BEREA – With the trade of Lee Suggs to the Jets, it appears William Green and
rookie Jerome Harrison have the inside track on being the backups to Reuben Droughns.
“The trade might work well for both teams,” Romeo Crennel said. “They were
looking for depth at running back and we were looking for depth in the defensive
backfield.
“In these situations you never know how they will work out until he gets in and
learns the system and sees how he will fit in.”
Crennel said Green will get more work in practice.
“It takes some of the competition away from him,” Crennel said. “He will get
more reps instead of splitting them with Suggs.”
Green said nothing changes as far as he’s concerned.
“It doesn’t change anything for me,” Green said. “This is the NFL and I have to
work just as hard every time I’m out there. You have to compete every day
because there is always someone out there to take your place.”
Harrison, who scored the Browns only touchdown in the loss to the Eagles in the
preseason opener, said he doesn’t know if it seals the deal as him being the
third down back. Suggs and Harrison were embattled in the battle for the change
of pace back, primarily on third down.
“I don’t know where I’m at,” Harrison said. “The coaches have told me to just go
out and do my job. I know I have to be productive when I’m out there.”
“He’s been doing pretty well,” Crennel said of Harrison. “We still have more of
the preseason to see what he can do.
“He’s got some quickness and we talked about having a change of pace guy and we
hope he can continue to progress.”
Besides Green and Harrison, Jason Wright and rookie Chris Barclay are also in
the running. Barclay has returned to practice after suffering an ankle injury
which kept him out of the Eagles game.
Notebook
Versatile Strait: Crennel said one of the things they liked
about DB Derrick Strait was the fact he can play both safety and cornerback.
“He played safety and started the first preseason game there (for the Jets),”
Crennel said. “He gives us some versatility out there.”
Crennel said Strait might be able to pick up the Browns defensive schemes
quickly coming from the Jets. Eric Mangini, who coached under Crennel with the
Patriots employs the 3-4 system with New York.
“There will be some similar terminology and he should be able to adapt to the
system pretty quickly.”
Brodney Pool, who was a teammate of Strait’s at Oklahoma said Strait is a good
player.
“He’s a big, physical guy who can jam you at the line,” Pool said. “He won the
Thorpe Award in college.”
Injury Update: OT Ryan Tucker (knee) and CB Daylon McCutcheon
(knee) were on the bicycle during practice. OL Isaac Sowells (ankle) is still in
a boot and DB Gary Baxter and DB Shawn Mayer (ankle) were also held out.