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5 Things to watch in Cleveland Browns first preseason game

By Randy Gurzi

CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 23: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns warms up prior to the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at FirstEnergy Stadium on December 23, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 23: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns warms up prior to the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at FirstEnergy Stadium on December 23, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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Myles Garrett Cleveland Browns
CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 08: Myles Garrett #95 of the Cleveland Browns reacts to a play against the New York Jets in the first quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 8, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

The Cleveland Browns will play their first preseason game on Thursday, Aug. 8 against the Washington Redskins. Here are five things to watch for in that game.

The excitement around this offseason for the Cleveland Browns has been building at a rapid pace. Now, we finally get to see the players hit the field and show whether or not the hype is justified as they’re set to play the Washington Redskins on Thursday, Aug. 8.

In that game, the starters likely won’t play many snaps at all but that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of things to watch for, especially as players are toeing the line between starting and being a reserve.

These are the games where such players can really make a difference as they go out and show the coaching staff they have what it takes. With that being said, we identify the five main things to watch for as the Browns finally take the field on Thursday night.

Quick Notes:

A couple of things to watch for that didn’t make our top three include the play of the defensive line as well as the backup quarterbacks. Cleveland has a new defensive coordinator in Steve Wilks, and much has been said about his willingness to give the players more freedom when attacking the quarterback.

We likely won’t see a whole lot of game planning in this one but it will be interesting to see if there are any noticeable changes to the way Myles Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi attack the signal-caller. It will also be fun seeing how Olivier Vernon and Sheldon Richardson fit in. It will also be a great time for some of the backups to prove that can provide the team with some much-needed depth.

As for the quarterbacks, we know Baker Mayfield is the starter but who will back him up? Drew Stanton is the favorite and he’s fully embraced his mentor role to Mayfield. The question is whether he can keep the primary backup spot over Garrett Gilbert or if the star of the AAF can come in and win that spot, thus forcing Stanton back to his role of being inactive on game days — where he still helped the team as an extra set of eyes to help No. 6

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