Almost every day I spend covering the Browns at team headquarters, FirstEnergy Stadium or on the road, there are too many news items, notes and observations to fit into the newspaper. So this blog is designed to feature the nuggets that don't appear in print. They're like deleted scenes on a Blu-ray/DVD or the youth football players who ride the pine during the game but get to shine afterward in an extra session often called "The Fifth Quarter."
Here are some leftovers from coverage this week in Berea preceding the Browns' regular-season opener beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday against the host Philadelphia Eagles.
Big-time threat
Veteran Britton Colquitt knows he'll face a serious challenge in his debut with the Browns because he'll be punting to Eagles standout returner Darren Sproles.
"He's a huge threat," Colquitt said, "and I think we've got a good chance to win the game if we eliminate him."
That's easier said than done.
Sproles, 33, has made the Pro Bowl the past two seasons as a punt returner. He returned 38 punts for 446 yards (11.7 average) and two touchdowns last season after taking back 39 punts for 506 yards (13.0 average) and two touchdowns in 2014.
"When he gets the ball, he's kind of a human joystick a little bit," Browns special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said. "He makes people miss out in open space, still has the speed and breaks tackles.
"He's built very compactly, so he's able to break tackles. He's a risk-taker. He'll field the ball inside the 10-yard line. So you're always having to go down and cover. He's a smart returner. He just doesn't fair catch automatically. If you're in the pooch area, he's not going to wave fair catch, and now your gunners have to be aware that now he can possibly block you to keep you away from the downing the ball on the 2-yard line. All those little things that he's done through his whole career have us on high alert."
Colquitt signed with the Browns on Sept. 3 after they traded three-time Pro Bowler Andy Lee five days earlier. Colquitt, who spent the past six seasons with the Denver Broncos, realizes he must be at his best out of the gate with his new team.
"He's got such knowledge," Colquitt said of Sproles. "He's not just like a young guy out there that's really quick. He's not going to drop a ball. He's going to make the right decision. And he's just so quick. Quick guys are scarier than the real fast guys. He's both. And the fact that he's a little bit smaller, he's hard to tackle.
"You've got to sharpen everything that you're doing. You can't just say, 'A pretty good ball here will work out.' You're thinking a great ball, whether that's with the hang [time] or the direction or the distance. It might not always be described as a great ball. It might just be a 42-yard ball out of bounds or a 43-yard fair catch. Against a guy like this, if he doesn't have any production, those are all great balls."
Before Colquitt arrived in Cleveland, the Browns surrendered a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown Aug. 26 in their third preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
NFL debut on horizon
Technically, tight end Randall Telfer isn't a rookie, but he's basically a rookie.
A sixth-round pick in 2015, Telfer sat out his entire rookie season with a foot injury, so he's eager to make his NFL regular-season debut Sunday.
"It's definitely been a long time coming," Telfer said. "I remember talking to you guys last year about how it was brutal just sitting inside when everyone was practicing. Now I finally get the opportunity to go out there with the guys, and I'm excited. I'm just looking to contribute anyway I can."
Telfer had an impressive training camp and earned the No. 2 tight end role behind Pro Bowler Gary Barnidge.
"In college, one of my knacks was blocking, run blocking," said Telfer, who went to the University of Southern California. "It's something that I loved to do. I saw myself coming to the NFL to be a more well-rounded tight end, be a pass-catching tight end, a blocking tight end, to do it all, and I think I've done that."
Another NFL debut
The Browns kept 13 of the 14 players they drafted this year on their active roster, but one of them will receive more attention than the others: rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman, the 15th overall pick.
Coleman suffered a hamstring injury Aug. 5 during a dominant performance in a scrimmage at Browns headquarters, and his future looked bright.
But when he came back from the injury, he had disappointing performances in his two preseason games.
Coach Hue Jackson said Coleman pressed. Quarterback Robert Griffin III said Coleman pressed. Coleman said he pressed.
Associate head coach-offense Pep Hamilton became the latest member of the Browns to make the statement, but he also found a silver lining.
"I think the fact that Corey was pressing is not all bad," Hamilton said. "At least we did not have to go out and nudge him to compete and want the football. Corey wants the ball, and we expect that Corey will go out and score the ball on Sundays. It will be exciting for all of us to see to see his explosion and see Corey go out and make plays. It is not just Corey. We have a ton of guys, Terrelle Pryor, he has played in regular season games before, but now he is a starting receiver. There will be some things that he will have to troubleshoot throughout the game."
Hamilton, though, is confident Coleman is physically and mentally prepared for his first real NFL game.
"It is going to be some excitement early in the game that he will have to manage. I don’t want to call it emotions, but the anxiety of being in your first regular-season NFL game," Hamilton said. "There will be some pressure, but pressure is a privilege."
Hoping for the best
Cameron Erving took some lumps in the preseason while the first-round pick in last year's draft adjusted to playing center after struggling last season as a backup guard who started four games because of injuries.
So will there be growing pains with Erving stepping in for former Browns three-time Pro Bowl center Alex Mack?
"I hope not," Hamilton replied.
An important key to Erving's success will be pre-snap communication.
"Our guys understand how important it is that we just communicate and are all on the same page before the ball is snapped," Hamilton said. "Cam has grown throughout the offseason and throughout training camp. He improved over the course of the preseason as well. He has been bringing the O-line group together. We have developed more continuity. He is a very talented young man. I think that he will go out and he will find a way to get it done."
Bombarded with questions
Starting quarterback Robert Griffin III has been picking Hamilton's brain about the offense so much that it can be ... exhausting.
"He has had to adapt to a new system, adapt to a new rhythm and timing within our passing game," Hamilton said. "The one thing that has impressed me a ton about Robert is he is a tireless worker. He is a gym rat. He is here all the time. He is working at it. He is studying film. He is actually bothering me quite a bit up in the coaches’ wing of the building, which is a good thing. It’s important to him."
Asked how Griffin has bothered him, Hamilton added, "In a good way, just questions about the opponent, ideas about how to attack different things that he has went and studied himself on film. His demeanor, his approach to preparing himself for this season was recognized by his teammates, and because of that, he was voted a team captain."
Quotable
1. Defensive coordinator Ray Horton on new starting cornerback Jamar Taylor: "I am really pleased that we have him. He is a pro’s pro. He is a veteran. He came in and we did not promise him anything other than an opportunity. He has quietly been very professional about his job. He is a technician. He is very smart. I think he is expanding his leadership role the more he plays. He has let his play speak for himself, which is very impressive. He is one of the veteran players that we are counting on to be a leader for our team to calm some of these young players that have not been there yet."
2. Tabor on new Browns kicker Patrick Murray: "He attacks things. He’s been very accurate in practice and in games. He plays with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, and I mean that in a good way. ... He coming back from a knee injury. He has worked his way back. He has earned this opportunity. He understands that nothing is given and everything is earned. I have a lot of respect for people that do that so I’m looking forward to watching him play."
3. Jackson on if he has taken time to reflect on his second chance as an NFL head coach beginning: "No, honestly I haven’t. I haven’t thought about it, not one time. What I have thought about is what we need to do to win the game, how to best prepare our team. That has been going on since the day I got the job – what do I think it is going to take to give us the best opportunity this season to be winners, creating the right environment, creating the right culture, making sure that we stay collaborative within our building, which I think we have been outstanding, making sure that our players understand the work ethic that it takes to be a big-time NFL pro player and then what it takes to win each and every week. I think we have done that. Now the proof is in we have to go win. That is all that is left to do. That is where my mind is all the time. It is not really on what has gone on in the past in my career."
4. Hamilton on starting running back Isaiah Crowell saying his goal is to rush for 1,000 yards in 2016 and Jackson saying that wouldn't be enough: "He said that would not be enough? He is definitely prepared. For us, ideally, we want to finish a game running the football. In my past experience, when you have an opportunity to hand the ball off to a runner such as Crow early in the game as well as late in the game like I just mentioned, you typically have a chance to run defenses down and have success running the football. Crow has not only run the ball well. He has done an outstanding job of playing without the ball in the preseason. That is just as important as being able to run the football in the National Football League. He will be ready to go."
5. Hamilton on the role of backup running back Duke Johnson: "Duke is arguably one of the best third-down backs in the National Football League. I can validate what I just said by the fact that he caught over 60 balls last year. He is a guy that not only is he a good third down back, but he can play on first and second down. We have two really good tailbacks, and it is our job as coaches and the guys around those guys to make sure that we give them an opportunity to do what it is that they do best and that is carry the football. Duke has shown tremendous versatility not only as a runner but as a pass receiver out of the backfield."
The first string (stories that appeared in print and/or elsewhere on Ohio.com)
7. Keys to the game for Browns at Eagles
8. Storylines to watch for Browns at Eagles
9. Predictions for the Browns in 2016 and in the season opener