Included below are select quotes from interviews with the following Browns players during today's media availability:
- WR Corey Coleman
- DB Pierre Desir
- OL John Greco
- WR Andrew Hawkins
WR Corey Coleman:
On how he feels about the observation of being the No. 1 receiver and not recognized as a rookie:
"I feel good about it. Coming in as a rookie, I've got a lot of stuff I have to prove and I'm still trying to prove that I can be the No. 1 receiver."
On what he has to prove:
"Being consistent, coming to work every day and showing that I can get the job done."
On his first week of training camp transitioning from college to the NFL:
"It's a little bit different. You have to take care of your body. Like yesterday on our off day, I came in, got rolled out, got stretched and stuff. College, I wouldn't have to do that. I could go home and sleep all day, but it's a little bit different. It's a change. I like it. You just have to take care of your body a lot better now than you did in college."
On if training camp has been what he expected:
"Exactly what I expected."
On recently getting into an altercation with DB Justin Gilbert in practice:
"We were just competing. Me and Justin Gilbert, we've known each other for a while. He went to OSU. I played him in college when I was younger. Just guys get riled up and are just competing, but everything has cleared over fine."
On if he ever caught a ball on Gilbert back in college:
"It was so long ago I can't even remember. I think I was like a freshman, maybe. I don't remember. I couldn't tell you."
On the difference between QBs Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown:
"They know a lot. They're really, really smart. People think quarterbacks have it easy. It's the hardest job on offense. You have to make sure all the checks are right. You have to make sure you know what the receivers know what to do, the O-linemen, the running backs. They have a lot of responsibility and I have a lot of respect for those guys."
On what kind of pro QB Griffin will be this season:
"I think he's going to do fantastic. RGIII's a hard worker. He works really hard. He studies. He studies. He's a perfectionist. He always wants to be perfect. He takes pride in his game and coming to practice and making sure everything's on point. You have a guy like that as your quarterback, I feel like the sky is the limit for RGIII. He's glad he got another chance."
DB Pierre Desir:
On getting experience at S:
"I got a couple of reps earlier in OTAs and minicamp. Training camp, I'm going back and forth, corner and safety, getting that feel of playing safety."
On differences between CB and S:
"Yeah, with corner you're more on an island. With safety, you have to be sure. You have to see everything and you have to make the calls to the corners and backers. You have to be the one that communicates and facilitates what's going on the field."
On his reaction to the switch to S:
"When I heard about the switch, I always feel that the more you can do, the better. Whether they want me to play corner or safety, I'm just going to do whatever I can to help the team."
On if he is a vocal guy on the Browns defense:
"Yeah, like I said earlier, being a safety, you have to be the sheriff. You have to make those calls because everyone is looking at you no matter what they're doing. You have to be a lot more vocal, which helps me be able to really feel the game and understand it a little better."
On if he has ever played S before:
"I think the last time I played safety was freshman year of high school. After that, I played corner and wide receiver. It's definitely new."
On if there is a big learning curve to learning S:
"You have to know a lot more when it comes to coverages and understanding what the offense it trying to do. When you're a corner, it's mainly you're one-on-one coverage. At safety, you need to know everything that's going on on the field."
On the difference between this year's coaching staff and past years:
"They are really just trying to improve us as players. Whether it's nutrition or the way that we lift, just to the way that we handle ourselves on and off the field, we're just trying to be pros and they're just trying to direct us in the right direction to get us there."
On how he would describe his first two years in the NFL:
"The first two years, definitely a learning experience for me – learned what to do, learned what not to do, learned how to correct those issues and learned how to move forward."
OL John Greco:
On his rehab:
"I feel really good. I'm excited to get back out there with the rest of the team. It's been tough these last couple of days watching, but I'm feeling good. Everything is progressing well. We're just still trying to be smart about it. Just doing a few things here and there so I get back to feeling good."
On if he feels like he's going to be ready to go Week 1 against Philadelphia:
"Week 1, I'm ready to go. There's no question about it. I'm planning on being 100 percent way before then. I think be smart these next couple of days, sprinkle me in here and there and just kind of unleash it next week and get after it."
On if being a veteran is beneficial because he knows this game and isn't necessarily falling behind:
"Yeah, that's the thing. Definitely mentally you have to stay in tune. I'm in all the meetings, obviously, and I'm watching film with the guys and I'm watching 80 percent of the practices. It's kind of a thing – I did that before as a starter – you have to get your reps mentally when you're not in there. I think I've done a good job of that these last couple of days."
On lining up next to OL Cameron Erving this season and what has he seen from him in training camp:
"I'm excited about it. Cam is obviously an unbelievable athlete. I've been really impressed with what he's shown these last few days with his physicality and his understanding of the offense now because they've thrown a lot at us. He's been able to conceptualize and put it out on the field. It's been exciting and encouraging. I'm excited to get out there."
On rumors surrounding a trade of QB Josh McCown to the Dallas Cowboys and the value McCown brings to this team:
"Unbelievable value, a great locker room guy. He's played forever. I don't know exactly but he's in his 30s we'll say, but he has played a lot of games, made a lot of starts, won a lot of games so he has tremendous value. I think he's one of the leaders of our team so having him in the locker room is a great thing. With that aside, that's the business end of it so I can just only hope he's with us."
On if the Browns' record last season is deceiving, particularly as it relates to McCown:
"Yeah, I do. Anytime that happens, records obviously they fall hard on the quarterback and that was not on him. It's the whole team. Our thing is he's out there with us now. We give him the best opportunity to perform and win."
On how important McCown has been to QB Robert Griffin III's growth and where he ranks in terms of guys he's played with:
"Absolutely, out of all the guys I've played with, I think he's right at the top. It's different. When you're a young player, you're competing with someone else. You're teammates, but at the same time, you're competing for a job. He's had such a long career that he knows that he's doing everything he can every day to be the No. 1 guy, but at the same time, he's not going to shun Robert. He going to help him. He wants to make everyone around him better. That's the thing. That's what it's about."
On how different the offense is with Griffin under center:
"It's different. Robert is obviously an explosive athlete. He's smart. He's really impressed me this spring and so far during camp. You'd think he'd just look to run all the time, but no, he's making his reads. He's making his checks. He's a very smart player. It's fun to play for a guy like that, with a guy like that. He's such a competitor. If he makes a bad throw or makes a bad read, he's hard on himself and he holds us accountable. He wants us to be perfect. It's exciting. I'm excited to get back in there with him."
WR Andrew Hawkins:
On how he's feeling:
"I'm good. I tweaked my hammy. It's a part of the game, I'll be back sooner than later."
On the rookie WRs:
"They've met all expectations and exceeded. The biggest things is you want hard work, you want effort. It sounds cliché, but it's not common, especially for young guys. You have got all the young guys, and even the guys that have been here, they have just been working their tails off start to finish. We've never had to worry about effort, which is always the first step. That's kudos to the players, that's kudos to the coaches who are setting that level of expectation, and like I said, they've been doing an incredible job."
On how Head Coach Hue Jackson is different as a head coach than as offensive coordinator:
"When I was with him, he wasn't in the head role. You've seen all of the characteristics that he has now being the head man, which was why I was so excited to have him here. Beyond that, he's kind of taken control. He's been even better than what I thought he would be. The way he's able to motivate, the way he's able to set a level of expectation and make you want to meet it not just for yourself but for him. He's not saying, 'Do it for me.' He's saying, 'Do it for yourself.' As a player, you're saying, 'Man, this guy believes in me.' It makes you want to reach that level. It makes you want to show him what you've got. He's been incredible in that sense."
On his connection with QB Robert Griffin III:
"The quarterback and receiver gel, but they gel to the offense. In the NFL, once you've been around for a couple of years, you realize that all of the routes are the same, all of the concepts are the same, but each offense has a different way to run it. It's a matter of I might run a glance from a previous offense to where I ran a seven-step post and his seven-step post might be ran differently. That's the point where we have got to get with the offensive coordinator. How do you want the seven-step post ran and thrown? We gel to that. I change the way I do it, he changes the way he does it to know we're on the same page."
On coming into work every day and seeing senior offensive assistant Al Saunders' face:
"Oh, it's incredible, man. So much wisdom. The experience part is where – Al's what, 74? I believe – and he might run more than any receiver out here. He's chasing guys down. If you hide the ball high and tight, he's swiping at the ball in your ear making you finish down the field. It's exactly what the doctor ordered. Like I said, that kind of wisdom in the receiver room from an offensive coordinator, head coach, the players he's coached – the Kellen Winslows, the Greatest Show on Turf, like I said, that experience – this is a guy that you don't have to question if he knows what he's talking about. He's done it. He has Super Bowl rings. He's coached some of the greatest players to be the greatest players. It truly is an honor for me and the rest of the receivers to get that level of wisdom."
