Cleveland Browns Training Camp Recap: Day 15 – Live in Berea

Chris Pokorny makes his annual visit to Browns training camp.

Day 15 of Cleveland Browns training camp featured my annual visit to training camp, with a mix of my personal observations and the usual media recap.

Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report – Day 15 (8/16/24)

1. Live in Berea: I made my annual trip to Browns training camp today for their 1:30 pm practice. Since rain moved one practice indoors earlier in August, this was just one of five sessions open to the public.

I left around noon, riding my bicycle to the West Park Rapid Station to catch an 86 bus that would drop me off near the Browns headquarters in Berea. Part of the reason I brought a bike is because I also have a hobby YouTube channel called Poko Traveler, where I’ll post footage of my training camp experience, and also (later on) a little video touring the city of Berea.

As I have done the past few years, I end up providing a report on how the fan experience is at training camp, with less observations about the players on the field themselves (since I can still aggregate all of those nuggets from media reports afterward). Stay tuned for my video tour of Browns training camp early Wednesday.

2. Surrounding Area: When I got to Berea, I was taken aback because the Browns had indeed acquired all of the remaining properties between Pearl and Front Street, meaning you could see through to the practice field from the corner of Lou Groza Blvd and Front Street (previously, a combination of trees and houses would have been in the way). It was a bit sad to see the neighborhood-feel lost a bit.

In addition, with much of that converted to parking, fans could cut across the grass instead of having to walk all the way around to Beech Street, which changed the walk-up vibe compared to previous years. I still decided to do the traditional walk. Now, to be fair, I arrived at practice at 1:32 pm, which means there was no line, so perhaps it was a bit more vibrant earlier on.

3. Training Camp Amenities: When I walked in the gates, there was no sign that had been there for several years indicating which field the action was taking place on. Instead, there was a sign and guards telling people not to go to the left side, your only choice was to walk toward the right.

The right side is where the big grandstand bleachers and most activities are for fans, but it was a change from past years. I don’t know if that was only because of today, since it was Military Appreciation Day (and all of the military were seated to the left), or if it was like that during the other sessions too.

I made my way over to the right side, and I could tell there were noticeably less fans than I’m accustom to, but I think some of that could be if school is already in session. I could see that the play clock was located on the field where the military were closer to, meaning the rest of the fans would be getting less action.

The fan experience and photo opportunities were significantly cut back this year, in my opinion. It was still enjoyable, but it’s the first year that I’ve seen a step back in amenities as opposed to a step forward or remaining constant. The giveaway was a Cleveland Browns headband, sponsored by ESPN Cleveland. I also got my usual free water bottle, sponsored by Deja Blue.

Gone were the big bobbleheads, the big “Browns” sign, and a few other things that had become fun to take photo opportunities with. The 40-yard dash remained, as did the Puppy Pound and a few food options. I guess it was just a bit lackluster compared to usual, to where I found myself walking around thinking, “Oh, hmmm, that’s it? Guess they cut back this year.”

4. Practice More Like a Walkthrough: I’ve seen times where practice is a bit lackluster in action, and today matched that type of pace. We didn’t see much 11-on-11 action or 7-on-7 action, and instead seemed to see more of the offense facing the offense (acting as placeholders), and the same with the defense facing the defense. I wish I would have realized that head coach Kevin Stefanski said this before practice, which made the practice vibe make a bit more sense:

We’ve adjusted the schedule to be more of a regular season schedule so the guys can get used to that type of schedule. Also get used to the idea of getting a game plan, first and second down today, getting a third down game plan tomorrow, getting a red zone game plan the next day. So just really conditioning our bodies, conditioning their minds to be ready to get through a regular season schedule, if you will.

5. Drills and View from the Bleachers: Here is the view I had from the bleachers, as I sat at the 50-yard line:

There were some early positional drills that I got to have a close look at (even though there isn’t much to discern from them). Here is one of the quarterbacks working on their footwork:

And then here is one with the defensive linemen competing on their get-offs:

6. Idle at Practice: Despite head coach Kevin Stefanski saying he would, WR Amari Cooper did not practice, although he briefly did some walkthrough stuff later on. TE David Njoku and DE Alex Wright also sat out, but LB Tony Fields returned to action just in time.

7. 7-on-7s: During the 7-on-7 drills, QB Deshaun Watson found WR Jerry Jeudy, who hung on despite a bobble. It sounds like it was probably the most exciting play of the day, considering there wasn’t much action.

8. The Stuff I Saw: I saw the Browns working on kickoff drills early on. The offense was also working on some basic formation and rhythm things (without a defense) like throwing screen passes or handing off on end-arounds. The defense also worked on things like defending pitch plays.

9. Starters Getting Ready: Whether they will remains to be seen, but head coach Kevin Stefanski indicated that all starters should be ready to play this week against the Seahawks. I’m guessing it’ll probably be for a series or two; the team clearly doesn’t care about preseason much any more.

10. Camp Chatter: The camp chatter was pretty low again this year, and there were really no “oohs and ahs” either, since it was mostly positional drills. QB Deshaun Watson came out a hair late initially, so the fans were cheering when they saw him get on the field. Two kids led a “Here we go Brownies” chant a few times, which was the only time you heard the crowd perk up. Don’t get me wrong, everyone seemed interested — they were intently watching the action and talking quietly to the person next to them.

11. Brownies: CB Denzel Ward was still out in the concussion protocol. … CB Khalef Hailassie was getting first-team reps with CB Martin Emerson. … With the team think at tackle, OT Germain Ifedi was first up at left tackle. … The Puppy Pound only had about 20 adoptions this year, which seems a tad low compared to usual. … I could see team owner Jimmy Haslam talking to head coach Kevin Stefanski early on. … Practice concluded around 3:10 pm.

12. Next Up: The Browns final practice open to the fans is Wednesday at 1:00 pm.