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RECAP: Hue Jackson embraces competitive fire from Cleveland Browns coordinators

Cleveland Browns coach Hue Jackson embraces the competitive fire shown by coordinators Todd Haley, Gregg Williams.
Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns defensive end Carl Nassib goes through a special-teams drill during a training-camp practice at the team's Berea training facility.

6:36 p.m.-HUE JACKSON EMBRACES COMPETITIVE FIRE SHOWN BY COORDINATORS GREGG WILLIAMS, TODD HALEY

BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Todd Haley took exception to contact made on rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield during Monday’s practice and he was not afraid to let defensive coordinator Gregg Williams know about it.

The two coordinators had a heated exchange of words about the need to protect the quarterbacks before Coach Hue Jackson stepped in the calm down the situation.

“They’re fine,” Jackson said following practice. “Those things happen. We’ve got men that are competing every day. Both sides are competing. That’s just part of football.

“They understand, but I love the fire in both of them. Both of them are very competitive. That’s what you want.”

A linebacker rushed in and knocked a blocking offensive lineman into Mayfield, and that set off the disagreement.

“I don’t want to say hit,” Jackson said. “He probably got touched, knocked into. That’s all it is. We’ve got some competitive guys, and I like that. I want the offense to play well. I want the defense to play well. I want the special teams to play well. That’s what we have to do.

“Every now and then, those things may happen. We don’t want them to happen. I tell the guys, ‘Stay off the quarterback.’ We don’t want to take a chance of any of those quarterbacks getting hurt doing something like that, somebody just making a mistake or being stupid or anything like that, but at the same time, we know this is football. It does happen, and we’ve just got to work through that.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield throws a pass during a drill in Monday's training-camp practice at the team's Berea headquarters.

Well aware of the need to protect the quarterbacks, Jackson still likes the kind of passion shown by Haley and Williams in practice, and believes that desire and intensity sets an important tone for a team trying to turn around their fortunes after a 1-31 showing over the last two years and an 0-16 mark in 2017.

“I think you have to play this game that way,” Jackson said. “You better have a fire in your belly to play. This is a hard-driving business. Not everybody can do it. It’s tough. I think that’s the way football is played. I’m glad both of those guys are here. They do a good job.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Antonio Callaway sprints up the field after making a catch along the sideline during a drill in Monday's training-camp practice at the team's Berea headquarters.

BUILDING TOUGHNESS

It has been nearly a week since the airing of the premiere episode of the HBO Sports documentary miniseries, “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns,” and yet, there still is plenty of talk about the speech Jarvis Landry gave in the wide receivers room prior to a film session.

Landry showed his veteran leadership by letting loose a 105-second rant in a position meeting after feeling his fellow receivers were not giving enough effort on the practice field.

“We want a tough football team, but we also have to be smart,” Jackson said. “We have to have all these guys out here to become a good football team. If guys are in the training room, that’s not going to help us, and I think everybody understands that.”

ROBINSON BROUGHT INTO ROTATION

Greg Robinson was expected to be in the mix to compete for the starting left tackle spot, but a concussion early in training camp forced the Browns to move Joel Bitonio from left guard to the bookend spot.

Although Robinson has returned to practice and seen action at left tackle, nothing has been decided about the blindside blocker spot.

“Just working through it,” Jackson said. “Bitonio’s still our starting left tackle, but have just got to keep working combinations and things.

“It means nothing. It just means that every now and then, I’m going to stick Greg out there and make sure Joel keeps playing some left guard. If we find an answer in-house, then great. If we don’t, I feel good about Joel being out there.”

WORKING THROUGH ANKLE ISSUE

Browns defensive back Denzel Ward has been limited with what he can do in practice recently, but he is dealing with something the coaching staff expects him to work through as training camp continues this week.

“He’s got a little sore ankle, so he’ll just work through it,” Jackson said. “He’s been out there practicing, competing, doing some good things. He’s just got to keep pushing through.”

4:54 p.m.-JOEL BITONIO ‘GETTING THERE’ WITH TRANSITION TO LEFT TACKLE FOR CLEVELAND BROWNS

BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joel Bitonio had a week’s worth of practice ahead of the 2018 preseason opener against the New York Giants to settle in at left tackle after transitioning from left guard, where he spent the first four years of his NFL career.

And while the practice repetitions were valuable, Bitonio embraced the opportunity to face live rushers in a game setting as a way to gauge how the transition is going.

“I’m getting there,” Bitonio said. “You finally play a game, and it starts to become more reality. Practice is practice, so I’m getting there. I think every day, I get a little more comfortable. I feel more comfortable in my stance and my position in the huddle, things like that, so it’s getting there.”

Because Bitonio was running with the first-team offense, he got very limited reps against the Giants, but blocked well enough to protect the blindside of starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who completed all five of his throws for 99 yards and one touchdown, a 36-yard score to tight end David Njoku late in the first quarter.

“I did okay,” Bitonio said. “I was getting back there. I felt a little bit, not uncomfortable, just a fish out of water in the sense where it’s like, ‘I’m actually doing this in a game against a good pass rusher.’ I only played eight plays, so it was kind of hard to get in a great rhythm, but there are things to work on.”

Prior to the preseason opener at MetLife Stadium last Thursday, Bitonio got plenty of time to work his way into game readiness as a tackle, especially having to compete against defensive end Myles Garrett on a play-in, play-out basis during practice.

While working against Garrett has helped Bitonio make the transition, seeing a different kind of rusher in Giants outside linebacker Olivier Vernon was a welcomed challenge.

“I’m used to going up against Myles in practice, who’s like flying up the field,” Bitonio said. “I’m used to getting back, so I was getting a little too far back with Olivier.

“He was more of a power guy, so there’s just little things to work on, but there is good stuff to come, and I felt like that last drive when we scored the touchdown, I was starting to get a little comfortable and kind of wanted to play another drive or two, but it’s preseason. We’ve got a lot of games to play.”

Playing left tackle is more than just blocking the edge rushers, though. In addition to facing different kinds of rushers, Bitonio is focused on doing what is necessary to improve a running game that never really got going against the Giants.

“We weren’t great in the run game,” Bitonio said. “I think we’ve been hammering it in walk-through and practice this week. I think our double-teams weren’t super crisp. We had some misidentifications with some calls out there, and we just weren’t very successful. It was one of those things. It was the first game. We were trying to get in a rhythm, and I think we’re going to be better this week.”

3:00 p.m.-JARVIS LANDRY: ‘NOBODY GETS BETTER ON THE SIDELINE’ FOR THE CLEVELAND BROWNS

BEREA, Ohio -- It has been nearly a week since the premiere episode of the HBO Sports documentary miniseries, “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns,” and yet, there still is plenty of talk about the speech Jarvis Landry gave in the wide receivers room prior to a film session.

Landry showed his veteran leadership by letting loose a 105-second rant in a position meeting after feeling his fellow receivers were not giving enough effort on the practice field.

“Honestly, my inspiration was just that if you’re not hurt and you can practice, practice,” Landry said prior to Monday’s practice at the team’s Berea facility. “Nobody gets better on the sideline. The team doesn’t get better that way and you put stress on other guys. That really was my biggest thing. If you can practice, practice.”

Over his four-year career with the Dolphins, Landry turned 400 catches into 4,038 yards and 22 touchdowns. He averaged 10.1 yards per catch and 63.1 yards per game to go along with 38 catches of at least 20 yards, seven 40-yard plays and 220 first downs.Landry was not afraid to set the example in the room by speaking up, but also, his words seemed impactful for the simple fact that he gave up veteran days off early in training camp because despite not being a part of the 1-31 record over the past two years, he wants to bring a winning culture to Cleveland.“It was directed toward the whole team,” Landry said. “I know I said it in the receivers’ room, but it was directed to the whole team. I think it’s going to allow us to create a mindset and a culture. If we’re going to change the culture, that’s where it’s got to begin with. We can’t be having favors or taking days off or stuff like that. You gotta practice and put in the work to be great.”
Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry secures a catch during a drill in a training-camp practice at the team's Berea training facility.

Landry’s speech was aired in the same episode where running backs coach Freddie Kitchens and offensive coordinator Todd Haley implored Coach Hue Jackson to leave the decisions of who is and is not available for practice up to the coaches.

Jackson deferred to the medical team and the plans laid out to make sure players get the most out of training camp and the preseason while being cognizant of injury histories.

“I totally understand,” Landry said. “I know a couple guys have some chronic stuff going on, whether it’s knees or shoulders or whatever, and I get that, but guys that are healthy or guys that aren’t on that same status, they should be practicing, regardless of who they are or any other thing like that.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry secures a catch during a drill in a training-camp practice at the team's Berea training facility.
Although Landry had his helmet taken away from him during a recent practice because he is “not taking no days off,” the multi-time Pro Bowl pass catcher agrees that Jackson has the best interest of the team in mind when players are given maintenance days off in training camp.“As a coach, he has a bigger vision and he has a bigger plate, so he has to treat every guy the same, but differently in some aspects and if guys need breaks, then they get them,” Landry said. “But again, I think it comes down to the player, as a player loving what you do and nurturing your craft to say ‘thank you, Coach. I’m good.’“At the end of the day, we’re all in this together. We all want to win.”11:15 a.m.-BROWNS COACH HUE JACKSON WANTS BETTER TEMPO IN PRACTICEBEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns coach Hue Jackson was not happy with the tempo in Sunday's practice, the team's first on-field session since their 20-10 preseason win over the New York Giants last Thursday night.Jackson restarted drills on several occasions and wants to see better tempo from the players when they take the field later today.“It is how you practice,” Jackson said after Sunday's practice. “It is the environment that you create in practice. I think you see we go hard. We bump into each other. We run into each other. That is the other side of it for me. I have never been one where we patty cake at practice. We go after it.“That is the other side. You have to practice physical and tough, but you also have to take care of them because you can’t have it both ways. If you do both, then players are going to break down. I think that is when the locker room goes, ‘What are you doing?’ I think our players understand that I am going to push them, but at the same time, if they are close and if something says there is an issue, we are going to take care of them that way as well.”FOLLOW ALONGFor the latest information out of Berea and to be a part of the discussion, tweet using the hashtag, #3Browns.

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