Brendan Gulick reports all the latest news and info on the Browns from the practice facility in Berea on November 22, 2023.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Well, hi, everybody.
00:10 Brendan Gulick with you from the Cleveland Browns Training
00:12 Facility in Berea with your Browns practice report
00:15 here on Browns Digest.
00:16 If you're new, please join us on BrownsDigest.com
00:19 for all the latest news and info on the team.
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00:24 We've got plenty of video content just like this.
00:27 It is the day before Thanksgiving.
00:29 And so at the outset, Happy Thanksgiving.
00:31 There is no availability for the Browns and the media tomorrow.
00:35 The team is off for Thanksgiving.
00:38 The team will practice, but the facility
00:40 is closed to the media for Thanksgiving.
00:41 But then we'll be back in here on Friday
00:43 when we'll hear from Kevin Stefanski before the team hits
00:46 the road to go play Denver this weekend.
00:49 And I suppose I should probably wish you a happy Joe Flacco
00:52 day because that's kind of what it feels like here in Berea.
00:56 It was kind of the unveiling of the Browns practice squad
01:00 quarterback who might be the most overqualified practice
01:03 squad player of all time.
01:05 But considering Joe Flacco was not
01:06 on a team for the first half of the year and working out
01:09 throwing to what he deemed as non-NFL wide receivers,
01:14 he was doing everything he could to make sure
01:16 that he was ready if he got a phone call from his agent
01:18 that somebody was interested.
01:20 And the Browns called.
01:21 And so Joe came to work out here in Berea
01:23 and is looking forward to the opportunity
01:27 to be here with the Cleveland Browns this year.
01:28 I've got some sound I want to share with you
01:30 from the locker room today.
01:31 We talked with Joe.
01:32 We talked with DTR and with Sione Takitaki as well.
01:35 And Kevin Stefanski addressed the media
01:37 after the open locker room period was over.
01:39 So why don't we start with Joe Flacco in particular
01:41 on point blank.
01:43 Why does he still want to play football?
01:45 You've accomplished a lot in your career.
01:48 You've thrown 40,000 yards.
01:49 You won the Super Bowl.
01:51 Why do you still want to play?
01:53 I mean, to a certain extent, it's all I know.
01:55 I still have a lot of fun doing it.
01:57 I do feel like I have stuff left in the tank.
01:59 So I owe it to myself to continue to push forward
02:02 and try to play the game that I love until I really don't feel
02:07 like I can do it anymore.
02:09 Well, if he can't do it anymore, then I certainly
02:11 understand that.
02:12 But if the competitive desire is still there to go out and play,
02:15 then power to him.
02:17 And look, I think the Browns are always
02:19 looking to add quality players.
02:21 And given the unique circumstance
02:23 they're in with a quarterback room that
02:25 looks awfully different right now
02:27 than it did when the team was in training camp,
02:30 nobody expected things to work out quite the way
02:32 they have this year.
02:34 Joe Flacco is going to be a welcome addition
02:36 to the locker room for sure.
02:37 So glad to hear that football is still in his heart.
02:41 Enough to the point that he wants to go out and keep
02:43 competing.
02:44 And whether he's on the practice squad or the active roster,
02:46 what his role might actually look like,
02:49 maybe that's still a little bit fluid.
02:50 Perhaps some of that's going to be dependent upon exactly how
02:54 well he can practice, how mobile he is,
02:57 what it actually looks like to have him out there playing.
03:00 But his accolades and his resume is certainly pretty impressive.
03:05 As far as his audition, what was it like to work out
03:08 and what has it been like for him
03:10 to watch the Browns from afar this season?
03:12 [INAUDIBLE]
03:18 You have to ask them what they wanted to see.
03:20 But I was excited to do it.
03:23 I've never been through a workout
03:25 since I came out of Delaware.
03:27 So I was excited to get in there and do it.
03:29 And I got to tell you, you want to go impress.
03:32 So you feel a little bit of something
03:34 when you're going out there and working out,
03:36 like I'm sure everybody does.
03:38 But it was cool and it was a good workout.
03:40 Joe, seven and three obviously speaks for itself
03:43 in a lot of ways.
03:44 But what are your impressions of the team?
03:46 And what do you think it's capable of?
03:48 They seem like a very close group.
03:51 And when you're sitting back at home on Sundays
03:54 and you can watch all the games--
03:56 these AFC North games always tend to be good.
03:58 So the Browns, they were probably on the TV screen a lot.
04:04 And these guys have obviously really put it together
04:08 on defense.
04:10 They've run the ball consistently all year,
04:12 even with losing out on best back in the league with Chubb.
04:17 So it's been impressive to watch them just continue to fight.
04:21 And when you're here in the locker room,
04:23 you hear about how close the team is from some of the guys
04:25 that I know.
04:25 And you can see it right away.
04:28 Any more you want to hear from Joe Flacco,
04:30 that's all available in its entirety
04:33 over on our YouTube channel.
04:34 In the meantime, if you look at the top half of the NFL
04:38 right now, pretty much every team
04:40 that's had what you would consider
04:42 a great all the way down to at least a decent season,
04:46 the top half of the league almost exclusively
04:50 has their starting quarterback still in place
04:52 from basically where they were in training camp,
04:55 except for the Cleveland Browns.
04:57 They have figured out a way to make this thing work
05:00 with three different guys to start games this year,
05:03 including a player you pulled off your practice squad,
05:06 and PJ Walker, who at moments was OK,
05:09 but certainly had some turnover problems.
05:11 And then this past weekend for the second time in his career,
05:14 Dorian Thompson Robinson got a chance
05:16 to show what he was able to do.
05:19 And it certainly went better than his first start,
05:21 which was on maybe two hours notice against Baltimore
05:25 earlier in the season.
05:26 Baltimore certainly looks like one of the best teams
05:28 in the NFL this year.
05:29 So maybe that wasn't a totally fair evaluation of DTR.
05:33 This past weekend, plagued by a lot of drop passes,
05:37 certainly some in some critical situations,
05:40 but Dorian figured out a way to mentally flush it
05:43 when things didn't go well.
05:44 And he led the team on a game-winning drive
05:46 for the fifth time in 10 games.
05:49 The Browns figured out how to win a game with two minutes
05:53 to go in a one-score game and got it done.
05:56 Special teams helping the Browns a big way again on Sunday.
06:00 So we had a chance to talk with Dorian.
06:02 He evaluated what his performance looked
06:05 like after he had a chance to sit down and look at it
06:07 on tape and also shed a little bit of light
06:09 on what it's like now for him to pick the brain of a guy
06:12 that he grew up watching with Flacco in the room.
06:15 When you kind of went back, looked over the film
06:20 and everything, what was on second glance
06:23 kind of your takeaways from your performance,
06:26 especially there in the second half?
06:29 I mean, obviously, things that we need to clean up.
06:31 I think the biggest thing is as an offense,
06:33 we played on time, tried to negate their rush
06:36 as much as possible.
06:37 I think TJ only had one sack, had a couple of QB hits on me.
06:40 But other than that, I think we played on time,
06:42 both in the pass game and in the run game.
06:44 Stuck with it, you know, at times not going to be easy.
06:47 So that's going against a defense like that.
06:49 So second half, getting a couple of three and outs.
06:53 We're working to fix those this week.
06:55 But ultimately, I was happy with the game.
06:57 Dorian, I'm guessing you watched our Flacco growing up.
07:00 What's it feel like now to have him in the room with you
07:02 and as a sounding board and somebody else
07:04 that you can talk to?
07:05 It's awesome.
07:06 It's awesome.
07:06 Any time you get experience with something as a rookie you need,
07:10 it's a great thing.
07:11 So him, TJ, AVP, Ashton, everybody in the quarterback
07:15 room, they're helping me out a ton.
07:17 He just got here.
07:18 He's still learning a way around the city.
07:19 So I'm trying to help him out with that.
07:20 But he's definitely helping me out on the football side
07:22 of things, for sure.
07:25 You know, I've continued to say this
07:27 throughout the last several weeks.
07:29 Dorian is a pretty impressive young man.
07:32 He's well-spoken.
07:34 And he's the kind of guy that's easy to root for.
07:36 And so you hope that he continues to play well.
07:38 I don't know if we're at a point where
07:40 it's obvious to say that this is Dorian's team with Joe
07:44 coming in to add some support.
07:47 I think in the NFL, you have to continue to go out and prove it
07:50 pretty regularly that you're the best
07:52 option at any given position.
07:54 And obviously, there's a ton of spotlight on quarterback.
07:58 Dorian is starting in Denver.
08:00 That's already been established for sure.
08:03 And I would think that if he plays well,
08:05 there's no reason to think that he wouldn't
08:07 be the guy moving forward.
08:10 But who knows what's going to happen, right?
08:12 And that's why it's really important for PJ Walker
08:15 and for Joe Flacco to be ready to go on a moment's notice.
08:19 Kevin Stefanski did not name a backup quarterback today.
08:23 He said they're working through that.
08:25 Whether or not Joe would be elevated off the practice
08:28 squad, maybe they know that answer already
08:29 and aren't saying so publicly.
08:32 But whatever the case is, everybody
08:34 has to keep moving forward here with the mentality
08:37 you got to keep going out and proving it.
08:40 To Cleveland's credit, man, they have found ways
08:43 to win in improbable fashion.
08:46 It's hard to imagine a team, seven and three,
08:49 with three different starting quarterbacks.
08:51 That just doesn't happen very often, if ever.
08:54 But the Browns have figured out a way to get it done.
08:56 Joe Flacco also said that Gary Kubiak is someone
09:01 whom he respects quite a bit.
09:03 And obviously, there's a connection with Coach Kubiak
09:06 and with Kevin Stefanski.
09:08 And that was one of the discussions
09:10 that Flacco had on, hey, is Cleveland the right spot for me?
09:13 Was when he spoke with Coach Kubiak and said, hey, yeah,
09:16 I know those guys that are coaching and leading that team.
09:19 That's a great place for you.
09:20 And it was obvious that Joe Flacco said, OK,
09:24 your word is gold for me.
09:25 And I'm good with that, if you think
09:27 that's a good spot to be.
09:28 So that's it from the Browns locker room.
09:30 But we do have a couple of cuts we
09:31 want to share with you from Kevin Stefanski.
09:33 First, his reaction on Joe Flacco,
09:35 because it's the first time we've had a chance to officially
09:38 ask him on the record what he thought of Joe Flacco.
09:41 First impressions of Joe Flacco.
09:43 Joe's done a great job.
09:47 He and I have a lot of mutual people in this business
09:49 that we know.
09:50 I've not worked with Joe previously,
09:52 but has been in a lot of systems.
09:54 So somebody that I can talk to about different systems,
09:56 different coaches, things he's called, things in the past.
09:59 So a wealth of knowledge and a great resource
10:02 for not just the quarterback room, but this entire team.
10:04 He doesn't feel the need to necessarily put
10:08 Dory and Eddie's, knowing that he's a Super Bowl
10:11 winning quarterback.
10:13 Have you had those conversations with him, though,
10:15 about what his role is and how he's
10:17 going to kind of find it here?
10:19 He's a pro.
10:20 He just has to be a great teammate.
10:22 And that's what he's done.
10:23 And part of being a great teammate
10:24 is showing up and doing your job.
10:25 And think about all the guys we've
10:27 had over the years, veterans that provide great leadership
10:30 without having to say much.
10:33 We have guys on our roster now that do that.
10:35 So Joe's just going to be himself
10:38 in his own unique and authentic way
10:40 and help this football team by the way he prepares.
10:42 Do you know who your number two quarterback in Denver
10:44 is going to be?
10:45 We'll worry about all the roster stuff throughout the weeks,
10:49 but no.
10:50 Kevin, did you observe the little workout with Flacco?
10:53 Yes.
10:54 I think it was mobility at age 38.
10:57 Looked better than you at 38.
10:59 [LAUGHTER]
11:03 That was the funniest moment of the press conference for sure.
11:05 And Tony certainly took it in stride.
11:07 It was a funny moment from Kevin Stefanski.
11:09 Obviously, the Browns wouldn't have signed Joe Flacco
11:12 if they didn't feel that his athleticism was up to snuff.
11:15 And Joe hasn't been training with NFL talent
11:20 as he was waiting to see if the opportunity would come for him
11:22 to get into the league for his 16th year.
11:25 But he clearly passed whatever workout checklist
11:29 the Browns had for him or else he wouldn't be here.
11:32 In the meantime, it's not just about Joe Flacco here.
11:34 By the way, the Browns are playing pretty good football.
11:36 The guys that are already here and have been here
11:39 are performing at a really high level,
11:41 especially on the defensive side.
11:43 Kevin Stefanski was asked about the opportunity coming up
11:46 against these Denver Broncos, who seemingly
11:48 have figured it out.
11:50 If you haven't paid particularly close attention
11:52 to Denver this year, they didn't have a great record right out
11:57 of the gate.
11:57 But they were losing games by one or two points.
12:00 And they were doing so in painstakingly close,
12:04 disappointing fashion.
12:06 And they've flipped that script now,
12:08 and largely because of turnovers.
12:10 That's something that Kevin Stefanski really
12:12 wanted to point out.
12:14 Kevin, you were obviously complimentary
12:16 of what Denver's done in these last couple of weeks.
12:20 First four weeks of the season, they lost three games
12:22 by one point.
12:22 And now if you look at that four-game history,
12:24 they've won three of their last four games
12:26 by one or two points.
12:28 Turnovers, obviously, part of that.
12:30 But are you noticing that they're
12:31 doing something differently that's
12:33 kind of trying to flip those once-tight games?
12:36 There's always little nuances to a scheme
12:39 that you adjust as the season goes on.
12:41 And you come into a season thinking
12:44 you're going to be doing one thing,
12:46 and you oftentimes adjust based on what's in front of you
12:49 and how you're doing.
12:50 So there's certainly things that they're
12:52 adjusting from a schematic standpoint.
12:54 But I can't overstate how important
12:56 that turnover margin is when you're talking about winning
12:59 and losing.
13:00 Well, it's pretty obvious the Browns have made it a priority
13:03 to take care of the football this year.
13:04 And the games in which they have lost the turnover battle,
13:08 those are the games that have been really frustrating
13:10 and haven't always resulted in losing the game,
13:15 but have made for far more dramatic moments
13:17 than they otherwise would have needed to.
13:20 Dorian Thompson Robinson, obviously,
13:22 only threw one interception this weekend.
13:24 And you could probably argue that it wasn't necessarily
13:27 his fault, the way that interception came about.
13:30 But it was a critical turnover for sure.
13:32 And in a game where the Browns only gave up
13:34 one touchdown on a 74-yard run, I
13:38 don't want to call it totally a broken play, but one missed
13:40 tackle and then boom, gone.
13:43 Turnovers have that same kind of impact
13:45 in a game where you might think you've got something going,
13:48 and then suddenly you don't.
13:49 So where Denver has been really good about forcing turnovers
13:54 defensively, the Browns have to continue
13:57 to play the kind of football they want with this situation
14:02 at quarterback.
14:03 And I say that with all due respect,
14:05 because DTR has only played two games in the NFL.
14:09 This team wants to win games because they're
14:11 going to bring you down in the mud with them.
14:13 They're going to run the football,
14:14 and they're going to be really physical up front.
14:17 And they're going to try to suffocate you defensively.
14:19 I don't think anybody's looking at the Cleveland offense
14:21 right now and expecting them to have some great aerial attack.
14:25 Maybe we're surprised somewhere along the way
14:26 and that happens, but we haven't really
14:28 seen that on film of late.
14:30 And so you got to hold on to the football if you're running it.
14:33 And when you do have opportunities
14:35 to try and take some chances down the field,
14:37 you got to be really measured with those.
14:39 So those are big keys for the Browns
14:42 as they get ready for Denver here this weekend.
14:44 Again, tomorrow Thanksgiving closed for the media
14:46 here in the facility.
14:47 So we won't have any additional content for you tomorrow,
14:49 but we will be back on Friday and look forward
14:51 to seeing you then.
14:52 Brendan Gulick from Berea, happy Thanksgiving,
14:55 and thanks for joining us here on Browns Digest.
14:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]