Cleveland Browns quick hits: Pro Football Hall of Fame minicamp visit; crowded running back room

ROCKY RIVER — The Browns are going to wrap up their offseason program with a couple of practices in different locales.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced Monday that next week's three-day mandatory minicamp is going to include a couple of trips away from team headquarters. After the first minicamp practice is conducted in Berea next Tuesday, the Browns will travel to Canton to practice and visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"We'll have a really good day's work on Tuesday," Stefanski said at Monday's Cleveland Browns Foundation Golf Tournament at Westwood Country Club. "On Wednesday we'll go down to the Hall of Fame as a team and practice down there and visit down there, which I think is so vitally important that we understand what's come before us, the players, the coaches, the great teams that have come before us. We're so fortunate to have the Pro Football Hall of Fame right down the road, so we're going to take advantage of that on Wednesday."

The Canton practice will be held at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. It is closed to the public.

The final practice will also be away from team headquarters in their own stadium in downtown Cleveland. While rookie kicker Cade York has gotten some work in on the lakefront the last month or so, it will be the first time the full squad has conducted a workout in their game-day home.

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"I want to get down there with the team," Stefanski said. "I want to get all of our players working in the stadium. I want to get our young kicker working in the stadium in the offseason. I think it's a good spot to end camp. Also, from a communications standpoint, we can work together as coaches and split the team up and put ourselves through some situational football."

D'Ernest Johnson one-year contract made official

The Browns reached an agreement on a one-year deal with restricted free-agent running back D'Ernest Johnson on Saturday. The team made the signing official on Monday morning.

The deal is worth $2.433 million with incentives. The contract includes $900,000 guaranteed.

"We’ve talked about D’Ernest a lot over the last couple of years, especially last year with some of the injuries like you mentioned," Stefanski said. "He’s a very dependable player. He’s going to give you everything he has. He’s going to be where he’s supposed to be. He’s a great teammate. The guys really want to fight for him when he’s back there because he does everything that’s asked of him whether it’s special teams or third-down running back, you name it. So excited for D’Ernest, and again, really lucky to have a dependable player at that position."

Johnson has been very productive in his time in Cleveland, especially when he's gotten a bulk of the carries. He played in all 17 games, starting two, while rushing for 534 yards and three touchdowns on 100 carries.

Against Denver on Thursday Night Football last Oct. 21, he ran for a career-best 146 yards and a score on 22 carries. He also ran for 123 yards and a score on 23 carries in the season finale against Cincinnati.

The previous year, against Dallas, he ran for 95 yards on 13 carries after Nick Chubb went down with a knee injury.

Johnson realistically gives the Browns five legitimate running back options entering camp: Chubb, Kareem Hunt, Johnson, running back/receiver Demetric Felton and rookie Jerome Ford.

"Those type of things are really good problems to have," Stefanski said. "We want good players and if we have a bunch of good players at one position that’s okay. No. 1 it builds depth, just talking about D’Ernest there with the amount of plays that he gave us last season. But it promotes competition. I just think it’s our job to utilize those guys as we see fit."

Jack Conklin making progress in recovery

One of the players whose rehabilitation from injury has been closely followed this offseason has been right tackle Jack Conklin. He suffered a ruptured patellar tendon at Baltimore on Nov. 28 which ended what had been an injury-plagued season.

Conklin has not participated in the on-field portion of the Browns' voluntary offseason training workouts thus far. However, Stefanski said the seventh-year lineman is still very much involved as he works his way back.

"He's doing a nice job," Stefanski said. "He's looking really strong in the weight room. He's doing a nice job in the meeting room so I would say he's on schedule."

Conklin, who signed a three-year deal with the Browns in 2020 but restructured it in February, has played in just 22 games over the first two years of the deal. That includes just seven last season.

Kevin Stefanski stands by Myles Garrett's desire for activism

Defensive end Myles Garrett went more in-depth on his feelings about the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last week. While he was discussing it, he also spoke to his desire to remain vocal about subjects which he feels passionately about, such as gun laws.

"I am going to try to be," Garrett said last week. "I know my home state is probably the biggest kind of advocate for those kind of guns at home, but it happens here, as well. I am going to be an advocate for this cause nationwide. I am going to do the best I can to try and get something progressive and something changed.”

Stefanski stood by his star defender when asked about it prior to the Browns' Stay in the Game outing on Monday.

"I think it should be a concern to anybody, whether you have kids or not, it should just be a concern," Stefanski said. "There's way, way more eloquent people than me to talk about it. I would say I'm just like all of our citizens that are concerned."

Reach Chris at chris.easterling@indeonline.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingINDE

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns to visit Hall of Fame for minicamp, D'Ernest Johnson resigns