The fifth day of training camp saw plenty of action on a sunny and pleasant afternoon in Berea. Tuesday's practice was filled with 11-on-11 drills — including one live tackling session — that drew cheers and applause from those in attendance.
"I said this would be a physical camp and it has been. And I think our guys are getting better and getting a hang of it and there will be a time at some point where we've had enough of that but I need to find out about our team and I'm finding out," head coach Hue Jackson said.
"I'm finding out some good things and some things that we need to improve at. That's just part of it."
Here's what else we saw from Day 5
— The sirens started howling early Tuesday, letting players and coaches know it was time to have a live 11-on-11 session. We haven't seen these periods until midway or later in practice, but Jackson wanted to set the tone early on this afternoon.
"I noticed a little lull so I wanted to get our football team going and that's one way to do it, just go play football and I think the guys appreciated it because I think the energy of the practice started to change a little bit," he said, adding, "we have to be smart about how we compete but we have to run into each other a little bit to continue to get better."
— In the live sessions, Jackson outlined why he'll have the first-team offense go against the second-team defense and vice versa.
"You have a lot of really good players in one setting so if something happens I don't want to wipe out half the team," Jackson said, laughing.
"I just think that's the way I want to do it right now, we did some live ones versus ones in third-down situations but again I try to stray as far away from that because again, my goal and my job is to make sure I'm protecting our team on both side of the ball — not just offense, defense, or special teams — but the whole team, and that's my goal."
— Jackson said Alvin Bailey, who has taken reps with the first-team offense, has not yet earned a starting job. "We're going to play the best guys. We're mixing and matching and evaluating as we go, but we all need to continue to get better." Bailey, to be sure, is in the mix at right tackle along with rookie Shon Coleman and others.
— Per league rules, the Browns have Wednesday off before reconvening for practice Thursday. "We'll have a great meeting tonight and then we'll send them on their way," Jackson said. "We'll advise them to take care of themselves because they're all important to our football when we get back and ready to go when we start back up on Thursday."
— Second-year center Cameron Erving had his forearm wrapped for a bit during practice after a goal line drill, which Jackson described as the result of a "ding."
"I don't think it's anything serious," he said. "But obviously we'll check it out and see where he is but I think he'll be fine and he's really important to our offense.
— Speaking of Erving, the 2015 first-round draft pick has taken a majority of first-team reps at center. Jackson said Erving's been "outstanding."
"I've been very, very impressed with Cam. I think we've got a good group up front led by Joe (Thomas) that's starting to really grow and start to have an identity of what it takes to play in the National Football League and I think we'll keep growing and keep pushing and they follow the lead of Joe and Joel Bitonio and Cam. I think we've got a chance to be a good offensive line."
— Veteran wide receiver Andrew Hawkins left practice with a wrap on his leg. "These hamstrings this time of the year," Jackson said. "Again, it's unfortunate but I think he'll be OK. I don't know how bad it is but it is a hamstring and we'll handle that accordingly and get him back out there as soon as we can."
— During one-on-one drills between the receivers and defensive backs, rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman caught a tightly-contested pass over Justin Gilbert and, afterward, the two briefly exchanged words before Jackson intervened. He used it as a teaching moment.
"It's competitiveness," Jackson said. "One guy's trying to score, the other is trying to stop him scoring so you have to kind of go after it. But again, I want it to all happen within the rules. It did, but it can always escalate — I'm being very honest with you — I never want to have anything escalate because we can't tolerate that because that can't happen on the field because that's when the penalty flag comes out.
"Our guys have to learn to keep their poise and control their emotions. Things get hot sometimes, that's just part of it, but you've got to do it the right way because we don't want it to cost our football team."
