Packers wide receiver James Jones talked this week about being part of a deep wide receiver group in Green Bay and admitted to occasional moments of frustration when it comes to getting in line for opportunities.
Jones also gave his hypothetical reaction to a trade, which involves a few tears and then a quick move to the new team. Jones’ name comes up now and again as a trade possibility, although it is hard to say if that’s just because it makes sense that the Packers would make a move from strength to shore up other weaknesses or if teams have really been engaging in conversation.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Browns are not one of the teams involved in any such conversation. In a response to a mailbag question about trading Colt McCoy to Green Bay for Jones, Cabot writes that the Browns are not interested in adding Jones to their receiving corps.
The Browns have Greg Little and Mohamed Massaquoi as starting receivers at the moment and they may want to give both a chance to establish themselves this season. With Josh Cribbs ticketed for primarily special teams work, there isn’t a lot of depth behind the starters and whatever depth they do have is very short on experience. Jones would definitely be an upgrade to the group, although the lack of Cleveland interest in a deal and the absence of clear signs that Jones will be traded make it hard to see him catching passes from Brandon Weeden this season.
By Bernie Kosar, Special Contributor to ClevelandBrowns.com
Here are my takes on the Browns made while appearing on “Cleveland Browns Daily, Driven by Liberty Ford”:
The time between now and the start of training camp is a test of the players’ ability to stay focused while also getting a little time to relax before putting on the pads and going through the next phase of preparing for the season.
This is especially true for the younger guys. Working out and staying in the game mentally not only are helpful to getting them ready to play their best, but they also help keep them from the distractions of all the new friends and family they have because this is their first chance at money. And sometimes, all of those additional people in their lives will tend to take them away from staying in shape, being ready for training camp, and being ready for preseason games.
For the undrafted free agents, it makes sense for them to be plugged in as much as possible during this so-called down time, to keep learning, to keep growing. They not only will help their chances of making the final roster, but also help the chances of the Browns being a better team.
The politically right thing to say and the easy thing to say is, yeah, you want get away from it for a little bit, but you continue to work out. The reality of it is that football – especially at age 22, 23, 24 – is so exciting. For me, it’s so fun, it’s so important, that I never let it go away. I never checked out. I never put the light switch off.
And the guys who put the light switch off and then think they’re going to flip the light switch on and they’re going to be at a hundred percent are wrong. It does not happen.
You have your whole life to relax and have fun. It’s not now, though. Now is about playing football. And even though it’s four or five weeks off, you still have to work out. You still have to think about your plays, your assignments, your details of assignment, the details of how you run your position.
I always tell the younger guys, “Yeah, you can relax and maybe tone it down some. But you can never check out and flip the light switch completely off.”
Be sure to catch Bernie Kosar’s regular appearances with Vic Carucci on “Cleveland Browns Daily, Driven by Liberty Ford,” Monday through Friday, 6-7 p.m. ET, live on ESPN 850 WKNR and ClevelandBrowns.com
This is Fujita’s final season of his contract with the Browns, and he is slated to make $3.6 million. Of that $3.6 million, $684, 375 has already been paid out in the form of a bonus. He originally signed a three-year, $14 million contract prior to the 2010 season.Considering the linebacking position has been a point of contention for a while now, they better hold onto all the able bodies they can. If Fujita isn't going to start for three games, the rookies will already be getting some nice experience. Throw in pre-season games just to get their feet wet, from a rookie POV who could ask for more? I have a feeling Heckert made some nice decisions late-rounds with these guys. I was hoping the Browns would take Acho, and I like everything I am hearing about Johnson. The fact that Cleveland is $17.7 million under the cap according to one posting and they shouldn't worry about salary. Fujita may be on the decline, yet he still knows his way around the NFL. He has seen virtually every team in the league more than a couple of times. If he isn't the consensus lead tackler of that group he can still give good support. He may have lost a step, but he knows where to be and when. That could help make up for injuries and questionable ability.
As you can see, the Browns’ wouldn’t be taking a major hit if they decided to part ways with Fujita—a move that is highly recommendable. Between the distractions, the lack of production and the new, young talent the team acquired in the draft, it just does not make sense to hold on to Fujita any longer.
<span style="color: #000080;">38 KINDER, GENTLER WAYS TO SAY SOMEONE IS STUPID
NFL rookies heard from Michael Vick and Pacman Jones at the rookie symposium on Monday, with those two veterans of the NFL — and the judicial system — telling this year’s draft picks how to stay out of trouble off the field. And the rookies also heard from a doctor who told them what to do when they find themselves hurting on the field.
Dr. Mark Schickendantz, the head physician for the Cleveland Browns, told rookies that concealing head injuries and concussions is a major problem in the NFL, and that the players need to take it upon themselves to alert team doctors when they’re feeling symptoms.
“Don’t try to hide it,” Schickendantz said. “A little ding is not just a little ding.”
Schickendantz seems like a strange choice for the NFL to present as an expert on concussions because last season’s most infamous undiagnosed concussion happened on his watch. Browns quarterback Colt McCoy took a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit from Steelers linebacker James Harrison, suffered a concussion, and was cleared to go back into the game anyway. Browns President Mike Holmgren said afterward that Schickendantz checked McCoy out and “was looking at his face and his eyes” and didn’t think McCoy had suffered a concussion.
At the rookie symposium, Shickendantz said the league cares about the players’ well-being.
“Our only agenda is your health and safety,” he said. “It’s about you, not about us.”
The reality is it’s about everyone. It’s true that players sometimes avoid getting checked out by team doctors because they don’t want to be removed from games, and it’s true that’s a very bad idea. But it’s also true that sometimes players are mistakenly cleared to return to games even when they have been checked out by team doctors, and that’s a bad mistake.
So here I am, back up and runnin on a brand new system, just a mere $750.00 later....Dude you should have got a Dell ...
LOL I actually don't mean that but I couldn't resist.Dell sux!!
Dell sux!!
I've actually had pretty good luck with Dell. Had two of them over the past 15 years.
Then again, those of you who frequent porn sites assume the risk.
Tribe closer, Chris Perez, questions loyalty to Browns in NY Times when questioned about Indians' poor attendance.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06...p;
smid=tw-share
“That’s what I don’t understand,” Perez said. “Their whole thing is, ‘We want a winner.’ Well, why do you support the Browns? They don’t win. They’ve never won. They left. You guys blindly support them. I don’t understand it. It’s a double standard, and I don’t know why."
he just needs to Shut the hell up
I've actually had pretty good luck with Dell. Had two of them over the past 15 years.
. i have replaced a video card and am down to one hard drive instead of two . but as long as it keeps working ,..crosses fingers i wont get another one till this thing blows up for good .. yes Dell customer service SUCKED ..I kept getting some towel head who barely spoke English the first time i called them ..after i raised all holy hell with them did i get a American who worked with me on the issues i was having .
no issues since i ran it . it runs twice a week ..once again knocks on wood the thing keeps on keeping on .
. i have the same SN on my account there with tons of music .. racing & of course Browns clips .
I agreed with him the last time he took a stand, but I think he jumped in WAY over his head on this one....
..the biggest bandwagon non pro team supporting state that there is
If you can’t teach speed then Travis Benjamin has earned his honorary master’s degree.
4.36 seconds.
That was his time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine last February. Benjamin’s time tied Georgia Tech’s Stephen Hill and Stanford’s Chris Owusu for the fastest among receivers. The trio finished tops among all offensive players.
Benjamin can flat fly. Well, I’ll let new Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden describe Benjamin in his own words.
“Yeah, he can fly,” Weeden said on June 5. “We were joking about that, the wind coming this way so when we’re going toward the facility you have to let it go a few steps early because he can go. Downwind it’s not so bad, but if you’re trying to throw into any kind of breeze, you have to let it go and keep it pretty tight.”
At a rookie minicamp practice last May, Shurmur asked Weeden to “let one rip on a vertical and see if (Benjamin) can go get it.” Weeden oblighed. Although the pass fell incomplete, a good first impression was made.
“That guy has another gear,” Weeden said.
“Knowing my speed, I know I could mostly run past anybody so I just work on the little things like coming in and out of my breaks and focusing more on the ball,” Benjamin said on June 12.
After his senior season at Miami, Benjamin finished as one of only six Hurricanes players with more than 2,000 receiving yards and his 3,874 all-purpose yards was good for third-best in program history.
The Cleveland Browns selected Travis Benjamin with the fifth pick of the fourth round. Much has been made about the team’s lack of talent at the wide receiver position. Yet if Benjamin is that fast and that talented, why was he selected in the fourth round?
Benjamin comes in a 5-feet, 10-inches and 172 pounds. According to his prospect profile on NFL.com, “His game is based entirely on speed and quickness. He has a hard time getting off the line of scrimmage if not given a free release, lacking the strength to recover if jammed by a more physical defender.”
Still, Benjamin has that speed and explosiveness this Browns team — especially the offense — so desperately lacks. In the weeks leading into the 2012 season, eyes will be on Benjamin to see if he can contribute right away. The Browns think he could. Not only will he see a lot of reps at training camp, but based on his size, quickness and the man who drafted him, he will also see plenty of DeSean Jackson comparisons.
Browns general manager Tom Heckert was with the Philadelphia Eagles when the team selected Jackson in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Jackson’s pre-draft measurables were eerily similar to Benjamin’s: 5-9, 169 pounds and a 4.35 40-yard dash.
Let the comparisons begin.
Jackson has flourished in the NFL. In four seasons, Jackson caught 229 balls for 4,085 yards with 21 touchdowns in a West Coast Offense. He is also dynamic in the return game. He’s fast and proves a difficult matchup for defensive backs, wherever the Eagles line him up.
The Browns need that kind of production from a wide receiver — any wide receiver, at this point — as well as a return man. Last season, Josh Cribbs did not put up the type of return game numbers everyone has come to expect. At wide out and in the return game, Benjamin adds another (very fast) option.
“I think we’ve seen where he can catch the ball in the deep part of the field,” Browns coach Pat Shurmur said on June 12. “It’s nice to be able to run fast but as you’re far away from the quarterback, being able to track the ball is something that you need to be able to do, and I think he can do that. He is a good route runner.”
So far, in essentially helmets and shorts, Benjamin looks good. Is he the Browns’ version of DeSean Jackson. The stars are lining up to answer, yes, he can, but there is still a long way to go before Sept. 9.
“We can’t bump and run in these camps,” Shurmur said. “So I can’t see him against press coverage, but from what I can tell he has the quickness to separate. We’ll know more about all that once we get into training camp.”
