The Browns built and built and built through the first four days of training camp, and that was apparent Saturday during an uptempo, productive day of work at the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus.
The Browns engaged in multiple, full-speed periods, ramping things up as much as they have thus far. On Sunday, they'll get a much deserved day of rest before things really pick up with padded practices, which commence Tuesday.
"The game is played with pads on and there are certainly some more things you can do just in terms of keeping guys safe," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. "When you have the pads on, you feel good about some of the drills and you know that guys are protected. It is a physical game. I know that the guys are chomping at the bit to get to that point."
Here's what else happened at Saturday's practice.
— Saturday served as a rest day for a number of players who are recovering from offseason surgery. The group included WR Odell Beckham Jr., S Grant Delpit, WR JoJo Natson and OL Chris Hubbard. DE Myles Garrett also got a rest day.
— S Ronnie Harrison (hamstring) was also sidelined. Stefanski assured Harrison would be "fine" and the team will "just take it as it goes" when it comes to Harrison getting back on the field.
— Because of the aforementioned absences, a number of players received some increased opportunities. With Delpit and Harrison both sidelined, S Sheldrick Redwine worked alongside John Johnson III with the first defense. Donovan Peoples-Jones, Ja'Marcus Bradley, Alexander Hollins and the rest of Cleveland's WRs got plenty of chances to get their hands on the ball during team drills.
— All that said, it was a good day for the defense, which brought pressure on the Browns offense and made things difficult for the pass-catchers during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. Johnson showed off his speed on one particular pass across the middle, as he darted diagonally toward it and nearly nabbed an interception. He immediately dropped down and did some pushups, and LB Anthony Walker Jr. joined him.
— When you're on the sidelines, it's hard not to hear Walker, who is more than living up to his billing as a true leader for the defense.
— The Browns picked up the speed a bit on their special teams drills at the end of practice. RB D'Ernest Johnson and Peoples-Jones ran full speed on their kickoff returns as Special Teams Coordinator Mike Priefer instructed the rest through their respective responsibilities.
— It was a good day for both of the kickers, as Cody Parkey went 6-for-6 and Chase McLaughlin made all but one of his attempts. This was a step in the right direction for Parkey, who struggled during a similar drill Thursday. That wasn't a surprise for Stefanski, who was far from concerned when he was asked about Parkey on Friday.
"There are going to be many, many opportunities over the course of time," Stefanski said. "Sometimes you are off and then you get an opportunity a couple of days coming up."
— We touched on it Friday, but it was once again wonderful to have fans in attendance for a second straight practice. Stefanski said the players enjoyed it and added it will be important to get them acclimated to loud environments once again. The NFL is expecting full stadiums in 2021, and that will be an adjustment for teams who played in front of small or no crowds all last season.
"You're dealing with the crowd and maybe a hostile crowd, not like this crowd here," Stefanski said. "You are going to have to operate in those environments."
To simulate that hostility, Stefanski said the team would pipe in some manufactured crowd noise at practice next week.
"It is something that we have been talking about for a long time here," Stefanski said. "That is going to be new for most teams having not gone through it for an entire season. We will devote a good portion of time to dealing with crowd noise, silent count and all of the things that go with that."
— The Browns will be back on the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus practice fields Monday for their first of three consecutive days of practice.
