Dawgs By Nature

I was a bit busy throughout the day today, so I didn't have time to crank out a recap of the morning practice. Considering it's late in the day, rather than breaking what happened into two posts, everything will be lumped into this one post. If something needs to be distinguished between day/night practice for whatever reason, I'll mention it.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 7 [MORNING & EVENING] (8/7/09)

1. No Team Comment on Hadnot: Head coach Eric Mangini would not acknowledge the extent of OG Rex Hadnot's injury, but it sounds like he suffered an ACL injury and will probably miss the entire season.
2. Bubble Watch: I haven't heard many positive things about OT George Foster. Whether he is getting beaten by defenders, missing assignments, or getting yelled at by coaches, it's hard to say that he'll be on my next roster projection.
3. Solid Practice for Hall: The OLB competition is still ongoing, but Alex Hall only improved his chances today by getting to the quarterback(s) for a sack several times.
WR Braylon Edwards refuses to drop the football, as he is wrapped up by CB Brandon McDonald here.


4. Elam Knows How to Tackle: The Browns ran about 20 different matchups of open-field tackling drills. Grossi reports that these drills usually favor the offensive player, because with one good move, they can easily evade the defender (imagine yourself as a defender trying to guess where the offensive player is going to go). S Abram Elam excelled in the drill, being able to take down his assigned player twice -- once with WR Jordan Norwood, and the other time with WR Paul Hubbard. Good open-field tackling is something Cleveland has needed for quite awhile.
5. From DOWN-TOWN: Kicker Phil Dawson worked on some deep kicks in practice today, with four attempts over 50 yards. He made the first from 54 yards, missed the second and third from 52- and 56-yards, and then made the final one from 56-yards. Dawson and the special teams unit also worked on some onside kicks.
6. Tight Ends Busy: Our blocking tight ends were busy today, as Robert Royal and Steve Heiden each had three-four catches.
7. Not a Drop Yet: In four practice sessions, WR Braylon Edwards has reportedly not dropped a single pass that can be ruled as "catchable". Let's hope he keeps that up for the live games.
8. QB Stats: Sorry if it sounds like I am envying the reporting of Daniel Wolf too much in these training camp recaps, but it's just so refreshing to see someone take the time to provide unique and detailed information regarding the play of the quarterbacks. In this morning's report, Wolf went above and beyond in recording the stats of the quarterbacks from each drill, along with notes on the reasons why the stats looked the way they did. It'd be unfair of me to reproduce everything he said here, so check it out here for the stats.
Rex Hadnot is down, but Joe Thomas is stronger than ever as he blocks DL Corey Williams here.

9. Assuming You've Read...the above link, here is a quick recap. Both quarterbacks were more effective than they have been the past few practices. The most interesting part was the regular 11-on-11 drill, for several reasons. First off, Alex Mack was involved in another bad snap. He's having one or two of those a practice it seems, and you can't start a player on gameday if they have that problem. Against a team like the Ravens, you're definitely asking for a "gimme" turnover.
   
   Also, Kamerion Wimbley was getting some good pressure, reports Wolf. This is also where Alex Hall recorded two of his sacks -- once on Anderson and once on Quinn. Joshua Cribbs also took a direct snap in one instance and looked to pass, but the defense shut it down and sacked him. If I go through with my intentions to visit the stadium this Sunday, I'm going to try to compile similar statistics on the quarterbacks, time permitting.
10. More on Massaquoi: The past few days, the camp reports have hinted towards the fact that Mohamed Massaquoi might have an edge over Brian Robiskie. The OBR's article today discusses this more in depth.
11. Hubbard Watch: It sounds like a quieter day for WR Paul Hubbard again, who reportedly dropped an easy one in the morning session.
12. Brett...WHO? It took seven days, but for the first time I believe, I am mentioning the name of QB Brett Ratliff. WHO is that you ask? He is the former Jets quarterback we acquired along with Elam, and is behind Quinn and Anderson as the No. 3 guy. In the evening session, he fired a touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards through two defenders.
13. Close, But No Cigar: CB Rod Hood would have had an interception on an Anderson pass in the evening session, but the ball slipped through his fingers.
14. Good Battles: Although Edwards has been catching everything in sight, CB Eric Wright has reportedly had very good coverage on him during camp, including today.
15. Offensive Line: The first-team offensive line during the evening practice was LT Joe Thomas, LG Eric Steinbach, C Alex Mack, RG Floyd Womack, and RT John St. Clair. Based on what has happened in camp, if Tucker is going to play somewhere, it looks like it might be RG.

The Browns will have one afternoon session on Saturday before taking the field for a Sunday scrimmage at the stadium.

Friday's Link Collection / Camp Sources

• Training camp report - 8/7 (Dawg Scooper, Wolf)
• Browns quarterbacks not scoring in two-minute drills (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Grossi)
• LB Alex Hall hopes to build on rookie season (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Grossi)
• What is it about George Foster? (Canton Repository, Doerschuk)
• No. 2 receivers and Joshua Cribbs (Akron Beacon Journal, Thomas)