With both Gary Baxter and Daylon McCutcheon MIA due to injury, a
disturbing theme has emerged in the first three games of the pre-season.
The glaring lack of quality depth at the cornerback position.
The Browns have been getting beaten deep early, late and often by a list of
players who you won’t exactly find with a quick scan of a Who’s Who list of
upper-echelon receivers. From Hank Baskett in the
Philadelphia
pre-season opener to Peerless Price in last Saturday’s win over the
Bills, toast has become a dietary staple of the Browns’ secondary.
In particular, Ralph “Scorched” Brown and Pete “Earth” Hunter have
been the toastee’s on more than one occasion.
To that end, Baxter is vowing to return from his torn pectoral muscle in time
for the start of the regular season on Sept. 10. And head coach Romeo
Crennel, for one, cannot wait for the veteran to be back on the field.
“
We
talked to (the defensive backs) about not giving up long passes, but during the
preseason, we seem to give up a pass or two a game,” Crennel said. “If we can
get a Gary Baxter back on the field, I think it would
help solidify the position.”
Baxter took yet another step toward achieving his goal yesterday as he practiced
for the first time since suffering the injury against the Eagles, albeit only in
non-contact positional drills.
“I
think… no, I know I will be ready for the first game,” Baxter vowed.
*****
The news on McCutcheon, on the other hand, is not quite as optimistic.
The eight-year veteran has been limited to riding a bike and, at least on
Monday, running on the sideline in lieu of any type of practice. What at
one point looked likely—playing in the opener—is quickly becoming more and more
unrealistic.
McCutcheon, recovering from knee surgery performed early on in camp, has not
progressed as rapidly as expected. While he has suffered no setbacks, the
knee is simply not healing at the rate first thought by the Browns’ medical
staff.
*****
The Browns released a new depth chart yesterday, and there were only a couple of
changes of note.
As expected, D’Qwell Jackson has leapfrogged Chaun Thompson into
the starting inside linebacker spot opposite Andra Davis. While
Thompson played well in last Saturday’s game against
Buffalo, it likely won’t prevent what, for weeks, has
looked like an inevitability.
In addition to the Jackson-Thompson flip-flop, rookie Kamerion Wimbley
did his own flip on the chart, moving into the backup spot at strong-side
outside linebacker behind Willie McGinest. In the first depth chart
of the pre-season, Wimbley was listed as the backup to weak-side outside
linebacker Matt Stewart.
Just to show that pre-season depth charts mean about as much as the results of
pre-season games, though, rookie running back Jerome Harrison is listed
as the fourth back, behind both William Green and Lee Suggs and
just ahead of Jason Wright.
Harrison has, by all accounts, locked down the change-of-pace back job, is possibly
pulling ahead in the battle to be the #2 back and is the only player on the
roster to have played in each quarter of the last two pre-season games.
Meanwhile, Green didn’t enter the regular-season dress rehearsal until halfway
through the third quarter and Suggs did not get a play from scrimmage.
*****
Other depth chart notes:
---Ken Dorsey holds onto the backup QB spot by a thread ahead of #3
Derek Anderson.
---Rookie Travis Wilson, the fourth-string WR on the first depth chart, has moved up to third-string and
is gaining ground on current second-stringers Josh Cribbs and, in
particular, Frisman Jackson.
---Fullback Lawrence Vickers is listed behind backup Corey McIntyre.
That’s funny I don’t care who you are.
*****
With rookies seemingly stepping up on a daily, or even hourly, basis, one
expected to provide quality depth almost immediately has been relegated to
sideline duty.
Until now.
Offensive lineman Isaac Sowells returned to practice yesterday for the
first time since early on in camp after suffering a high-ankle sprain in an
intra-squad scrimmage. The fourth-round draft pick, if healthy, would
offer much-needed depth at the guard position.
As it stands now, the only thing standing between Dave Yovanovits (six
games in three years) and Andrew Hoffman (converted from DL to OL early
in camp) seeing meaningful action is Cosey Coleman’s creaky knees and
Joe Andruzzi’s balky back.
*****
Brandon Rideau
was the only “big-name” release in the Browns first round of cuts yesterday, and
the play of fellow wide receiver Kendrick Mosley led directly to the 2005
training camp sensation’s release.
“He’s not flashy… He doesn't take your breath away, but he catches the ball,”
Crennel gushed when speaking of Mosley.
Mosley will likely be in a fight with Frisman Jackson for the sixth and
final WR spot on the 53-man roster.
*****
Crennel has told both Ken Dorsey and Derek Anderson that neither
of them has played well enough to rule out the possibility of adding another
veteran quarterback to the roster.
In other news, the head coach informed both QBs that water is indeed still wet.
*****
Andrew Pace
is an undrafted rookie free agent that almost nobody with much of a life has
heard of or thinks about when it comes down to predicting a final 53-man roster.
The safety, who would make the final roster or practice squad based on his
special teams prowess, played four years at Vanderbilt and was invited to
mini-camp only after a family friend phoned general manager Phil Savage
seeking a favor for Pace.
He has not only survived the mini-camps, but also the first round of cuts.
Now, Ray Millick of the Birmingham News
puts a story to the name of a player who wasn’t expecting to be a member of
the Browns past June much less deep into the month of August.
*****
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“If we can get a Gary Baxter back on field, I think that will solidify
the position. In the meantime, we’re taking a look at guys like Ralph Brown,
who can come in and do some things. But he’s not Gary Baxter.”—head
coach Romeo Crennel, preaching to the right church and the proper pew.
QUOTE OF THE DAY, THE SEQUEL:
“To go from quarterback to receiver, you're going from a lazy position to a
working position. Quarterbacks are lazy. Go five steps, throw the ball. They
don't run like receivers run.”—wide receivers coach Terry Robiskie,
on Josh Cribbs’ transition from college QB to NFL WR.