John Clayton has an article on Quinn. Nothing really "new" here, but I was struck by this perception: "Most of (the browns wide are long striders in an offense that works best with quick-footed receivers who get in and out of their routes quickly."
This is true but I think maybe a more accurate way of stating this is that, apart of maybe Jurevicius, the Browns don't have any WR who are very precise route runners. I'd argue that a change to new offense is irrelevant. It's not like good route runners are ever a bad thing.
Loved this quote from the Clayton story on Quinn:
"The toughest thing for Brady is just not being too hard on himself," wide receiver Braylon Edwards said.
Many would argue that what Braylon needs is to be harder on himself.
Bentley -- OK, so no third surgery. I guess that leaves a little hope he'll play ing 2007 (yeah right) or maybe 2008. But c'mon, the Browns are darn near certain to terminiate his contract after this season one way or another. Even if he comes back no team can afford to pay him big money when it's not clear he'll be able to play at a high level. I wish him a lot of luck and hopefully he makes it back. But there are no indications it will be with the Browns, and certainly not in 2007.
I hate reading stories about how the team is "installing the offense." It just gives me anxiety to think about the prospect of frequent miscommunications on the field. I keep imagining plays getting in late and delay of game penalties and ugly interceptions and blatantly missed blocks. So it's just better not to follow the mini-camps this time of year.
The Braylon on the 3rd-team thing? Non-story. He's got some punk in him, we all know that. The team isn't cutting him, but he's not gonna get handled with kid gloves either. And it doesn't matter right now. Let's see where things stand in August.
Saw a tidbit about Lew Merletti's kid from Ignatius signing with Butch Davis in North Carolina. That's cool I guess. Personally Butch isn't too bad a guy, he just was a failure as Browns coach. His style sure does seem better suited to college where the head coach is a dictator and nothing else matters. And he's certainly a more sympathetic figure than Nick Saban.
I'm loving the postive vibe emanating from Eric Wright. This observation could be rendered meaningless pretty quickly, but for now Wright just feels like a good fit for this team. And maybe he's better prepared for the pro game than people expect. Afterall, he's been treating football and the NFL as his career since transferring to UNLV two years ago and it's obviously his priority. That's why I think he'll stay out of trouble and play quite well, at least until he gets a big contract someday.
It's really hard to read about how Winslows microfracture surgery recovery will probably limit him in training camp. I infer that it's likely he'll be "limited" throughout the season too. That totally blows. I love the fact that he's a warrior and he played through issues at the end of last season. But at the same time he was clearly limited at times last year and it doesn't look like he'll ever be healthy enough to play to his full potential. No matter how you look at it, his motorcycle accident has had a big effect on his career and he'll never be able to justify his draft position. Because he has battled back so hard I probably like the guy more now than I ever would have otherwise, but the football-cost was significant.
Also, can someone please report whether he is still wearing braces?
NFL:
- Trent Green finally traded to the Dolphins. And thankfully the Cavs are sucking up all the sports oxygen in Cleveland so we don't have to hear how the Browns need to trade for Culpepper.
- It boggles my mind why anyone would want to pay Culpepper a bunch of money. He's fundamentally not so good. And it's hard to imagine him ever leading a team to a long playoff run, at least not without a very good offense around him.
- The Mike Vick thing is funny. It never took much imagination to see that Vick was an idiot. You could see it in his undisciplined play. I think he's played his last game for a long while.