Browns OTAs, Week 1: Everything we saw, heard, and learned

Cleveland gathered for their first organized team activities of the year.

The Cleveland Browns wrapped up their first week of OTA sessions Thursday afternoon. As previously announced, the Browns’ OTAs this year would be broken down into three sections: May 21-23, May 28-30, and June 3-6.

During each of those sessions, practice is only open to the media on one of the dates. Therefore, some of the things that happened are kept under wraps. Nonetheless, here’s a summary of what we learned during the first week of OTAs:

Browns’ OTA Week 1 Recap

1. Deshaun Watson is Back: After a season-ending shoulder injury last season, the status of Deshaun Watson was slightly up in the air. I think the assumption is that he’d be ready for training camp and the season for sure, but we weren’t entirely positive.

Therefore, it was a good sign that he was active during the first week of OTAs, and that included throwing on Tuesday and Thursday (the two days not open to the media). On Wednesday, with the media having eyes on him, Watson was given a rest day as far as throwing the ball goes, but he still took part in reps like this:

If you’re itching to see him confidently deliver a throw, though, the Browns’ social media team posted this throw to WR David Bell on Thursday:

Head coach Kevin Stefanski said they are listening to the medical team, but that Watson already looks like himself:

“Yeah, I think he looked like himself to me. I’ve been able to watch him the last couple weeks now that we’ve gotten into phase two. So, I’ve seen him throw. He’s making great progress, and we will continue to just follow the medical team on this. But he looks like himself.”

2. Switching to a New Offense: You might look at the clip of Watson going through the motions (but not throwing) in the previous section and think, “Come on, what’s the point of that?” One important element to remember is that the Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Ken Dorsey. Stefanski answered a reporter’s question on the importance of getting that stuff ironed out early:

“...it’s certainly important this season to lock in on all those adjustments and some of those are nuanced, some of those are maybe terminology. But every opportunity you have to cement it in your head is really important.”

3. Updates on the OL Injuries: On Wednesday, DBN’s Jared Mueller highlighted how the starting five on the offensive line look. It’s still a mish-mash for OTAs, but it is good to see that Dawand Jones is back at right tackle. The question marks involve Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin — both are supposed to be ready for the season, but there are three starting-caliber players there for just two positions. Stefanski didn’t have an update on when Wills and Conklin would practice, but noted “I don’t know when the exact moment’s going be when those guys are ready to practice, but they’re all doing great [in their rehab].”

4. The Running Back Room: We don’t know when we’ll see Nick Chubb, but free agent signing Nyheim Hines is being counted on as a contributing back this year. He was among the players made available to the media, but he said that he doesn’t expect to be on the field until minicamp, which is in early-June — with the goal of practicing when training camp is starting:

5. Improving the Red Zone Defense: It was the darnedest thing with the Browns’ defense last year: the defense could rank at the top of the league in all defensive categories, except whenever a team got in the red zone, Cleveland could do nothing to stop them. When asked what he wants to improve upon this season, CB Martin Emerson cited the red zone defense as a team:

“I would say red zone. Red zone defense. We were in the top three, top five in a lot of categories. I want to say in red zone, we finished 26th in the league last year. So coming into this year, you know, that’s a big goal for us. You know, if we can make guys settle for three points instead of getting seven, you know, we save four points for the offense and, you know, four points in this league that’s a big difference, and that’s my goal for this defense. One of our goals for this defense.”

You don’t hear about a lot of specific plays during OTAs, but Browns.com talked about two plays that the linebackers came up big on during red zone drills:

As the Browns practiced 7-on-7 drills in the red zone. LB Jordan Hicks broke up a pass intended for RB Jerome Ford, while rookie Nathaniel Watson picked off the pass from Huntley.

Here’s that interception by the rookie linebacker:

6. The New Guys on Offense: Let’s look at a few more video clips of the new guys on offense. How do you like seeing WR Jerry Jeudy being added to the group of receivers, hoping to provide more catches than Cleveland’s No. 2 receivers did a year ago?

And then, you have new backup QB Jameis Winston, who is feast or famine on offense — but he’s going to sling it. He threw a rope here to WR Jamari Thrash:

7. Newsome Ready to Roll: Much was made this offseason about the possibility of the Browns trading CB Greg Newsome, but ultimately, he received his fifth-year extension and is ready for the 2024 season. Here he is breaking up a pass intended for the Browns’ new tight end:

Emerson talked about being grateful that the trio is staying together:

“Just grateful, you know, to run it back, you know, with those guys, with Denzel (Ward) and Greg. Honestly, man, I’m thankful and blessed, you know, to keep the trio together and hopefully we just keep growing, you know, and we know we got goals for each other and expectations, but honestly just keep growing as young men and guiding each other, and just staying close to faith and coming out here and doing what we do best on the field.”

8. Hey, Who is the New Guy? (Rubs eyes) Wait a minute, is that...Za’Darius Smith?

Smith, who re-signed with the Browns this offseason, was asked about his new hairstyle:

“Just woke up one morning, man, and thought I was ready for a change. I said that now that I’m 30, you know, I want to go with a new look. I’ve been talking to my parents, you know, my mom and my kids, and they were like agreeing with me, so I’m glad I did it. I look better, look younger, look slimmer, so I’m happy about it for sure.”

As for why he re-signed with Cleveland, Smith talked about the chemistry, brotherhood, and having unfinished business. One player he used to play with is new LB Jordan Hicks, so Smith talked about what he brings to the linebacker group:

“Yeah. Great guy, man. You know, we actually came out together in 2015. So for me to go to the Vikings, man, and for him to sign with the Vikings was big, because I think at that time, we was going into year eight together. But for him and his two years with the Vikings, and, you know, I only played one there, but it was just that team camaraderie, man. He created that brotherhood because, you know, he’s the one with the mic. He’s the one that got to get the calls and got to talk to everybody. So for him to be that opening man and being a big brother from just coming here since day one means a lot, man, and hopefully he can hold it down for us in the middle.”

9. And Last, But Not Least: Let’s shift back to the offensive line, where OG Wyatt Teller was asked about the difference between former offensive line coach Bill Callahan and new offensive line coach Andy Dickerson:

“Yeah, well, I would say Bill (Callahan) was pretty hands-on. He’d get in your face if you messed up, but no, very much so. It’s just a very different energy. You know, Bill, I don’t think Bill wasn’t – I mean, he would raise his voice, but he wasn’t the one who’s screaming. Usually he’d get coach (Scott) Peters to start screaming at us if we really messed up, but no, you know, Coach Andy (Dickerson), he’s awesome. You know, he’s getting after us, making sure we’re running, making sure that we’re going to the right places and everything like that. I mean, that doesn’t change from coach to coach. But, yeah, no, it’s a little bit of a transition. It’s different. But at the end of the day, he learned under Bill. So, a lot of his techniques, a lot of his jargon is Bill stuff.”

The Browns will be back in Berea for the next set of OTAs next Tuesday.