Takeaways from the preseason game between the Browns and the Packers on August 10 at Cleveland Browns Stadium:
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski decided to rest most of his starters against the Packers. Packers coach Matt LaFleur decided to start with starting quarterback Jordan Love on the Green Bay Packers’ first possession.
The Browns were beaten 23-10. Stefanski needed one word to describe his team’s play: “Sloppy.”
“There’s a lot to learn — I mean, a lot for everybody,” Stefanski said. “There were things we could definitely do better. We were too sloppy in a lot of areas. But as I reminded the team, we’re still very, very much in training camp, so we’re going to continue to work on it.”
Love threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks on the third play of the game. That throw ended Love’s afternoon. Sean Clifford was the quarterback the second time Green Bay had the ball.
Coach Kevin Stefanski said, #Brown The start of the season was “sloppy,” but he reminded his players that this was the preseason. pic.twitter.com/tCIhw9r20I
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) 10 August 2024
Wicks beat safety Ronnie Hickman for the touchdown. Hickman started because Juan Thornhill had the day off.
• Browns starting quarterback Deshaun Watson did not play against the Packers. If Watson plays in the preseason, he will play in the final preseason game when the Browns face the Seahawks in Seattle on Aug. 24. Stefanski has already said the starters will not play against the Vikings on Aug. 17. The Browns and Vikings will practice together in Berea on Aug. 14 and 15; Stefanski said the starters will get enough work in the joint practices that they will not have to play in the game.
• Jameis Winston started at quarterback for the Browns against the Packers. He played one series, completing four of five passes for 30 yards and being sacked once.
Winston has secured the job as Watson’s backup. The real drama in training camp is the competition between Tyler Huntley and Dorian Thompson-Robinson for the third quarterback position.
Huntley played four seasons with the Ravens before signing with the Browns as a free agent. DTR is in his second season with the Browns.
Huntley followed Winston and played the rest of the first half. His performance and that of Thompson-Robinson cannot be judged by statistics alone, as each was protected by a backup offensive lineman and each threw to backup receivers. Case in point: DTR began the third quarter. He completed his first pass to backup running back John Kelly, but Kelly fumbled and the Packers recovered the ball.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson had reason to smile after completing 14 of 18 passes for 134 yards on Saturday. #Brown‘ 23-10 loss to the Packers in the preseason. pic.twitter.com/F7Q3inSIVv
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) 11 August 2024
Stefanski was more interested in seeing if Winston, Huntley and DTR could execute the called play and break up the pack quickly enough to avoid being rushed at the line of scrimmage. And then see if each of them could execute the called play without getting confused.
For the record, Huntley completed 6 of 9 passes for 41 yards. He was sacked once. He seemed to handle the situation well in the three series he played.
The Browns’ deepest drive with Huntley at quarterback came from the Green Bay Packers’ 23-yard line. A pass to wide receiver Ahmarean Brown on fourth-and-4 was incomplete.
Thompson-Robinson completed 14 of 18 passes for 134 yards. He led a 13-play, 66-yard march that set up a touchdown from the 1-yard line to Aiden Robbins in his first appearance since suffering a hip injury in a game against the Texans on Dec. 24 last season.
“That’s what I’m fighting for — to keep taking reps and getting out there and getting settled back in,” said DTR, a 2023 fifth-round draft pick from UCLA. “I haven’t played football since last Christmas Eve, so it was just great to get back out there with the guys.”
“I feel more comfortable with everything that’s going on (in his second season) – how the preseason works, how the training camps go. … It’s a good foundation that I didn’t have the year before.”
Thompson-Robinson made one of the most spectacular plays of the game when he rushed for two yards on fourth and 1 to keep the touchdown drive going.
PHOTOS: Browns vs. Packers preseason game, August 10, 2024
• The worst part of football preparation is when players get injured in a meaningless game. Browns second-year center Luke Wypler suffered a broken right ankle in the second quarter.
Trainers ran onto the field to help Wypler and immediately called for a cart. An aircast was wrapped around Wypler’s leg before he was placed on the cart and taken away. Wypler was listed as a backup to center Ethan Pocic.
Surgery is needed to repair Wypler’s ankle. Stefanski would not say Wypler will miss the entire season. He said the Browns may need to sign another center to fill the void.
“It’s disappointing for the boy,” Stefanski said. “The goal of these games is obviously to come out as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, that’s what he suffered here.”
Zac Johnson, a freshman from North Dakota State, finished the game at center.
Hickman suffered a back injury on the touchdown pass to Wicks and did not return. … Backup safety Vincent Gray suffered a groin injury in the first half.
• Kicker Dustin Hopkins got the day off. Cade York, a 2022 fourth-round draft pick of the Browns who was released at the end of training camp last year, scored the Browns’ only points of the first half on a 55-yard field goal.
York, who signed in March, is in training camp trying to get his career back on track, hoping another team will sign him if he performs well in the preseason.
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