Preseason football got underway Thursday night in Canton, Ohio, where the Browns and Jets met in the annual Hall of Fame Game.
Many of the teams’ starters — most notably quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson — spent the evening watching from the sidelines. There were turnovers, plenty of penalties and the lights even went out at the start of the fourth quarter, but hey, that’s preseason football.
Cleveland came away with a 21-16 win thanks to a second-half comeback led by Dorian Thompson-Robinson in his NFL debut. The fifth-round pick out of UCLA looked at home in the pocket, on the run and even as a blocker.
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Thompson-Robinson entered the game at the start of the second half with the Browns trailing, 16-7, and immediately authored an 11-play, 93-yard scoring drive. He picked up two first downs with his legs and then cleared a path for his former Bruins teammate Demetric Felton on a 16-yard score. Two drives later, Thompson-Robinson marched down the field once again and hit Austin Watkins Jr. in stride for a 22-yard, go-ahead touchdown.
The rookie quarterback finished 8 of 11 for 82 yards and a score and added 36 rushing yards on six carries. Thompson-Robinson outplayed Kellen Mond, who was in for the entire first half, and made his case to coach Kevin Stefanski to be Watson’s backup. Mond finished 13 of 19 for 92 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Veteran Joshua Dobbs did not play.
Cedric Tillman, a third-round pick from Tennessee, also flashed with two catches for 35 yards in the first half. He tied Watkins for the team lead in receiving.
On the other side, former No. 2 pick Zach Wilson held his own across three series. He finished 3 of 5 for 65 yards, the bulk of which came on a 57-yard hookup with Malik Taylor. Wilson said afterwards Rodgers called the play that resulted in the longest gain of the game.
New York struggled to move the ball for much of the night, especially with Tim Boyle (6 of 11, 61 yards) and Chris Streveler (1 of 7, nine yards, one interception) under center. Only one of the team’s four scoring drives went longer than 27 yards. The Jets took full advantage of short fields after an interception, fumble recovery and a lengthy kickoff return.
Fifth-round running back Israel Abanikanda led the team in rushing with nine carries for 27 yards and he punched in a touchdown from 10 yards out. He figures to slot in on the depth chart behind Breece Hall, Michael Carter and Zonovan Knight, none of whom played Thursday.
Cleveland gashed New York on the ground as Felton, John Kelly Jr., Thompson-Robinson and Hassan Hall all individually outgained Abanikanda. The Browns established the run with 172 yards rushing and did so efficiently to the tune of 5.2 yards per carry.
The true Week 1 of the preseason begins Thursday and the 2023 season opener is now just 34 days away. As Rodgers said on the Hall of Fame Game broadcast: “Football is back, it’s August, it’s training camp, it’s an exciting time of the year.”
