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Tight ends coach Greg Seamon:**
On TE David Njoku's dropped passes:
"I think he is frustrated that he has dropped a couple of balls. He has made some spectacular catches, as well. We are certainly looking for consistency. David is in the rookie mode. This is his first training camp. We have put virtually all of the offense in at this point. We are seeing a lot of different defensive looks from (defensive coordinator) Gregg (Williams), which over the long hall will help us a great deal. It complicates the assignments a bit right now. I think he is in that process. We have only had four padded practice days. He is absorbing the information. He is progressing well. Certainly a lot of things to grow on and a lot of things to clean up but very happy with the way he works and the progress that we are making. He will become more consistent catching the ball, I believe, as he becomes more confident in the system and what he is doing."
On if Njoku has been over-thinking his assignments rather than just playing and catching:
"I think every young player goes through a little bit of that. You want to be precise in your routes. You want to be where you are supposed to be and when you are supposed to be there. As it becomes more natural for him in the system, I think he will relax, will be fine and will make plays."
On if Njoku will have a difficult time adjusting to games and the physicality that comes with them:
"Ironically, in this game, it is a little bit easier in game weeks because you deal with less offense to know and you have more film to watch of your opponent. You can anticipate more of what you are going to see. Physically, he has played the position. He is an extraordinary athlete. He is a big, strong guy. I think he will handle the physical part of it fine. He is a very bright young man. He will be fine as we go forward. I am not concerned."
On Head Coach Hue Jackson calling TE Seth DeValve an 'emerging player,' and the biggest jump he has seen from last season until now:
"Seth is a stronger, faster version of what he was a year ago. He is very, very bright. He studies the game, is a quick learner, a quick study. He has become an outstanding route runner at this point. Very efficient and very quick out of his breaks, consistent hands and a better athlete than perhaps people think. He can run. He can jump. He can change direction really well. As Hue has said, I am hopeful that he has a big year. He is an emerging player. He has to do it in the games, but to this point in practice and what he did at the end of last season, I thought, showed real progress. I am very excited about Seth and where he is headed."
On the differences between Njoku and DeValve, and how those differences can pose problems for opposing defenses:
"They are different in that David is a little bit taller. They both run well. In the end, I am hopeful they can do virtually the same things. You don't want each of them to be a type that only does a few things specific to themselves when they are on the field. You want them to have a broad based approach to the offense. I don't think there will be that much difference when we get down the road a little ways."
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Linebackers coach Blake Williams:**
On LB Jamie Collins Sr.:
"He is at a great level. First of all about Jamie, even last year, maybe the casual fan can't have enough respect for what he did last year coming in immediately and having a complex system similar to the complex system that we have now, and literally, as I was told, they just gave him the playbook and that's how Jamie learns best. He just sat there throughout that first week and just read the playbook, memorized it all and just went out and played and took every single snap. You have seen him do the same thing this year. He is just one of the guys – I have gotten the chance to be around some guys like him in my career – and the phraseology that I use is he can just think football. Whatever it is, he can just think football. There may be guys with higher test scores every once and a while and stuff like that, that get stuff confused, and you will hear him over there like, 'Hey, it is just football.' He will know not only what he is supposed to do, but what they are supposed to do, what a DB is supposed to do and what a D lineman is supposed to do. He gets the concept of what he is doing and that allows him to use some of the unique athleticism that he can do and we can kind of move him around and technically play him at different positions. So to say, he is doing more different things than maybe some other people are because he can handle that. If he wasn't able to handle that mentally, then maybe he couldn't be able to do that."
On if the Browns needed to recruit Collins to re-sign with the Browns last offseason and if he was involved in that process:
"I was not involved in that at all, and I really don't think it was. My first technical day on the job was down at the Senior Bowl and that was the day that he got signed. He came [to the Senior Bowl then]. He is from down there not far away, and he drove right over there and came to meet, talked with (Head Coach) Hue (Jackson) but met (defensive coordinator) Gregg (Williams), met me, talked, and I thought that told us a lot about him. No, no real recruiting the entire way. I think he knows what good football looks like. I think he knows what good programs look like. I think he knows what that looks like. I think he sees what we are doing right now and the way the organization as a whole, even outside of the football staff and football ops staff, is going, and he recognizes some of those elements from New England. I think he is excited about it."
On challenges being the son of a coordinator like Gregg Williams:
"I am shocked he is not standing back here right now critiquing my body language and everything, everything I am saying and telling me to take my hat off and all that stuff (laughter). No, maybe earlier in my career and you are maybe a little bit more aware of it. You realize that your résumé and you realize why you are there. You realize it has a level of nepotism that is involved with it. It is a who you know in order to get a chance to show what you know business and your resume at 21 years old, coaching in the league like I was, doesn't necessarily warrant that outside of your name, so I think maybe you are slightly maybe a little bit more aware of that and you want to really sell the players. I think you get to this point in time where it really does not matter. The players know that at the end of the day it is about knowing what he wants and nobody probably knows what he wants him to do more than me. It is almost maybe a reversal effect now, where even at other position groups, it is like, 'Well, how is Gregg going to respond in this situation? How is Gregg going to do this? How is Gregg going to do this?' and I am able to kind of give them a little insight on that. It is probably a reverse effect."
On if LB Tank Carder can win the starting MLB job:
"Yeah, he is doing it right now. I don't say he is doing it right now to mean that, OK, well it is not going to be tomorrow, but he is doing everything he needs to be. Now, so is (LB) Joe Schobert and so are a couple other guys. There are some guys even that you don't see out there always running with the one rotation – maybe once in a while you will see Joe with a certain package is running with the one rotation and what not – but there are some guys that are playing, in my opinion and I think in our staff's opinion, at starter-level caliber reps, even beyond the starters and that is a unique feeling. When all of the sudden you feel that a 'backup' is playing at a starter level, now you can find ways in multiple defenses like Gregg's to take a guy off for a series and get him rest for one series so he is ready to go for one quarter and say, OK, plug you in at this position, plug you in at this position, plug you in at this position, plug you in on this sub-package and maybe get a guy like that up to starter or three-quarters of starter-level reps by the end of the game. The more guys that can prove they can play at that level consistently – Joe Schobert is doing a great job of doing that but so is Tank, as well – the more guys that we can kind of get in there and be fresh in the fourth quarter and try to get after some people."
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LB Tank Carder:**
On being 'in the driver's seat' in regards to being the starting MLB:
"I feel good. There is a lot of work that we still have to do, but I feel good. It is a different feel. I have never really been in this position, but you take it as it comes. It is great. I love it. I love the challenge. We are working hard. We have a lot of work to do."
On being in the starting rotation and the importance of it at this stage of his career:
"It is huge. It is huge for me but not only for me but for the team. We have (LB) Joe Schobert, who is a younger guy that is coming along. It has kind of been put into my hands to run the defense and make the checks and do what we need to do to win games. I am going to take it on full-boar."
On transitioning from a 'special teams ace' to a starting defensive player, given his experience:
"I do not think anything is different. It is just hard work. I think that is what it all boils down to is hard work, and knowing the defense, knowing the scheme and being able to play in the defense consistently, regardless of what defense it is or whose defense it is. I think that it all comes down to just hard work more than it is age or just getting older. I guess it all plays part. For the most part, it is just hard work."
On the challenges with a new defense:
"For the most part, defense is defense. It is Cover 3, Cover 4, all of that. Like I said, it is all defense at the end of the day. It is just different terminology. You just have to learn the way that the coach talks and what the coach wants and where he wants everyone to line up. It all goes back to it is just defense, though."
On defensive coordinator Gregg Williams' style and defense:
"I love the way he coaches. He reminds me of my college coach (Gary Patterson). He is an awesome coach. He gets the best out of people. He pushes people to be great. He doesn't settle for anything less than perfection."
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WR Ricardo Louis:**
On how this camp compares to last year when he was a rookie:
"It is a lot better. It is a lot better. It was a big jump from last year – just the hard work and the dedication to what I do and wanted to do."
On the biggest difference this year:
"Confidence and just being comfortable with doing what I have to do. Once you know what you are doing, it is really easy to just play."
On his main focus this offseason and heading into his second season:
"In the offseason, I took my training very seriously. I took my conditioning very seriously because I want to come out and pretty much run all day. I didn't want to get tired. Sometimes when the team needs you to make plays, everybody is tired. You want to still be able to keep going. That was my goal in the offseason was to come back in the best shape ever."
On if the jump to the NFL was more difficult than he thought:
"I don't think it was harder. I just think that the adjustment was tough. It is tough for anyone coming in from college. Certain things are tough and certain things are easier, but at the end of the day, you still have to learn how to adjust. That was the main part."
On QB DeShone Kizer and his transition to the NFL:
"I see him getting better every day. I see him taking strides. Not everything is going to be perfect but he stays in the playbook, he stays in the meeting room and stays watching film. Those are going to be the things that help him take that next step."
On the challenge of advancing his craft not knowing the Browns starting QB:
"Like I always say, you never know who is going to be the guy in the game because anybody could go down and whoever goes down, the next guy is up. If you have been working with that guy for the whole training camp, then you have a relationship with everybody. You know how Kizer throws the ball. You know how (QB) Brock (Osweiler) throws the ball. You know how (QB) Cody (Kessler) throws it. You know how everybody plays the game. If you practice that, you are able to establish a relationship with everybody so it is really not that tough. For me to go out there, I just play my game and work on my craft."
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DB Jamar Taylor:**
On what hopes to accomplish during his second season with Cleveland:
"Taking my game to another level. Taking my game to a whole 'nother level. Last year was not good enough for me so I have to take big strides this year."
On the Browns defense improving from last year:
"I see it going great. We have a great defensive coordinator. We have great coaches. We are flying around right now, and we have to continue to just get better with these days at practice. We have to keep stacking our days up, but I see us doing way, way better than last year."
On how important it is to know who the starting safeties are for chemistry in the secondary:
"It is important, but we have really good chemistry as a whole right now. Everybody hangs out. We all watch film together. We are all communicating. Whoever they plug in back there, we will be alright. Right now, it is just about getting our installs in, getting our calls in and really just breaking down our defense and just playing fast. We let everything else take care of itself."
On if there are differences from DB Derrick Kindred since returning from injury during his rookie season:
"He is just way more comfortable. When you are a rookie, you are just kind of out there like a chicken with his head cut off and this year that man is flying around. He is hitting people really hard. He just knows the ins and outs of the defense so far. I think he is going to have a good year, too."
On how he has settled in during his second year with the Browns:
"I have settled in well, but I never get comfortable. I never get comfortable because that is when stuff happens that you don't want to happen so I am always working, I always have my head down. I really don't say too much, I just work my butt off and go out there and go out there and just try to do my job. It is good to be here after last year and just kind of knowing the guys. They know me, I know them and we kind of know what to expect."
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OL Joe Thomas:**
On DL Myles Garrett:
"Myles is very fast – that is my thought on Myles Garrett. He is doing an amazing job. I can easily see when he is out there the reasons why you make him the No. 1 pick. He has an athleticism and ability to bend and run that few players in the NFL have. The way he works at it, the way that he analyzes his game after every practice and the way he studies. It is easy to understand why he was the consensus No. 1 pick."
On how he can help Garrett:
"I think that I have got enough experience under my belt that I can give him a few tips. Now, nothing will replace his coach, but from my perspective, I can let him know what it hard on a tackle and what makes my job difficult when he does certain things. It has been fun because he has been very receptive to coaching. He is extremely bright. He is great at understanding the points that you are trying to give him. I am excited to watch him out there in the first preseason game and see what happens."
On the rumor that he whispered 'nice try' to Garrett as Garrett was stopped at the line of scrimmage on one play:
"The training camp practices can get a little hot and long so you have to have some fun with things when you are out there. The little fun banter back and forth is always something that is fun. It is definitely fun to have fun with the rookies a little bit."
On having Pro Football Hall of Fame DL Bruce Smith at Wednesday's practice:
"It was great seeing Bruce out there. I was a big fan when I was a kid. To have him out there sharing his knowledge is, I am sure, exceptional for Myles and for all of those guys on the defensive line."
On Garrett's speed of off the edge:
"He is pretty fast. It will be fun to see him out there in a game situation when the live bullets are flying. I think he is going to do a good job. There is one thing that you can't teach, and that is speed. As an edge rusher, if you have speed, you can make things difficult for a tackle or quarterback because that is one area that you can't teach. You can teach pass-rushing moves, but if you have a guy that is just fast, it makes a tackle's life difficult the whole game."
On his practice schedule:
"The schedule that I am on is sort of an every other day (schedule). I practiced yesterday, off today and then on the next day. That is about all there is to it (laughter). I guess if I need a little bit more rest after a practice day, for instance maybe if I have more plays then I expected or something is sore, you just feel like you need a little more recovery, then you might get two days off. We are lucky that we have not had to do that yet."
