CLEVELAND — Are the Cleveland Browns ready for their close-up?
Well, that is what the dress rehearsal is designed to find out, as the Browns (2-0) continue their preseason slate with the third exhibition game tonight against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1) at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Will second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield play the typical first half, plus a series in the third quarter? Will either Pro Bowl wide receiver Jarvis Landry or Odell Beckham Jr. be available for the game after missing the first two preseason outings? Can the Browns settle position battles at kicker, right guard and cornerback?
Those are just some of the questions first-year Browns coach Freddie Kitchens will try to answer as the kickoff game to the 2019 regular season, a home contest against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, September 8, fast approaches.
Here are three things to watch for during tonight’s game between the Browns and Buccaneers.
Mayfield’s playing time
Typically, the starters play the first half and a series or two into the third quarter during the third preseason game, but Kitchens has proven to be anything but conventional in his first training camp as an NFL head coach.
Mayfield has played only one series this preseason, and it was a successful one.
The Browns won the coin toss, took the ball and Mayfield opened with a scoring drive on the first possession of the game, as his touchdown pass to receiver Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins gave Cleveland a 7-0 lead over Washington with 12:47 to play in the first quarter of the preseason opener on August 8.
Facing a first-and-10 from Washington’s 24-yard line, Mayfield took the snap from center JC Tretter and fired a throw down the left hashmarks to Higgins, who broke open between second and third-level defenders to create the window for the touchdown pass.
Mayfield was five of six for 77 yards with the touchdown pass on the first drive of the game.
After back-to-back practices against the Indianapolis Colts in Westfield, Indiana, last week, Mayfield was held out of the preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium last Saturday night.
“I would like to say at least a half, but it’s not my call,” Mayfield said following Wednesday’s practice.
“I think that third game, a lot of the time, is treated as the last warm-up before the real thing starts because none of the starters play in the fourth game, just because it so close to the real one. It’s a final tune-up, iron everything out, treat it more like a game week with the mental prep work of getting into a routine, so yeah, I’m looking forward to playing.”
Hunt’s workload
The Browns are running out of time to acclimate running back Kareem Hunt before he begins serving an eight-game suspension to start the 2019 regular season, and him reporting to training camp with a groin injury further complicated the process.
However, Hunt returned to the lineup fully in last week’s practices with the Colts before getting limited work during the first quarter of the preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium last Saturday. Hunt had just two carries for six yards against the Colts.
In two years with the Kansas City Chiefs before his release for a physical altercation with a woman, Hunt rushed for 2,151 yards and 15 touchdowns with 106 first downs, 19 plays going for at least 20 yards and four 40-yard gains. Additionally, Hunt caught 79 passes out of the backfield for 833 yards and 10 touchdowns, including a single-season career high of seven in 2018.
Can anyone seize the kicking job?
The Browns selected one of the NCAA’s most prolific kickers, Austin Seibert, with a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft to compete with second-year incumbent Greg Joseph, but the results of the position battle have been mixed, at best.
After some inconsistencies throughout the first two weeks of training camp, Seibert and Joseph did well in the joint practices with the Colts. However, in the preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium, both missed from 50 yards or more.
In the training-camp practices after returning from Indianapolis, Seibert and Joseph each missed multiple kicks, including several from 50 yards or more.