Browns quick hits: Kevin Stefanski on to 'regular-season schedule' but not Baker Mayfield

On the day the Browns learned officially they would be opening the regular season against their former quarterback, coach Kevin Stefanski acknowledged the time was now to begin the transition toward regular-season preparation.

The Browns still have one preseason game, Saturday against the Chicago Bears, and nearly three full weeks until the actual opener. That comes on Sept. 11 against a Carolina Panthers team that announced Monday they were, not surprisingly, starting Baker Mayfield at quarterback for that game.

Stefanski didn't wish to talk about Mayfield, whom the Browns traded to the Panthers on July 6, during Monday afternoon's media Zoom call.

"We'll wait to talk about Carolina until we get there," Stefanski said. "I'm still in Week 3 of the preseason mode."

The Browns coach, though, is quickly trying shift from that preseason/training camp mode which has been the means of operation since the first full-squad practice on July 27. That phase came to a conclusion with Sunday's 21-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the second preseason game.

In that game, the Browns essentially played nothing but backups and depth players on the roster. The starters were able to get work in the previous Thursday and Friday, when the teams conducted two joint practices.

"I thought it was a really good week for our football team with those joint practices and then yesterday's game," Stefanski said. "… So with that we'll transition to Chicago week. Like I mentioned, we're going to go to a regular-season schedule and get our team ready for what that means from a game-plan standpoint, from meetings changing a little bit."

It's not a full transition yet. Not with the Browns still facing not one, but two cutdown dates in the next two weeks to eventually get the roster from its current number of 85 to the regular-season number of 53.

The first of those two comes on Tuesday, when the Browns have to be at 80 by 4 p.m. The final cutdown date is by 4 p.m. Aug. 30.

"We'll still do some competitive periods at practice, which we would not do during a normal regular season," Stefanski said. "So it's going to be a hybrid of a regular-season schedule while still getting some work in offense versus defense."

A.J. Green cleared, Daylen Baldwin in concussion protocol after Eagles game

There was good news on the concussion front for the Browns on Monday when cornerback A.J. Green was cleared of a potential concussion. Green left Sunday's game in the first half and was checked for the possibility of having one.

Receiver Daylen Baldwin, though, has been placed in the concussion protocol. Baldwin, a rookie out of Michigan, played in 30 offensive snaps against the Eagles.

Defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey is "working through a couple of things," according to Stefanski. The rookie fourth-round pick, who played in 40 defensive snaps Sunday, left the field at the two-minute warning with trainers.

Isaiah Thomas on his way back

While the Browns await final word on Winfrey, another rookie defensive lineman is expected back this week. Stefanski said Isaiah Thomas should be able to practice and, potentially, play against the Bears this week.

Thomas left last Monday's practice with a hand injury. He has been wearing a case on his right hand/lower arm, something Stefanski said he could play with if it's padded.

The seventh-round pick out of Oklahoma was one of the standouts of the preseason opener in Jacksonville. Thomas had two sacks and three tackles for loss in the game.

Alex Taylor gets a full day's workload

There was one player who played every single offensive or defensive snap for the Browns against the Eagles. That was Alex Taylor, who played all 74 offensive snaps at left tackle.

The next-closest total was by receiver Mike Harley Jr. Harley played 61 snaps, 82% of the total.

Stefanski was asked how much Taylor's workload was a by-product of so many players sitting out the game.

“In a lot of ways, yes," Stefanski said. "Alex did a nice job; a credit to him for playing that whole game. But when you are resting guys, there are limitations to how many guys you have up.”

'It's a body of work' for Joshua Dobbs

Joshua Dobbs has been a preseason revelation for the Browns through two games. Brought in originally to be the No. 3 quarterback, Dobbs is expected to be the No. 2 behind Jacoby Brissett during Deshaun Watson's 11-game suspension.

How Stefanski has evaluated Dobbs, who has played in just two regular-season games in his six-year career, isn't just about what he's done against either the Jaguars or Eagles. Nor is it really about the years he spent mostly in Pittsburgh previously, in a quarterback room that had a future Hall of Famer at the top in Ben Roethlisberger.

"It's a body of work," Stefanski said. "So it goes back to the reps he gets in practice, how he does in the meeting room, what he does on the game field. Obviously, in terms of career and career attempts and those type of things, really just focused on what he's done with us."

In the two preseason games, Dobbs has completed 24-of-33 passes for 249 yards with a touchdown. He's also run for 56 yards on five carries.

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns' Kevin Stefanski on to regular-season prep, but not Carolina