Spencer German updates you on the latest Browns news from the practice facility in Berea.
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00:00 Hey Browns fans, Spencer German here out in Berea with your latest Browns practice report
00:05 and yep, already got the puffy coats out, cold weather's in the air, there was snow
00:10 on the ground and that meant that the team was inside for practice today.
00:13 But we got a whole bunch of stuff to kind of get to here as the DeSean Watson shoulder
00:17 saga continues for yet another week.
00:20 We've been talking about it for five weeks now and it rolls on into this match with the
00:23 Arizona Cardinals where Kevin Stefanski today remained as he has throughout this process,
00:28 pretty much mum on the subject of who's going to be the starting quarterback this week.
00:33 Granted he did reveal and as we saw at a practice today, DeSean Watson practicing in a limited
00:38 capacity.
00:39 We'll get to what we saw there, but I also want to clarify a couple other things with
00:41 Kevin Stefanski's press conference today because on Monday he made some, I guess he created
00:49 some headlines in that he didn't name PJ Walker the immediate backup to DeSean Watson.
00:56 And I think that was kind of interesting.
00:57 He was kind of noncommittal on the subject when asked specifically about Dorian Thompson
01:01 Robinson maybe getting a second look.
01:03 And he said today, PJ Walker will be the immediate backup to DeSean Watson if he can't go.
01:08 But the main topic there, of course, DeSean Watson limited to practice today.
01:13 It's a step in the right direction, maybe a positive sign.
01:15 But I'll remind you, we've also been here before with DeSean Watson.
01:19 He practiced limited and then fully leading up to the Colts game.
01:23 And we saw how that went in that game a couple of weeks ago against Indy.
01:25 So you can't put the car before the horse here.
01:28 We don't know if he's going to play.
01:30 And the team remains to say, continues to say rather, that it's a day to day process
01:34 with DeSean and with their quarterback situation.
01:36 Because Kevin Stefanski wouldn't name a starter today, unlike he did last week where he pretty
01:40 promptly ruled out DeSean and named PJ Walker the starter.
01:43 Now in terms of DeSean at practice today, I think the biggest thing I noticed was that
01:49 he didn't have any of that tape on his shoulder.
01:52 He had been wearing that leading up to the Indy game and it was, you know, sort of restricting
01:56 him and trying to help him heal up a little bit.
01:59 But I didn't see any on him today.
02:02 And I did think in some capacity he had a little bit more zip to his football or throws
02:07 rather than he did a couple of weeks ago.
02:09 So that's an encouraging sign.
02:10 I will say though, too, and add the context that every now and then he'd make a couple
02:15 of throws and you would just kind of see him shaking that shoulder a little bit, trying
02:20 to kind of get some things out.
02:21 So I don't know what that means.
02:22 I don't want to speculate, but it certainly seems like he might still be kind of dealing
02:26 with something there.
02:27 And that's probably why he was only limited today and why his status remains sort of up
02:31 in the air in terms of what the Browns can or are at least willing to say about whether
02:36 or not he'll play.
02:37 But it is a concern because, yeah, this Cardinals game seems like it's a perfect opportunity
02:41 for him to play if he can and sort of shake off some of that rust.
02:44 Because I do think on some level, we talked about rust when he came back from the suspension.
02:50 He had the six games last year.
02:51 We talked about rust at the beginning of this year.
02:52 And I think there was some of that with the two games that he sort of struggled leading
02:55 into that Titans game, which to this point in his career, or his Browns career rather,
02:59 is the best game he's put together.
03:02 I'm worried now at this point for him that once he gets back on the field, it's going
03:06 to take sort of a reacclimation, another reacclimation process to kind of make things happen.
03:11 So we'll see if that's true.
03:12 This would be a nice kind of warm up to a big game against Baltimore next week.
03:15 But at the very least, we know there's a chance he could play and we've got to kind of wait
03:20 and see what the rest of the week brings.
03:22 But if not, the word out there, of course, is that the Baltimore game is maybe the one
03:27 he's eyeing for return.
03:28 But everything's up in the air with this guy, with Deshaun, with his team right now.
03:32 And I think that's kind of what's been this sort of darker cloud that hangs over the season.
03:36 Because until Deshaun Watson's back out there, it's hard to really know what the final stretch
03:42 of the season, getting into November now, going into December, is going to look like
03:47 for this team and the prospect of them making the playoffs.
03:51 The other big thing from today, obviously, the Browns making a trade yesterday, trading
03:55 down to the Peoples Jones to the Detroit Lions.
03:58 And Kevin Stefanski reflected on DPJ's time here.
04:02 He was very, very kind in the way that he talked about him, saying they were happy to
04:06 see him grow up here in Cleveland and start his career here.
04:09 But that they are looking ahead to this new opportunity.
04:14 And I think the big thing people would wonder out, with this move being made, of course,
04:20 is who takes those snaps, who gets that role.
04:24 And it sounds like the team is going to roll with third-round pick Cedric Tillman, which
04:27 I think is pretty interesting.
04:28 There were some rumors that the Browns could be looking to add a wide receiver.
04:31 They obviously didn't do that.
04:33 They did trade one.
04:34 And so now it's about who's the next man up.
04:37 It seems like in their eyes, it's Cedric Tillman.
04:38 And you'll be seeing a lot more of him both out here at practice, but also on game days,
04:44 maybe starting with this Cardinals game coming up on Sunday.
04:47 So I think that's another interesting nugget that we got from today.
04:50 We'll see what tomorrow brings in terms of the status of Deshaun Watson.
04:53 We'll also see what it brings in terms of the status of D'Juan Jones, Greg Newsome,
04:57 who did not practice today.
04:59 Zedaria Smith was seen inside getting some work done, dealing with a neck injury.
05:04 But he also was held out of practice today as well.
05:06 So all those guys, we'll get updates on them, on top of Deshaun Watson, among others.
05:11 We appreciate you guys following along.
05:12 As always, you can continue to follow along with the latest news over at BrownsDigest.com.
05:19 And obviously, here on the YouTube channel and wherever else, I should keep you in the
05:24 loop all week long on all things Cleveland Browns.
05:27 Getting you ready for week nine against the Cardinals.
05:29 I'm Spencer German.
05:31 Until next time, take care and go Browns.