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Do IT this week: Layering
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
POSTED: 06:38 p.m. EDT, Aug 01, 2009
BEREA: The Browns entered the second decade of their rebirth Saturday much like they did their first way back in 1999.
Oh, there were some new things.
You always look for new things when training camp starts.
There's the skinny goal post (half as wide as normal) to challenge kickers.
There's the music that blares during plays to make players concentrate.
And the rule that players run a lap when they miss an assignment or commit a penalty.
It's all part of the new regime with new coach Eric Mangini and his new staff and new approach and new playbook and new remodeled building in Berea (at considerable expense).
But boil it down, and the Browns of 2009 are very much like the Browns of 1999: A team trying to find itself.
With the Browns, there's much new, but there's also much old that is new again.
There's a quarterback competition that is reminiscent of last season and many seasons before.
One would not blame Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn if they did not want to relive this with the media — going through the same questions and issues on a daily basis.
''It's going to play out like it's going to play out,'' Anderson said.
How did the quarterbacks look? Like the quarterbacks.
Quinn mainly threw short, a lot to the tight end. Anderson threw an interception one play and bounced back to throw a touchdown.
What else is old on this day of new beginnings?
There's a special-teams standout still talking about his contract.
Josh Cribbs again addressed his situation and made veiled threats that he has considered walking out of camp or missing a game if his contract is not redone.
Cribbs concedes that he has no leverage — he has four years left on a six-year extension — but he still talked about it.
Cribbs looked fitter than ever, and he was sweating profusely from his hard work in the morning.
He looked like a football player but talked like a guy well aware of finances.
Cribbs is honest to a fault, and his willingness to discuss the issue is appreciated. But it might be in his best interest to let go of the public talk. It just doesn't seem to help the cause.
There's also a receiver sidelined by an injury who was sidelined by an injury a year ago.
Braylon Edwards said to ask Mangini about the injury, which has lingered since minicamp ended six weeks ago.
Mangini would not discuss it, how it happened or how bad it is (though little birds have said it's not believed to be a serious problem).
But it brought back last training camp, when Edwards put himself behind when he was spiked in the foot by Donte Stallworth, a guy serving an indefinite suspension.
Perhaps this sums up the Browns' situation as camp opens: A key player on offense is sidelined while the guy who sidelined him a year ago is suspended and the key player said he's looking forward to getting the suspended guy back.
Oh . . . another receiver from last season is suing the team and its medical provider, because he got a staph infection that ended his career.
The Browns have had so many fresh starts and new beginnings that another one seems merely like another mark on a tally sheet.
To the players, it's merely the beginning of a brutal grind.
''I'm going on my 10th year now,'' said Robaire Smith, a happy sight on the field after he tore his Achilles' tendon last season. ''Everything's really the same when you start.''
Mangini's comments about this camp were almost encouraging to hear because they were so basic.
He said he tries to ''run an effective, productive camp.''
He said he wants to bring players from diverse backgrounds together and ''make them Browns'' (though what that is at this point in the team's history might be difficult to pin down).
He said that what happens in camp ''we want to make it worthwhile.''
No expectations, false hopes or unnecessary bravado, which is well and good. Just like it was good to hear many players say they weren't going to talk about last year.
Because the misery level was high.
After 10 years and so many rebirths, it might be time for fans to consider themselves from Missouri — each should tell the Browns to ''show me.''
But their loyalty remains unchanged.
Mangini talked about leaving the building Friday night and seeing a fan camped out in front of the Berea facility.
Quarterbacks coach Carl Smith showed mercy by taking him coffee.
Hopefully, he and the rest of the coaches and the players will show more mercy in November.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohio.com/mcmanamon/. Follow Pat on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/patmcmanamon.
BEREA: The Browns entered the second decade of their rebirth Saturday much like they did their first way back in 1999.
Oh, there were some new things.
You always look for new things when training camp starts.
There's the skinny goal post (half as wide as normal) to challenge kickers.
There's the music that blares during plays to make players concentrate.
And the rule that players run a lap when they miss an assignment or commit a penalty.
It's all part of the new regime with new coach Eric Mangini and his new staff and new approach and new playbook and new remodeled building in Berea (at considerable expense).
But boil it down, and the Browns of 2009 are very much like the Browns of 1999: A team trying to find itself.
With the Browns, there's much new, but there's also much old that is new again.
There's a quarterback competition that is reminiscent of last season and many seasons before.
One would not blame Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn if they did not want to relive this with the media — going through the same questions and issues on a daily basis.
''It's going to play out like it's going to play out,'' Anderson said.
How did the quarterbacks look? Like the quarterbacks.
Quinn mainly threw short, a lot to the tight end. Anderson threw an interception one play and bounced back to throw a touchdown.
What else is old on this day of new beginnings?
There's a special-teams standout still talking about his contract.
Josh Cribbs again addressed his situation and made veiled threats that he has considered walking out of camp or missing a game if his contract is not redone.
Cribbs concedes that he has no leverage — he has four years left on a six-year extension — but he still talked about it.
Cribbs looked fitter than ever, and he was sweating profusely from his hard work in the morning.
He looked like a football player but talked like a guy well aware of finances.
Cribbs is honest to a fault, and his willingness to discuss the issue is appreciated. But it might be in his best interest to let go of the public talk. It just doesn't seem to help the cause.
There's also a receiver sidelined by an injury who was sidelined by an injury a year ago.
Braylon Edwards said to ask Mangini about the injury, which has lingered since minicamp ended six weeks ago.
Mangini would not discuss it, how it happened or how bad it is (though little birds have said it's not believed to be a serious problem).
But it brought back last training camp, when Edwards put himself behind when he was spiked in the foot by Donte Stallworth, a guy serving an indefinite suspension.
Perhaps this sums up the Browns' situation as camp opens: A key player on offense is sidelined while the guy who sidelined him a year ago is suspended and the key player said he's looking forward to getting the suspended guy back.
Oh . . . another receiver from last season is suing the team and its medical provider, because he got a staph infection that ended his career.
The Browns have had so many fresh starts and new beginnings that another one seems merely like another mark on a tally sheet.
To the players, it's merely the beginning of a brutal grind.
''I'm going on my 10th year now,'' said Robaire Smith, a happy sight on the field after he tore his Achilles' tendon last season. ''Everything's really the same when you start.''
Mangini's comments about this camp were almost encouraging to hear because they were so basic.
He said he tries to ''run an effective, productive camp.''
He said he wants to bring players from diverse backgrounds together and ''make them Browns'' (though what that is at this point in the team's history might be difficult to pin down).
He said that what happens in camp ''we want to make it worthwhile.''
No expectations, false hopes or unnecessary bravado, which is well and good. Just like it was good to hear many players say they weren't going to talk about last year.
Because the misery level was high.
After 10 years and so many rebirths, it might be time for fans to consider themselves from Missouri — each should tell the Browns to ''show me.''
But their loyalty remains unchanged.
Mangini talked about leaving the building Friday night and seeing a fan camped out in front of the Berea facility.
Quarterbacks coach Carl Smith showed mercy by taking him coffee.
Hopefully, he and the rest of the coaches and the players will show more mercy in November.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohio.com/mcmanamon/. Follow Pat on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/patmcmanamon.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Canton, OH
Posted 11:55 PM, 08/01/2009
6 - 8. . .
Canton, OH
Posted 12:07 AM, 08/02/2009
6 - 10. .Saturday Night. .Too many brewskis. . .
Canton, OH
Posted 12:08 AM, 08/02/2009
err, SunDaze Morning. . .
Tallmadge, Oh
Posted 10:11 AM, 08/02/2009
Wow!
Posted 11:57 PM, 08/03/2009
I don't like to make predictions because they usually don't pan out (regardless of who is making them). Having said that, if Quinn starts & stays healthy the entire year, I'll say 7 & 9 or 8 & 8. If DA starts, more like 5 & 11 or 6 & 10. If we have fewer injuries than normal (we seem to be one of the most snakebit teams in the NFL when it comes to injuries), the aforementioned records could improve by a game or two, respectively. I think our biggest advantages over last year will be better coaching, a softer schedule & perhaps over-confidence from some of our opponents (ala Pittspuke, the Ratbirds, etc.). Go Browns!
Posted 07:44 AM, 08/04/2009
Loud music, skinny goal posts, players running laps, discipline and organization....
I like it, I like it a lot.
