Dawgs By Nature

With the news of punter Dave Zastudil going on the injured reserve this morning, the team decided to bring back tight end Joel Gamble. I would've thought that with Floyd Womack and Shawn Lauvao scheduled to miss some time that another lineman might be brought in, but that wasn't the case.

The Browns hit the practice field twice on Tuesday -- once in the morning, and once in the evening. Let's get to the cumulative recap of what went down...

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 18 [MORNING & EVENING] (8/17/10)

1. Benard Moves Up to First Unit: The biggest news of the day came during the morning session when fans saw second-year linebacker Marcus Benard playing outside linebacker with the first-team offense, replacing Scott Fujita. Fujita didn't get benched; he actually moved to inside linebacker, taking the spot of Eric Barton (who was taking the spot of D'Qwell Jackson). It seems like a lot of shuffling, but it also adds to the belief that a guy like Benard has a great shot at making the final roster.
    
2. Returning to Action: Several players returned to practice Tuesday morning, including QB Colt McCoy, FB Peyton Hillis, and LB David Veikune. Beyond the usual suspects, the notable players missing from practice were CB Brandon McDonald, RB James Davis, and WR Mohamed Massaquoi. It was mentioned in a previous post that offensive linemen Floyd Womack (knee scoped) and Shawn Lauvao (personal issues) are out for awhile too.
    
3. Brown Gets Delhomme Twice: Defensive back Sheldon Brown had Jake Delhomme's number on Tuesday, intercepting him once in each practice session. The morning session saw him intercept a pass intended for Joshua Cribbs in the two-minute drill, and the evening session saw him intercept a pass intended for Ben Watson on a fourth-down play.
    
4. Touchdown City: Because the Browns ran a lot of situational drills in the evening session (such as red zone, goal line, and fourth-down drills), there were quite a few touchdowns. Among one of the "stars?"...
    
5. Engram Grabs Three Touchdowns: It wasn't the youngsters who shined, but rather veteran Bobby Engram, who had three situational touchdowns during the evening session. Two of the plays came from long-distance -- a 20-yard score from Colt McCoy, and a 40-yarder from Seneca Wallace. If the Browns keep a fifth receiver, Engram just might end up finding himself a roster spot by default. Johnathan Haggerty is gone, Carlton Mitchell is struggling, Jake Allen hasn't stood out, and Taurus Johnson is new. Syndric Steptoe could give Engram the best competition.
    
6. Scuffle on the Field: There was a small fight that broke out between LB Titus Brown and RB Chris Jennings in the morning. Brown was apparently the person at fault for the incident though, because he was the run forced to run a punishment lap. Overall, the incident wasn't too serious.
    
7. More Action for Moore: Although tight end Evan Moore had a drop in the morning, he "redeemed himself" with a 20-yard reception. During the evening session, Moore had at least two touchdowns, again proving to be a viable option for quarterbacks in the red zone.
    
8. Ward's Coverage on Steptoe: During the morning practice, Tony Grossi had praise for the coverage of safety T.J. Ward on one particular play that saw him go over the top of receiver Syndric Steptoe to knock the pass away, all before making contact with the receiver.
    
9. Right Side of Offensive Line: With Womack and Lauvao out, the right side of the offensive line featured Billy Yates (RG) and Scott Kooistra (RT). It was reported that OG Pat Murray also subbed in at right guard a few times. The team should get John St. Clair back pretty soon, and it's hard to believe that right now he is the guy who can help patch the right side back up a bit.
    
10. One to Watch?: Don't look now, but cornerback DeAngelo Smith seems to be making some headlines in camp with a few pass breakups here and there. If the Browns have any intention of keeping an extra defensive back, Smith could sneak his way onto the roster.
     
11. Wide Receiver Brownies: Newcomer Taurus Johnson caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brett Ratliff...on another play from Ratliff, a fleaflicker attempt, rookie Carlton Mitchell dropped the pass in the end zone...receiver Jake Allen had at least two drops on the day...running back Chris Jennings was also the victim of a drop.
     
12. Hyping Veikune: If there's one writer who has been promoting David Veikune, it would be the Canton Repository's Steve Doerschuk. He continued the piece he did the other day on trying to cover the specifics of all 80 players in camp. With fewer players to cover now that his first batch was over, Doerschuk went into even more (and therefore entertaining) details in Tuesday's article. Check it out!

Tuesday's Link Collection / Camp Sources

• Around Berea in 80 plays, part deux (Canton Repository, Doerschuk)
• Observations from Browns' first practice session (Akron Beacon Journal, Ulrich)
• Observations from Browns' second practice session (Akron Beacon Journal, Ulrich)
• Good play, injury gives Marcus Benard a shot (Dawg Scooper, Wolf)
• Zastudil knows that IR could mean the end of his career in Cleveland (Plain Dealer, Cabot)
• Browns a little shorthanded on right side of O-line (Plain Dealer, Grossi)
• O-Line depth being tested (The OBR, Greetham)
• The inside scoop on Steinbach's exit (Canton Repository, Doerschuk)