Cleveland Browns: 4 things to watch at training camp as preseason nears
By Greg Newland
The Cleveland Browns are through a full week of practices and have had their first day in pads. Check out these few items to watch as camp concludes.
After the long wait, football season is finally here. Not only that, the Cleveland Browns will be in action one week from Saturday. Preseason football may not be anything close to the regular season, but it’s still fun to watch your team play. It’s a great opportunity to see what the second and third-string will look like.
What’s perhaps even more exciting for 2021 is a full training camp that isn’t completely virtual. I get that you can learn a lot via teams, but an actual practice simply can’t be replaced. Some of the rookies from 2020 could have huge leaps in progression this year because of additional reps.
We must be careful to judge anything too quickly strictly off training camp. The defense will always gel faster than an offense, and some guys just don’t practice well. With that in mind, there are still four big items we should be watching as camp progresses.
No. 4 – Mack Wilson looks healthy.
All offseason the thought has been that Mack Wilson may struggle to make this roster. The Browns added Anthony Walker and drafted Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Tony Fields. Not to mention Jacob Phillips is coming into year two and defensive coordinator Joe Woods looks to utilize the 4-2-5 defense.
So far Wilson has accepted the challenge. He has gone under the wing of Walker and has really fine-tuned his body coming into 2021. With Walker, JOK, and Fields all being limited in camp, Wilson has stepped up and made a big impression at camp early.
Don’t expect him to replace a starter on the roster, but he is certainly showing that he deserves a role on this team.