Preseason Week 2 sees the Cleveland Browns visit the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday. After a thoroughly impressive home win over the Washington Redskins in last week’s opener, it’s time for more Browns’ excitement and action.
It’s a big game for several players. Some are trying to cement starting jobs. Others are trying to convince the Browns they belong on the practice squad after the final cuts. Here are nine of them to watch carefully in Saturday’s game in Indianapolis.
Pharaoh Brown
Since Brown’s very impressive performance at the Orange and Brown scrimmage a couple of weeks ago, the Browns have created new competition for the big pass-catching tight end. Signing Rico Gathers and dumping Orso Charles, who was the team’s erstwhile fullback and move TE, is a direct challenge for Brown.
His summer has been summed up in one word: inconsistent. As golden and delicious as he was in the exhibition practice at FirstEnergy Stadium, he’s had just as may rotten crabapple performances in practice, with drops, missed blocks and trouble getting free from LBs down the field.
David Blough
It’s often a thankless job being the No. 4 QB when everyone knows the team is keeping just three quarterbacks. Blough sits in that role for the Browns right now, and the man immediately above him, Garrett Gilbert, played pretty well in the Redskins game.
If Blough wants to stick on the Browns, or perhaps the Colts, practice squad, the undrafted rookie from Purdue needs to impress in his limited reps. Blough has authored some very nice moments throughout training camp, showing the ability to make anticipatory throws and put some mustard on the ball when needed. Doing it in a preseason game can only help Blough’s chances of sticking in the NFL.
Rico Gathers
I know it’s asking a lot for a guy just signed this week to do much of anything, but it would be nice if the big new tight end at least looks like he might be able to play and contribute.
Gathers never did much of anything except look really imposing in pads on the sidelines in three seasons in Dallas. If he can’t do more than that in the next couple of weeks with the Browns, it’s hard to see Gathers sticking around. Here’s hoping he gets a couple of offensive series to get his feet wet and maybe some special teams reps.
Chris Hubbard
I thought Hubbard looked very good in his reps against Washington. Granted it was just seven of them on the wildly successful opening drive, but the starting right tackle displayed balance and solid technique.
Hubbard has also looked better in camp than he did a year ago. Even with the uncertainty to his inside shoulder, there’s more confidence and assertion in his game in his second season in Cleveland.
The Colts bring a barrage of pass rushers of different styles to challenge tackles. Jabaal Sheard (yeah, the former Brown), veteran Justin Houston, young Kemoko Turay and big rookie Ben Banogu offer a challenge to Hubbard and left tackle Greg Robinson. Browns fans would sleep a lot easier if the tandem looked good once again.
Greg Joseph
Last year’s replacement kicker was well on his way to icing out his own potential replacement, fifth-rounder Austin Seibert, before a recent spate of inaccuracy struck Joseph on field goals. Now the advantage Joseph built up early in training camp — where Seibert missed more kicks than he made through the first week — appears gone.
It’s just my speculation, but everything I’ve seen is that Seibert is better on kickoffs. The rookie holds the presumed tiebreaker of being a John Dorsey draft pick, too. If the coaching staff cannot fully trust in Joseph, the incumbent’s fragile hold on Browns employment evaporates. Even one missed kick in the controlled conditions of Lucas Oil Stadium could be enough to end Joseph’s run.
Eric Kush
The right guard spot is Kush’s for the taking. Have a solid showing against a different style and scheme of defense, like the one the Colts operate, and the biggest training camp competition on the entire roster is all but over.
If Kush struggles, the door remains open for someone else (likely Kyle Kalis) to steal the starting gig away from him. Kush can make sure that doesn’t happen by having an impressive game in Indianapolis.
Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi
“DSG” made a huge splash in his preseason debut, returning a punt for a touchdown in spectacular fashion. Yet the Browns are focused on what he can do as a receiver, not as a return specialist. The speedster has struggled to catch the ball, run the right routes in combination packages, and block (not from a lack of effort) throughout camp.
He should get a chance to play some wideout against the Colts, who do not have a lot of proven depth in their secondary. Sheehy-Guiseppi can cement himself as at least being on the practice squad if he shows improvement as a receiver.
Jaelen Strong
Strong has been one of the Browns’ feel-good stories of camp. The big wideout washed out of Houston and Jacksonville as an injury-riddled disappointment, but Strong has found new life in Cleveland.
He’s been very impressive in training camp, flashing strength and hands. Strong caught both passes in the win over Washington, converting both into first downs. He’s playing not just to earn a spot on the Browns but also creating an audition tape for other NFL teams if he doesn’t survive the numbers game in the loaded Cleveland offense. Another solid game against a respectable defense will help ensure Strong is on an NFL roster in 2019, even if it’s not in Cleveland like he hopes. We hope for that too.
Mack Wilson
Wilson was the NFL’s best player in the first week of the preseason according to Pro Football Focus. Picking off two passes and taking one to the house will do that for the fifth-round rookie.
The trick for Wilson is to do it again. It would also be nice if Wilson were exposed to more work against the running game. While he’s been an absolute stud in pass defense, it was his hit-and-(often)-miss play in the run game at Alabama that helped lead to his draft fall. He hasn’t had a lot to do against the run throughout training camp. If he can prove himself capable in run defense, it will be hard to keep Wilson off the field with his playmaking panache in the passing game.
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