Browns stock report: Who rose, who fell during joint practices with Eagles?

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PHILADELPHIA — With most of what constitutes actual training camp largely over and the Cleveland Browns shifting into more of a season-rehearsal mode next week, it’s time to check the temperature of things.

Though much of the below judgment is based upon the two days of joint sessions the Browns just completed with the reigning Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles, all 15 days of practice since the start of training camp on July 23 are taken into account.

Stock up: Joe Flacco

He’s going to win the Week 1 starting quarterback job because he was mostly unchallenged in camp after Kenny Pickett suffered a hamstring injury on July 26. But Flacco has been sharp for two weeks, and it’s clear he’s developing an improved sense of timing with his teammates — especially Jerry Jeudy.

Joint practices are real work versus unfamiliar opponents, not for style points. But after the Cleveland No. 1 offense didn’t score a single touchdown in Wednesday’s practice, that unit scored five on the Eagles Thursday. Two came on trick plays, and most of them were in red zone settings, but Flacco threw with confidence.

In an ever-changing quarterback room for a team with a cloudy future at the position, the one thing most clear is that Flacco still has a cannon. And if the Browns are going to steal a couple of wins in the early part of their schedule, they’re going to rely on the 18-year veteran flinging it deep.

Stock down: The overall state of the quarterback room

Pickett said after Thursday’s practice that he’s better but still not sure he’ll be cleared for full action next week. Shedeur Sanders is out for at least the next few days and potentially the rest of the preseason with a strained oblique. No one knows who’s starting Saturday’s backups versus backups preseason game, because Dillon Gabriel has been held out of some practice drills due to hamstring tightness.

No real competition for the starting job ever developed, and though Pickett’s absence pushed Gabriel up the camp depth chart, the third-round rookie doesn’t exactly enter the weekend with momentum based on how he’s played.

Three of Gabriel’s best throws in Philadelphia were dropped, and throughout camp he’s struggled with accuracy. Sanders never got to build on his impressive performance in the preseason opener and never played with the No. 1 offense in the spring or summer. It’s impossible to know what’s next for any of these quarterbacks when it comes to the regular-season depth chart and an eventual succession plan, and that’s a problem.

If Gabriel isn’t deemed healthy enough to play Saturday, Tyler Huntley — the emergency quarterback since Aug. 5 — will have to play the entire game. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said no decisions would be made until closer to game time.

Stock up: Jerry Jeudy and Harold Fannin Jr.

Jeudy’s flashes in his first season with the Browns were ultra-impressive. He’s shown in recent weeks an ability to get to where Flacco needs him to be. Though there’s rarely full tackling in any August practice setting, Jeudy could have taken some of those catches a long way.

Fannin is ahead of schedule, even if Stefanski won’t directly say it. And after the rookie tight end dropped a touchdown pass from Flacco on the second play of practice Thursday, Fannin responded by catching the next one — and later scoring again on a deep corner route from Gabriel.

Fannin is going to line up all over the formation, and he’s absolutely going to be involved in the offense.

Stock down: The rest of the pass-catching group

Drops were a problem over both joint practice days with the Eagles, and not just by one or two players. The touchdown to Fannin was Gabriel’s only completion of Thursday’s shortened practice. On the following play, Gabriel threw a perfect pass over the middle to Diontae Johnson. But Johnson bobbled it, and it ended up as an interception.

David Njoku caught a touchdown pass from Flacco on Thursday, and we know the tight end will be involved once the real games begin. But there’s just no way the Browns can feel good about their overall receiving group or the fact that, right now, the only roster locks at the position are Jeudy, Cedric Tillman and Jamari Thrash.

Johnson’s opportunities with the starters have been limited and rather forgettable. Finding at least one external upgrade at wide receiver has to be a priority, even if the Browns’ decision-makers believe undrafted rookie Gage Larvadain should make the 53-man roster.

Stock up: The pass rush

For two days, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was greeted by orange helmets on almost every dropback and rollout. Myles Garrett led the charge, but it was clearly a good week for the Browns’ entire defensive front.

Young defensive ends Alex Wright and Isaiah McGuire have impressed this summer, too, and first-round pick Mason Graham also showed up in the Philadelphia backfield multiple times.

The Browns have real depth in their edge-rush group with a superhuman at the front of it. We’ll see what happens with the final roster and the makeup at defensive tackle, but this is a group that appears to be constructed for the kind of havoc defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz craves.

Stock down: The back seven defensive depth

This is nitpicking, and this problem isn’t unique to the Browns. Let’s also make clear this is about the second and third waves, not the first. Cornerback Denzel Ward’s big summer continued as he was outstanding on both joint practice days versus the Eagles.

But Cleveland has been in scramble mode since Jordan Hicks’ retirement and Martin Emerson’s season-ending injury. Starting cornerback Greg Newsome II has been a limited participant, and that’s moved young players like Cameron Mitchell and Myles Harden up to basically full-time duty with the starters.

Players like second-year safety Chris Edmonds, second-year linebacker Winston Reid and undrafted rookie cornerback Dom Jones are in the mix for roster spots and just outside the mix for actual playing time. All have chances over the next eight or so days to keep the team from prioritizing potential outside options.

Not sold yet (either way)

The Browns fixing their run game was an obvious offseason priority. But second-round rookie Quinshon Judkins remains unsigned and has been away from the team in the wake of a July 12 domestic violence arrest. There had been no update on the case in weeks before Thursday afternoon, when prosecutors announced that no formal charges would be filed against Judkins.

In Judkins’ absence, the clear lead runners have been Jerome Ford and fourth-round rookie Dylan Sampson. Though it’s notable that Sampson was first up in the first drill with the starters in both Philadelphia joint practices, the Browns do rotate skill players frequently. It’s hard to gauge a lot of runs without full tackling, but one of the ideas of taking on quality competition in joint sessions is working on a full-speed run game against a different defensive front.

At times, I think I’ve seen progress from the run game. At other times, I’ve seen smaller backs with nowhere to go. So I asked Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio after Thursday’s practice about the state of the rushing attack.

“It’s hard to tell in the practice where you’re not tackling,” Bitonio said. “I think the couple times we’ve been live in our camp, there have been some good things. We know the Eagles’ defense is a great run-stopping defense. They’ve done some really good things. Obviously they’re the Super Bowl champs, but there were some good moments for us.

“We had some good pops. Usually (when you struggle) with the run game, there’s one player that misses a block or something and it looks bad. But for the most part, I think it’s coming along and I think we’re getting to a good point.”

I’d expect the Browns to be in a lot of multiple tight end sets, and at least for the start of the season, I’d expect a Ford-Sampson timeshare setup. There’s no immediate clarity on when Judkins might sign and join the Browns, or if he still faces potential NFL punishment.

Final thoughts

We all got a good chuckle out of injured Eagles offensive lineman Landon Dickerson carrying a cooler onto the field at the end of Thursday’s practice and handing out cans of Miller Lite to both his teammates and a group of Browns offensive linemen.

“I thought it was a nice gesture,” Bitonio said.

After two days of fully padded practices in temperatures above 90, Bitonio joked that he thought Dickerson was passing out Gatorades.

The best chuckle of the day, though, came about 40 minutes earlier. With both teams going through a special teams drill, Garrett stood down near one of the end zones without his helmet. He was approached by NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger, and the two were having a conversation while Garrett used a goal post pad to help stretch himself out.

But as the conversation and the stretching went on, the drill ended. Several people on the Browns’ sideline called out for Garrett, but he was still chatting with Baldinger. As the Browns’ No. 1 defense took the field, McGuire was inserted at Garrett’s usual right defensive end spot.

Finally, someone got Garrett’s attention. Garrett grabbed his helmet and jogged almost 50 yards toward where the next drill was being set up. Garrett waved McGuire off the field as Hurts kept the Eagles from fully lining up until Garrett was ready.

Not long after Garrett got in his stance, he flinched and got Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata to jump. A false start was called, and everyone got to reset before the drill began.

In just a few seconds, Garrett went from unaware the play was starting to drawing a penalty because of his impact on the field. It wasn’t quite as impressive as jumping over the line to block a field goal, as he pulled off last time the Browns were here, but it was a reminder of the way Garrett can disrupt things.

(Photo of Jerry Jeudy: Jason Miller / Getty Images)




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