Throughout his first NFL training camp, Browns wide receiver Jordan Payton will regularly chronicle his thoughts and insights in a recurring journal on ClevelandBrowns.com. These are Payton's original thoughts relayed to senior writer Andrew Gribble in periodic interviews before and after practice.
Since I landed in Cleveland on Sunday, my days begin when the sun rises at 7 a.m. I arrive at the facility and immediately hop in the shower before grabbing breakfast and hanging out with other guys on the team. It was mostly us rookies earlier in the week before the veterans reported Wednesday. Up until Thursday's conditioning test, it was one meeting after another to help us learn the plays and get us ready for training camp.
The biggest difference between the NFL and UCLA is the accessibility to everything. In college some things were always spaced out for us. You had to walk from here to here. I'd say for me, the coolest thing is I get to go straight into our cafe here and go straight into the team meeting room. That's definitely something that's helpful and cool. This is the best facility in the NFL for sure. I haven't been to many others but I can't imagine they're as nice as this.
Another big change is the playbook, which has more terminology and details. That's what it is when you become a professional. You've got to get used to it as fast as you can and make plays out there.
My personal situation compared to the rest of the rookie class is unique. While they were able to participate in OTAs and minicamp, I was back at UCLA finishing up my coursework for my degree. I kept in touch with coach (Al) Saunders and was able to watch the practices from my Surface. I was watching at night and I was like, man, I wish I can be out there, but you've got to handle the situation you're in and finish up what you've got to do.
There's extra motivation I have to catch up after missing OTAs but you don't want to do too much. You don't want to stress yourself too much. You want to be patient but impatient. You work really hard but you've got to understand some things take a little time. You've got to develop, you've got to understand more.
I've been around NFL players for most of my life. My older brother, Michael, played at Oregon State with T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson. Their advice to me has been simple. You don't need to think a lot. Just take one step at a time and embrace everything around you. I really just need to buy into everything that's going on and be a vessel. Learn everything and adapt quick. That's the biggest thing about any change is you have to adapt quick. My mindset is to adapt.
It's truly unbelievable to be here. I'm truly grateful and blessed. I'm going to give it 110 percent. I'm going to give everything I've got to Cleveland.
