Brendan Gulick reports the lastest from inside the Browns Practice Facility on Thursday, October 19th, 2023.
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:08 Well, hey everyone, Brendan Gulick with you from Cleveland Browns training
00:12 facility here in Berea.
00:14 A good day for the Browns because the leading story from Berea today is that
00:18 Deshaun Watson was back on the practice field for the first time in a few weeks.
00:23 And we had a chance to kind of watch him go through some early warm ups,
00:28 did not see him perform in any team situations or team drills.
00:32 But leading off the practice report here this afternoon,
00:35 the news is good because Deshaun was throwing a football with his teammates.
00:38 What does that mean he's gonna play on Sunday?
00:41 No, it certainly seems like it's moving in that direction though,
00:46 whether it's this Sunday or soon thereafter.
00:49 Amari Cooper actually told us in the locker room during some open locker room
00:53 time today that Deshaun was gonna be on the field.
00:56 Then we heard from offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt who confirmed that shortly
01:01 thereafter.
01:02 And Alex went on to say, hey, look, it's part of his return to play progression.
01:09 So I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that we watched Deshaun for
01:12 half an hour look like he was ready to throw pads on and get out there and go.
01:16 But he certainly looked comfortable from what we could see,
01:19 didn't seem to be in any obvious pain.
01:21 I would say he was more than just going through the motions, but
01:24 it certainly wasn't a full speed practice in the drills that he was running.
01:29 Mostly shorter throws, but he did uncork a couple that were 25 to 30 yards.
01:35 And they look fine as he hit receivers in stride.
01:37 But again, they were drills and certainly not at full speed.
01:41 So do with that information what you will, Deshaun Watson is throwing a football.
01:46 And certainly the hope is that he's gonna be back on the field here sooner than
01:50 later.
01:51 I thought the most notable thing we heard from any of the coordinators today
01:54 was Jim Schwartz.
01:55 And just the attitude that they continue to have around this defense.
01:58 He somewhat sarcastically, but I'm sure also seriously meant, hey,
02:02 they don't give out trophies after playing well for five games.
02:05 And the Browns defense has been excellent through five games.
02:08 It's been the talk of the town here locally that this is a team that is
02:13 on a historic run right now.
02:16 The trajectory is unbelievable.
02:18 Can it continue?
02:20 That's obviously the big question.
02:21 The Browns are planning on it.
02:22 They are playing like they are one of the premier defenses in the entire NFL.
02:29 Hopefully that will continue.
02:31 They've got a test against them this weekend with a couple good running backs
02:35 from Indianapolis, despite the fact that the Colts are gonna be shorthanded
02:39 without Anthony Richardson playing quarterback.
02:41 But Jim Schwartz said, look, we are not in it to go play well for five weeks.
02:45 We're not looking for trophies and praise after five good games.
02:49 So he said that the group is pretty focused.
02:52 And in talking to a couple of defensive players today,
02:56 they said they are enjoying the fact that Jim Schwartz is encouraging them
03:01 to celebrate and have fun after you make big plays.
03:04 And to the point where he'll call you out if you don't,
03:06 because he wants the game to be fun.
03:08 I think that's pretty cool.
03:10 We did hear from a couple of players today in the locker room.
03:12 I wanna share a few things with you.
03:13 First from Delvin Tomlinson,
03:15 who talked in particular about how much he enjoys trying to stop the run.
03:19 >> I take a lot of pride in stopping the run because you can't stop the run.
03:22 You don't have to worry about passers getting sacks and
03:25 the quarterback hits because they just gonna keep running the ball.
03:28 It's always a safe option.
03:29 So I always take pride in stopping the run.
03:32 I feel like everybody up front, front seven, and our safeties too.
03:36 They come and hit somebody and they got a linebacker.
03:38 I don't think I've ever been a part of something like that.
03:41 [LAUGH]
03:42 >> [LAUGH]
03:45 >> Delvin Tomlinson is quickly gonna
03:47 become a cult hero in Cleveland if he continues to play the way he does.
03:51 I haven't seen too many guys that can play that mean on the field and
03:55 be that big and imposing, but have this somewhat fun lighthearted nature about him.
04:02 I think that's really, really cool and he is an easy guy for fans to gravitate toward.
04:09 I also asked Delvin about the fact that he's obviously new to Cleveland.
04:14 Generally, he has made it clear that he likes his teammates.
04:18 He likes this group and he used the word family and
04:23 saying how much he enjoys being here.
04:25 So I asked him what he thought about being in Cleveland in general.
04:28 >> Delvin, you've talked a lot about how close you guys are as a group and
04:32 how much this feels like a good situation for you, just on a big picture level.
04:35 What do you think of Cleveland?
04:37 >> I'm liking it so far.
04:38 I'm still trying to learn the areas.
04:40 People be telling me places, I don't know where it's at.
04:42 So I gotta look it up on the phone and stuff, but I'm liking Cleveland.
04:45 My family's liking Cleveland and I feel like it's a good thing for me.
04:49 >> Certainly like to hear that because I think Cleveland and
04:54 DT are gonna get along really, really well.
04:57 One other clip here from this afternoon, we heard from Joel Batonio,
05:00 who obviously did not play last week,
05:02 snapping 102 games in a row where he was able to get on the field.
05:05 He is quite a warrior and the fact he wasn't able to play stinks.
05:11 But he joked with us a few different times where he just sort of thought it
05:14 might not be that hard to play every snap.
05:17 Because when he got here, several of his predecessors never seemed to miss any
05:21 time, Joe Thomas, Alex Mack, Mitchell Schwartz and others.
05:25 So he just sort of assumed the expectation is you play every snap.
05:28 And he said he's taken some pride in the fact that he's been able to be out there
05:32 as long as he has.
05:34 But here's Joel on unfortunately snapping that streak and
05:37 trying to get back on the field here this week.
05:40 You ready to make one consecutive start in a row?
05:42 >> Yeah, we're working to it.
05:43 I gotta go practice yesterday and move around a little bit.
05:45 So I'm trying to get back on track.
05:48 Kevin joked to me if I got 102 straight more starts.
05:51 I don't know if I have that on me.
05:52 But hopefully get back out there and try and help the team a little bit.
05:56 >> How close were you last week, Joel?
05:57 >> I wanted to be bad.
06:01 I was probably being a little selfish, honestly.
06:02 Like not just for the streak, but the competitor in me wanted to be on the field
06:06 because I feel like I can help the team when I'm out there.
06:10 But we all decided that it was probably best to not play on 13 days post-surgery
06:16 for the remainder of the season, for the 12 other games we have.
06:21 But it was a tough decision.
06:22 I was trying to get back there, but it wasn't quite ready.
06:27 It wasn't quite ready, so it was the right decision to wait a little bit longer.
06:31 >> It was a miracle.
06:34 So Joel Batonio, certainly hopeful that he'll put the injury in the rearview
06:37 mirror here really soon and be able to be full go as the Browns get ready for
06:40 the Colts on Sunday.
06:42 Week seven in the NFL, just a few days away.
06:45 We will be back inside the facility tomorrow to bring you all the latest news
06:49 and information on the Cleveland Browns.
06:51 And certainly hope that you'll keep it tuned to Browns Digest for
06:55 all the latest.
06:56 I'm Brendan Gulick, thanks for hanging out for a little bit.
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