BEREA, Ohio (AP) -- Browns running back Trent Richardson is not practicing again because of a shin injury that could keep him sidelined for an extended period. Richardson worked on his conditioning Thursday while his teammates went through the final session of organized team activities under first-year coach Rob Chudzinski. Richardson also missed last week's OTAs and Chudzinski said the second-year back could miss next month's mini-camp. The Browns said Richardson has a strained muscle in his shin. The injury doesn't appear to be serious. As a rookie, Richardson missed the exhibition season while recovering from knee surgery and played most of the year despite having two broken ribs. The first-round draft pick still managed to rush for 950 yards with 11 touchdowns.
By Fred Greetham OBR Senior Browns Reporter Posted May 30, 2013 Browns second-year running back wanted to set the record straight after he was held out of OTAs the past two weeks with a leg injury. 0 Comments BEREA?Even though it?s just May, murmurs abound that Trent Richardson is injury-prone after news that the second-year running back has been held out of Organized Team Activities (OTAs) the past two weeks with a leg injury. However, Richardson wants to set the record straight. ?It?s nothing to worry about,? Richardson said after Thursday?s practice. ?I could be out there practicing.? Richardson displayed extreme toughness in 2012 as he missed just one game in 2012, despite playing with broken ribs for much of the season. He also missed all of training camp after arthroscopic surgery on his knee and started the season opener. Richardson said he will visit Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola, Fla. for just a checkup on his repaired knee. ?People say stuff like I?m injury-prone,? Richardson said. ?It?s a mind set. That?s not me.? Rob Chudzinski said Richardson is being held out strictly for precautionary reasons. ?He?s coming along,? he said. ?As we get closer to minicamp, we?ll see if he can go.? Chudzinski said last week that Richardson might be held out of minicamp. Brandon Weeden said it is more important to have Richardson ready for training camp and the season. ?We need Trent back,? he said. ?That?s why it?s good for him to take some time now. He is important and we need him for training camp. He?s too vital to this offense.? Richardson said he has been running on the side and it?s tearing him up not practicing. ?It?s terrible,? he said. ?I know in my mind (I can practice). I just can?t wait to be out there. I?m just staying in shape, but I want to be out there.? Meanwhile, with Richardson sidelined, Montario Hardesty, Chris Ogbonnaya and Dion Lewis have been getting the reps. ?Montario is a good companion back,? Chudzinski said. ?He?s more of a slasher. Dion has really stepped it up and those guys are getting more comfortable with the offense.? Richardson said he doesn?t know how he injured his lower leg. He said it was during practice and the Browns have called it a lower leg strain. ?I can still practice,? he said. ?I was out there running while I was out there (during practice).? Richardson isn?t worried about falling behind in the install of the new offense. ?I?m aware of everything, so I?m on top of my game,? he said. ?I?m still going through everything every day.? Richardson has talked to Emmitt Smith, who played in the offense that offensive coordinator Norv Turner is installing with the Browns on his way to a Hall of Fame career with the Cowboys. ?I?ve talked to lot of those guys that have been in the system, and they told me the system is built for me.? Richardson is hoping to be a big part of the Browns new-look offense. ?I think I will (be),? he said. ?In fact, I know I will (be). I?ve talked to Norv and he said he sees me being the bell cow.? Notebook Tough Coaching: Offensive coordinator Norv Turner has been very vocal during practices and the quarterback is getting a lot of the verbiage. ?I?m used to it, coming from Oklahoma State,? Weeden said. ?He?s yelling at me and he coaches me every play. I can?t ask for anything more. He expects more out of me. You don?t want to play scared, but you have to play error free at this level.? Weeden said he already can see the results of Turner?s tutelage. ?I try not to make the same mistake twice,? he said. ?He is making me a better player.? Weeden says he likes Turner?s style. ?(The offense) takes on his personality,? he said. ?A lot of guys won?t take shots in certain situations, but that?s his mentality. I love it.? Chudzinski said coaches have to know what will help get the most out of their players. ?You?re always looking for is what are the best ways to get your guys to respond.? Bryant, Cameron Back: TE Jordan Cameron was back at practice after missing last week?s OTAs with a groin injury. Also, DL Desmond Bryant returned to the field after missing last week dealing with a legal issue. On the Side: Working with the trainers during practice were rookies DB Jamoris Slaughter (Achilles) and OL Chris Faulk (knee). Also, sitting out was WR Jordan Norwood (undisclosed) and WR David Nelson (knee). Excused: OLB Paul Kruger was absent in what was described as a family obligation. Kruger was replaced by top draft choice LB Barkevious Mingo and LB Quinten Groves in the rotation. No. 32?s Return: Coach Rob Chudzinski expressed his excitement on the return of Jim Brown to the team as ?Special Advisor?. ?To have Jim Brown back, I am really excited about that,? he said. ?I got to know him from before when I was here. He?s a fantastic person for the things he?s done. I?m getting excited for him and what he can do to help the Cleveland Browns.? Richardson said he thinks having Brown around will be awesome. ?It?s an honor to have him in the building,? Richardson said. ?I will get advice from him. He?s old school and we need more of that. ?He will always be a legend and an icon,? Richardson said. ?His job is to make sure we?re doing the right things on and off the field.? FB Role: Chudzinski was asked about his role of the fullback position. Currently, the Browns have just FB Owen Marecic is the only player on the roster listed as a fullback. Brad Smelley was listed last year as a FB/TE. Currently, he?s listed just as a tight end. ?I?ve never had a true definition of what the guy has been just because it?s been so different,? Chudzinski said. Chudzinski said that the position will play itself out in training camp. ?It?s more of what the guys do well and whether it?s a hammer blocking type guy or more of a finesse receiver,? he said. ?It?s more of what the guys can do and when we get the pads on, we?ll see.? Marecic was replaced last season by TE Alex Smith at the position. So far, the Browns have not added a fullback to the roster. It is unknown if the Browns will use more of a one-back system or two backs without a true fullback. Weeden Helping Out: QB Brandon Weeden flew back to Oklahoma last Thursday night after OTAs finished and helped with the cleanup after the tornado devastated his native state. ?I flew in late Thursday night and checked on my in-laws,? he said. ?My mother-in- law was lucky, but my brother-in-law?s place suffered more damage.? Weeden said he helped his family and then pitched in with the neighbors. ?I just went house to house to see what we could do,? he said. ?I watched all the coverage and it was worse than what I could have imagined. It will take some time.?
Nate Ulrich @ NateUlrichABJ 1m # Browns have waived undrafted rookie WR Perez Ashford, a product of Northern Illinois University and Shaker Heights HS.
COMMENTARY | The confetti had barely settled at Super Bowl XLVII before the Vegas lines were announced for next year's winner and the odds for the Cleveland Browns were 50/1. There were only 5 teams with a worse shot at taking the title: the Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, and Jacksonville Jaguars. I know the art of setting odds is complex, but considering the positive roster and leadership changes we've seen in the last few months, it's surprising the most recent Vegas line move reduced the Browns' odds for winning the Super Bowl to 60/1. With a solid offensive line, a legitimate running game, a vertical offense style of play and a defense that can shorten the field, quarterback Brandon Weeden may not take us to the Promised Land this year but he should be able lead the team to more wins. Browns are the Underdog of the AFC North?Again For the season, VegasINSIDER.com odds have the Pittsburgh Steelers picking up 9 wins, the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens each taking 8.5 and our Browns taking 6. And those odds are generous compared to Cantor Gaming's prediction, which has the Browns favored in only 2 of 16 games. They're given a 1.5 point advantage over Buffalo in week 5 and a 4.5 point spread over the Jaguars in week 13, both are home games. Being favored to win only 2 games doesn't mean Vegas line setters believe the Browns will have a 2-14 season. Depending on which "line" you look at, the Browns have 3 or 4 games that are statistically too close to call, and therefore listed as "picks," at least until the lines shift based on new information like hot streaks, injuries, legal issues, the number of bets placed one way or the other, and a myriad of other potential factors. The only teams Cantor Gaming gave worse odds were the Cardinals and Jaguars, neither of whom are favorites for any games this season. They face off against each other during week 11, and as it stands that game is a pick. For the division, VegasINSIDER.com set the Cleveland Browns odds of winning the AFC North at 7/1, with Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati tied at roughly 2/1. For the Super Bowl, Cincinnati and Baltimore are sitting at 30/1 and Pittsburgh's odds are 20/1, all are far better than the 60/1 assigned to Cleveland. Under the Radar Vegas has been wrong before, and these ridiculously low odds could end up benefiting the Browns. Maybe the Browns will catch division rivals unprepared, having given Cleveland too little attention, and it'll be the edge we need to secure a couple of extra wins. There is an uncommon optimism around Cleveland this year. Another five win season may be around the corner but I don't think so. It feels like this team is on the right track. I think the Browns will surprise a few teams this year and if I were a betting man I'd be all over those Vegas odds. John McCarthy is a Yahoo! Contributor covering the Cleveland Browns and Indians as a Cleveland-based sports journalist and editor.
After completing nine OTA practices, the Browns have shifted their focus from installing the offensive and defensive schemes to executing the plays called by the coaches. Coach Rob Chudzinski and the Cleveland Browns spent nine organized team activities sessions installing their offensive and defensive schemes, but when the team reports to the Berea training facility for next week's mandatory minicamp, the focus will shift from installation to execution of the plays called by offensive coordinator Norv Turner and defensive coordinator Ray Horton. ?We won?t be installing anything new for the minicamp,? Chudzinski said following Thursday?s OTA practice. ?We?ll just be working through the minicamp with the same things we have done, give those guys a chance to go out and execute and play fast and be able to see how they can do that. ?The next step would be training camp, and that?s where we get the chance to really work the physical part of football, the techniques and fundamentals that we want to work on.? Chudzinski said the Browns had another good week of organized team activities while working through their situational drills on the field. ?We worked some of our short-yardage; we worked some of our goal-line, the four-minute situation and then, the backed-up situation,? Chudzinski said. ?We?ve got good work on that. I?ve been pleased with the focus again with these guys. We?ve thrown a lot at them, and that?s been by design that we?ve put a lot on their plates in teaching them and seeing how they are able to apply it out here on the field in the OTA setting. ?I?ve been pleased, looking at OTAs as a whole, with the progress that we?ve been able to make. I?m looking forward to minicamp and really looking forward to when we can put the pads on in training camp.? When the Browns? players reported for the start of the offseason program, they were introduced to the playbook and schemes that the coaches wanted them to run. After two weeks of meetings and strength and conditioning work, the players took to the field, where Chudzinski and his coaches emphasized an up-tempo pace to practice. ?We?re throwing a lot at them and purposely making it a fast tempo that they have to think and don?t have a lot of time to think,? Chudzinski said. ?I think you saw that with some of the things, like with the play clock on. We really wanted to press them, have some long calls and things that they?re going to have to get up there and do quickly.? ADDING DEPTH TO THE SECONDARY During the free-agency period, the Browns added depth at cornerback by signing veteran Chris Owens. Through the offseason program and nine OTA practices, Owens has made an impression on Chudzinski, who competed against him in the NFC South Division last year. ?Chris is a guy that I was familiar with being in Carolina and he was in Atlanta,? Chudzinski said. ?He?s got really good feet, mirror skills and coverage skills, and he was a guy that we wanted to bring in to put in the mix with our corners and get a chance to compete. In this league, you need to have good corners, and Chris has been doing a nice job out there.? VETERAN PRESENCE In addition to adding Owens through free agency, the Browns traded for five-year veteran wide receiver Davone Bess in a draft weekend exchange of selections with the Miami Dolphins. One of the best third-down wide receivers in the game over the last five years, Bess added experience to a young group of players. ?Davone?s been great,? Chudzinski said. ?He?s instantly bought leadership into a young room. He knows what it takes to be a pro and be successful. He?s helped the younger guys along, and I see him just talking to them, whether it?s in the cafeteria or out here and showing guys the right way to do things. He?s proven what he can do on the field, and he?s showing a lot of that on the field.?
Browns fans need to relax I love Browns fans for any number of reasons, not the least of which is how seriously they take their football. Take the latest round of Organized Team Activities (OTA), for example. How many fans around the National Football League place their teams as intensely under the microscope as Browns fans? That's a rhetorical question. For the last couple of weeks, the Browns have pranced around their Berea training complex in shorts, helmets and no shoulder pads. And yet, fans scrutinize them as though they were in full uniform. Sees if this sounds familiar. Jason Campbell outplays Brandon Weeden in the OTA today. The Browns are having trouble adapting to Ray Horton?s new defensive scheme. Norv Turner reams players after blown assignments. You gotta laugh. Guys running around in shorts just trying to get familiar with a new coaching regime and every little move is taken so seriously. As though what happens in these little sessions designed to bridge the gap between minicamps and eventually morph into training camp really mean anything. They are nothing more than walk-throughs and run-throughs as the players and coaches establish a relationship so when training camp actually starts, confusion will be reduced to a minimum and the comfort level is increased. And yet, fans glom onto every little tidbit, every little nugget, every little whatever as they eagerly await the beginning of training camp in about seven weeks. Quite simply, they cannot get enough of their Browns. Nothing wrong with that except that it blurs the perception between what is real and what is nothing more than players just going through the motions of playing football. Whether or not Weeden has a bad day does not make him any less the starting quarterback than it does making Jason Campbell the opening day starter. That leg injury that has kept Trent Richardson from participating in off-season practices? Not to worry. He?ll be ready for the regular season. What these athletes do padless and in shorts has absolutely nothing to do with what they do in full uniform. There is no hitting, no major contact of any sort. If nothing else, OTAs and minicamps keep the players in shape (in some cases gets them back in shape) as the regular season approaches. No, the best time to judge players is when they are in full uniform and actually playing against another team. Definitely not when they are half dressed. Posted by Rich Passan at 4:58 PM No comments:
'Tis better to keep a low profile Sometimes, it?s a whole lot better ? and safer ? to keep one?s opinions to oneself. Take Brian Hoyer, for instance. Following the Browns? organized team activities Thursday, the young man from St. Ignatius High School boldly told the assembled media, ?No doubt I think I have the capability to be a starting quarterback.? That one came from so far out of left field, it makes one wonder whether he needs a reality check. He just arrived in Cleveland and already he?s taking self-confidence to a whole new level. Having the capability is one thing. Actually going out and proving it is something entirely different. OK, Hoyer didn?t say he would be the Browns? starting quarterback this season, but dropping ?starting quarterback? into any conversation in Cleveland stirs more than a few pots. That?s a headline grabber. It?s one thing to be confident about your abilities. It?s quite another to broadcast them to eyes and ears that thrive on stuff like that. It?s going to be a feeding frenzy in the Cleveland media over that line. All Hoyer does talking like that is put more pressure on himself. As a newcomer to the team, he has figuratively placed a bull?s-eye on his back. And the spotlight will be even more intensified because he?s a local product. Add the notion, whether true or not, that he?s a particular favorite of General Manager Mike Lombardi and you have the making of yet another budding quarterback controversy. Hoyer knows he?s No. 3 on the Browns? quarterback depth chart. He knows he still has a lot to learn with a brand new offense. He knows the chances of being the club?s starter on opening day range anywhere from slim to ?are you kidding?? As the new kid on the Browns? block, he would have been much better off keeping his mouth shut. Talk to the media if you must, but couch your answers. In Cleveland, fans glom onto every word. Hoyer knows the coaching staff makes decisions such as who starts at quarterback. It?s much smarter to defer to their judgment than try to get their attention by putting his confidence on parade. As a Browns neophyte, he should slap it in sponge mode and do everything he can to make the coaches notice. It?s much better to lie low and let his talent speak for him. For all we know, he just might have the talent to back up his words. Chances are, however, we?ll never really get to find out so long as Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell remain healthy and vertical. It makes for a nice feel-good story, to be sure, that the local kid comes home and plays for his hometown team. But the likelihood of Hoyer upsetting the football world and beating out Weeden and Campbell for the starting job is extremely remote. That?s just not going to happen. Not even Bernie Kosar could do that back in 1985. Despite all the fanfare that accompanied his arrival, Bernie still couldn?t beat out Gary Danielson. An injury suffered by Danielson in game five jump-started Kosar?s career.
if Princess Fancy Pants is truly the prettiest belle at the ball, someone else needs to make up the invitation list next time.
Why is that funny? Both QBs are learning a new playbook. Brandon Weeden already had a season throwing to these guys, Jason Campbell did not. And now an average, primarily back-up player who's been bounced around the League half a dozen times is looking like the guy to beat? Sorry, I fail to see the humor in that. Should I be laughing, too, that our bellcow running back, the #3 overall pick in the 2012 Draft who limped through 2012 looking far worse than Peyton Hillis did is now nursing another injury? Forgive me if I don't see the levity in the situation.
Thackery jams . i know Jimmy personaly and catch him everytime he is around here . good guy puts on a helluva live show . a master of the stratocaster [:}
starting to wonder myself . will we ever see a burst from him ? i know he is country strong but he looks slow . he was dinged up last year . Heckert didnt draft one healthy back the whole time he was here . when of all people Hardesty looks quicker thats a problem . you guys know how much i like Hardesty :rolleyes:
Joe Haden still played well, when he played. But the Browns cornerback knows last year?s suspension changed the perception of him as a player, and he knows he has to work to change it back. ?I feel with what I?ve been through ? what I wanted to do last year and I had a setback ? this year?s going to be my year,? Haden said, via Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com. I just want to bring the team with me.? The Browns lost all four games when Haden was missing, allowing 10 touchdown passes in his absence. Coupled with the $1.3 million in salary he lost, and not being eligible for any postseason honors, the hit was significant. ?I?ve been through a lot, been through the struggles,? Haden said. ?So, I know how it feels to be at the bottom, and just have people against you and just being hated on. This year, starting off fresh, I?m just trying to show just a new Joe. This is going to be my fourth year. Me and T.J. [Ward] are trying to take over the whole DB room and just the whole defense, with D?Qwell [Jackson], just being a leader by example.? Haden?s pure coverage ability sets him up well for new coordinator Ray Horton?s defense, which is based on getting pressure up front. That puts a burden on him to held up in the back, and Haden said his new boss thinks big things are in store. ?He [Horton] just wants me to be elite and says there?s no reason I shouldn?t be recognized,? Haden said. Haden hopes that this year, the recognition will come on the field, and not for the mistakes made off it.
The four-headed monster of a head-case Peyton Hillis, ouchy Montario Hardesty, practice squad pick-up Chris Ogbonnaya and cast-off Thomas Clayton can run for 1,531 yards in Pat Shurmur's offense with worse interior line play and a crappier left tackle. The #3 overall pick in the draft with a healthy Montario Hardesty and a few other seat-warmers -- none of whom started, unlike 2011 -- with an improved offensive line and legitimate WR managed 1,593 yards in Pat Shurmur's offense. +62 yards Not impressive.
