Dawgs By Nature

The Cleveland Browns had two practice sessions today, with the morning session being open to the media only and the evening session being open to the public. Although there were two practices, I am combining the notes for both practices into one report today.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 13 [MORNING & EVENING] (8/12/10)

1. St. Clair Gets Carted Off: During wind sprints, offensive tackle John St. Clair appeared to come up limping in the morning practice and needed to be carted off. Afterward, Eric Mangini said that St. Clair just "cramped up," so it sounds like he'll be fine. Offensive tackle Tony Pashos again missed both practices with a shoulder injury.
    

QB Colt McCoy directed the offense to a touchdown in the two-minute drill.


2. Filling in for DQ: The current timeline for D'Qwell Jackson's return is 3-8 weeks, and surgery will not be required. With LB David Bowens still out, veteran Eric Barton played with the first team at inside linebacker. This might just save Barton's roster spot. Playing on the second team was second-year man Kaluka Maiava, although he did rotate in with the first team here and there.
    
3. Alex Smith Headline: I've been waiting for my Alex Smith headline (he's a tight end), and I finally got it today: he dropped a pass in the end zone thrown by Brett Ratliff in 11-on-11 drills. I think my original projection of Smith making the team over Robert Royal might be in jeopardy, based on the way camp has gone. With that said, Smith did rebound later when Colt McCoy was running the two-minute drill. Smith reportedly made a great catch in the back of the end zone between defenders T.J. Ward and Brandon McDonald.
    
4. McCoy's Drive: Speaking of McCoy, on the touchdown drive mentioned above, he was 4-of-4 with completions to Carlton Mitchell, Syndric Steptoe, James Davis, and Smith.
    
5. Pick Six for Trusnik: Another player who has been stepping his game up in practice is linebacker Jason Trusnik. He tipped a pass thrown by Brett Ratliff, and then caught the ball for an interception before returning it for a touchdown.
    

LB Jason Trusnik tipped and intercepted a pass by QB Brett Ratliff, returning it to the end zone for a touchdown.

6. Eric Wright Returns: In the morning session, the Browns still had Mike Adams lined up at nickel back with a three-man rotation at the two cornerback positions between Sheldon Brown, Brandon McDonald, and Joe Haden. In the evening though, Eric Wright was back. Not only was he back, he was back with a bang, intercepting two passes -- one from QB Seneca Wallace and the other from QB Brett Ratliff.
    
7. Pick City in Nightcap: I don't know what went on with the quarterbacks during the evening session, but it sounds like they were willingly handing out interceptions to the defensive backs. Including the two by Wright, the reports indicate there were at least seven interceptions in the evening session.
   
   Gerard Lawson and Nick Sorensen each had a pick, but T.J. Ward was front-and-center with three interceptions. I thought this guy was just going to help in the run game, but it sounds like he's been the team's biggest playmaker in coverage the past week in camp.
    
8. Quarterback Time Against Packers: According to Mangini, we're going to see pretty much an even distribution of the quarterbacks during Saturday's game against the Green Bay Packers. Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace will get a quarter each, and Colt McCoy and Brett Ratliff will split the second half.
    
9. Joe Thomas Runs a Lap: In a "rare" occurrence, left tackle Joe Thomas had to run a punishment lap because he jumped offsides.
    
10. Womack Takes a Break: For whatever reason, possibly due to a very minor injury, right guard Floyd Womack did not practice during the evening session. That put rookie Shawn Lauvao back on the first-team offense, which hasn't been happening very often lately.
     
11. Breaking Down as Many Players: I have to commend writer Steve Doerschuk who did a very innovative piece this morning during the session that was open to the media only. His concept was simple: take a specific note on as many players as possible. His goal was to get a note on all 80 players, but he only had time to cover around 50 or so. Nonetheless, I just read the whole thing, and I suggest you do the same.
     
12. Fake Field Goal: Punter Reggie Hodges couldn't connect on a fake field goal with Joe Thomas the other day, but he was able to hit TE Robert Royal on the fake this morning for a score.
     
13. Brownies: Punter Dave Zastudil is still out, but LB David Bowens might be close to returning...the team does not have practice Friday, as I assume they will be preparing for their trip to Green Bay.

Thursday's Link Collection / Camp Sources [Morning & Evening Sessions]

• Observations from Browns training camp, first practice (Akron Beacon Journal, Ulrich)
  
• Observations from Browns training camp, second practice (Akron Beacon Journal, Ulrich)
• Mangini's update on Jackson, keep an eye on Veikune (Canton Repository, Doerschuk)
• Around Berea in 80 Plays: The Novel (Canton Repository, Doerschuk)
• Cleveland Browns offense sputters in morning practice (Plain Dealer, Grossi)
• Browns to rest Jackson for a few weeks, then re-evaluate (Plain Dealer, Cabot)
• Evan Moore is quite a catch at tight end (Plain Dealer, Grossi)
• Browns' LB Depth on Display (The OBR, Greetham)