Shaun Smith is no longer in Cleveland, but the talkative defensive lineman is still stirring things up with the Browns.
Smith, released by the Browns last week when he butted heads with defensive line coach Bryan Cox by loafing through a drill, is now with Detroit and told writers there that Cleveland’s star nose tackle, Shaun Rogers, doesn’t like it with the Browns and wants to go back to the Lions.
Rogers played his first seven NFL seasons in Detroit before coming to Cleveland in a March 1, 2008 trade. He made the Pro Bowl last season
While Rogers may or not be happy in Cleveland – he hasn’t said anything of the like publicly, and hasn’t commented yet on the Smith story -- Browns head coach Eric Mangini is happy with the 350-pounder and thinks he’s content being here. He went out of his way to convince reporters of that.
“I couldn’t be happier with Shaun Rogers,” Mangini said in his daily press conference before Wednesday’s training camp. “He’s fun to watch, but only if you’re a defensive coach. He’s not fun to watch if you’re an offensive coach and you’re trying to figure out how to block him.
“He’s impressive athletically and explosive. I’m excited that he’s here. He’s done great things in this camp.
“I’m happy with him. I’m into him being here. Everything’s good. Things are great, We’re all happy.”
Stories circulated in the offseason that Rogers was reportedly upset that the coach ignored him at a public function, but that seems to have died down and the two apparently have patched things up. There have been no signs in training camp or in the spring workouts of any discord between the coach and Rogers.
In fact, in Tuesday morning’s practice when Rogers burst into the backfield for about the umpteenth time this year and intentionally ran past the quarterback instead of squishing him like a bug, he and Mangini had a brief but very friendly exchange. And following last Sunday’s intrasquad scrimmage, Rogers, in one of the rare interviews he has granted since joining the team, complimented his teammates and coaches. Indeed, he said all the right things.
Maybe it’s because Rogers truly believes that. Or maybe it was because Rogers knows better than to rock the boat with Mangini, lest he draw the ire of the coach and be disciplined in some way, shape or form.
In one other note, Mangini seem to also dismiss a report that Derek Anderson was upset after the scrimmage because he felt Brady Quinn, with whom he’s competing for the starting quarterback job, gave the defense the offensive signals when Anderson was on the field. Instead, he talked about the competitiveness of that battle.
Also, Mangini said the absence of rookie running back James Davis from Tuesday evening’s practice was due to a dental problem, not a football injury.
“He had a toothache,” Mangini said.