The Browns took to the fields at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus for the second day of rookie minicamp, building on the work from the first day and continuing to build momentum with their rookies, undrafted free agent signings and tryout players.
"Well, you couldn't have had a better day," head coach Todd Monken said. "It's always awesome to get on the grass with your players. I mean, how cool is this? You have the guys that we drafted along with the free agent signees and then a bunch of tryout guys that are trying to make our team want to be a Cleveland Brown, which is really cool. I think efficiency wise; the guys handled the installs over the last couple of days at a really high level. They've got a 'coach me, coach' mentality, which you love to see. Guys that want to be coached, want to be pushed, and so, it's been a lot of fun."
Here are the main observations and notes from the second day of minicamp.
ACT Periods
Over the course of the second day of minicamp, the Browns utilized additional ACT periods — which stands for alignment, communication and technique. They had also included ACT periods on the first day of minicamp, and Monken said he wanted to improve upon those periods on the second day.
Those periods consisted of no helmets and running through plays at a slower pace, which Monken described as a "mental sweat." One of the 11-on-11 ACT periods consisted of all eight of the offensive draft picks – QB Taylen Green, OT Spencer Fano, C Parker Brailsford, OT Austin Barber, WR Denzel Boston, WR KC Concepcion, WR Denzel Boston, TE Joe Royer and TE Carsen Ryan – all lined up on the field.
"At the end it's more of a jog through, a mental sweat – alignment, communication, technique more than really trying to tax our guys," Monken said. "Because at the end of this, the goal at the end of the minicamp is to make it out healthy, and I want to make sure of that."
11-on-11 periods
During the live 11-on-11s, Green took the first set of reps, in which he connected with Royer and TE Caden Prieskorn on passes. He also handed the ball off to RB Ahmani Marshall and WR Kole Wilson, who each found space to run.
In the final 11-on-11 period of practice, Green showcased once again his speed on a quarterback keep. He found Concepcion for a completion in the middle of the field and undrafted free agent signing RB Davon Booth down the sideline.
"He did a nice job today of working through his progressions," Monken said of Green. "I did like that part of it. We're gonna have to be really diligent in trying to tighten down his release. When you're talking about check downs taken from as long of his release as he has, to really just being able to dart it to get it quickly out of his hands into the hands of whether it's a running back or a tight end. But I've been super impressed with his ability to really learn, process and take it to the field and then getting through his progressions, really impressive."
7-on-7 period
The Browns had one 7-on-7 period in between 11-on-11, and during that period both Green and Barnes took shots down the field early on. Green threw a deep pass to Boston, who caught the pass close to the sideline to stay inbounds.
"You can see his catch radius," Monken said of Boston. "That's what you can see. He does have quick feet. Getting off the line of scrimmage, you can see that. Again, does a really good job getting in and out of breaks for someone with his length. It's hard because with a couple ACT periods where you're not really throwing it, guys don't really get a ton of opportunities like today, really him and KC (Concepcion) didn't get a lot of opportunities, which is just fine. But seeing him move around, you can really see his skill set."
Green also connected with Concepcion on a medium pass in the middle of the field and found tryout player TE Jyrin Johnson for a completed pass.
Barnes also threw a deep pass downfield to undrafted free agent signing WR Kole Wilson, who dove and caught the ball for the completion. He also connected with TE Carsen Ryan and tryout player WR Aaron Anderson for completed passes.
The defense also made a few plays of their own during 7-on-7. Second-round pick Emmanuel McNeil-Warren broke up a pass Green intended for Royer.
"(McNeil-Warren is) long, fast, anticipating, being physical, got unbelievable range again," Monken said. "He's another one of those guys that has a smile on his face every day, loves football. It's what we saw when we met with him at the combine, when he came here. Like I think the sky's the limit. He wants to be an elite football player, and he goes about it the right way every day."
Undrafted free agent signing S Zion Washington also jumped a route and almost intercepted a pass by Green but couldn't hold onto the ball.
