weight is fine. You’re just not used to seeing him out there now that he’s out there. I was near him a couple of time today and I interacted with him a couple of times between drills and he’s a very large ma, but he’s fit.”