INDIANAPOLIS - Sashi Brown officially kicked off a busy Thursday at the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine.
The Browns executive vice president of football operations was the first to take the podium inside Lucas Oil Stadium. What followed was a bevy of executive, coaches, quarterbacks and wide receivers.
On top of everything we've already written today -- and there's a lot -- here are the five things that made waves.
High praise for Andrew Berry
Browns' Vice President of Player Personnel Andrew Berry spent plenty of time at Lucas Oil Stadium during his time with the Colts, and he's been a regular topic of conversation in interviews here throughout the first two days of media availability.
Colts general manager Ryan Grigson, in an interview with 92.3 The Fan, said Berry was "elite when it comes to intelligence." That echoed what Brown and coach Hue Jackson said when prompted about one of the Browns' most recent front office additions.
"Although he's spent less time in the league than others, he's learned a tremendous amount," Brown said. "He's a great leader and person, tremendously high character, really competitive and hard working. So these are themes that you're hearing in a lot of answers and responses I'm giving about Hue and our vision, and he aligned very much with where we want to be. He's an out-of-the box thinker, but he also understands traditionally what's been successful in the league. He spent a lot of time here with Ryan Grigson and Bill Polian and seen a lot of success here, so it brings that knowledge to us.
"Our scouting staff has a lot of experience on it, and Andrew's wise enough to know that, like anyone in this seat, he doesn't have to have and doesn't have all of the answers. We will tap into that experience and make sure that we're making the best possible decisions for the organization and each opportunity."
Jackson a benefit in ongoing free agent discussions
Brown reiterated much of what Jackson said Wednesday about Browns who are poised to hit free agency next month but made it clear Cleveland's new head coach was having a positive impact on establishing a culture of retaining players.
"It is important for us to keep our own, I think it says something to the locker room when you reward guys that do it the right way and make sure that they understand that being here in Cleveland, we want to build through the draft certainly but we also need to retain our guys when we get to free agency," Brown said. "And it's been tough to do that, largely because there's been so much transition. So we talked to them about the continuity moving forward that we're aiming for. Hue's been a big benefit because a lot of players want to play for Hue, so he's been a tremendous asset to us being able to reignite some of those conversations."
Brown said Pro Bowl center Alex Mack, who can opt out of his contract shortly before the new league year begins March 9, was among those who recently visited with Jackson and other members of the organization.
The ultimate question
The final question Brown received led to his biggest picture answer.
How do the Browns plan to change the culture that's caused too many losing seasons?
"It starts with leadership and it starts with myself, Hue, Jimmy (Haslam), Paul DePodesta breeding the confidence," Brown said. "Making sure that we're building a system not so focused on results, not so focused on one position or one player, but really setting an expectation of a work ethic, so that every day we're getting better. It's going to be hard to know that ice is forming, but by the time we get there, you know the water is getting colder and through our processes we're getting better. We're taking a systematic approach to it and daily we're going to expect a lot from our players and make sure that by the time we get to Fall and Sundays, our expectation going into every game will be to win."
Talk to the hand
Even though they fell on opposite ends of the measurement spectrum, top quarterback prospects Jared Goff and Carson Wentz were none too interested in talking about the size of their throwing hands.
Goff, the Cal product whose hands were among the smallest at his position, shrugged off the numerous questions he received about his 9-inch hands.
"I've been told I have pretty big hands my whole life," Goff said. "I heard I have small hands yesterday, apparently. I've never had a problem with that or expect it to be a problem at all."
Wentz, the North Dakota State product, had his hands measured at 10 inches. Needless to say, it was not among the reasons he believes makes him the top quarterback in the draft.
"I think it's something cool to talk about or whatever, gives you guys something fun to write about," Wentz said. "But I think it's just another measurement that they do here just because."
Quote of the day
Ole Miss wide receiver Laquon Treadwell, who is pegged by many to be the first at his position to be drafted, carries himself with confidence and made that clear when he was asked about the toughest defensive back he faced during his three years of college.
"I mean, I wouldn't consider anyone tough in college," Treadwell said. "You had teams that had great players. I just never got a one-on-one matchup where I (thought) that guy would stop me or that guy would shut me down."
