Cleveland Browns training camp day seven: Amari Cooper returns to practice field
BEREA — Amari Cooper's absence from the practice field was an abbreviated one.
The Browns receiver had missed Tuesday's practice as a precaution after he tweaked his right ankle late the day before. However, he was a full participant in Wednesday's full-pad practice.
Cooper's return was a bit of good news for a receiver room that had been hit almost daily with some kind of injury concern. That's exacerbated what was a concern going into camp about experienced depth at the position behind the seventh-year pro, whom the Browns acquired in a March trade with Dallas.
It started on the day rookies reported on July 22, when David Bell, the third-round pick out of Purdue, was placed on the active/physically unable to perform list with a foot injury. On the second day of full-squad workouts last Thursday, Anthony Schwartz suffered a left knee strain that has sidelined him since, although he's not been placed on the PUP list yet.
"Anytime you're not on the field, it presents a different type of challenge, but no different challenge than when you're presented with other things," receivers coach Chad O'Shea said Wednesday. "We do enough with him from a walkthrough standpoint, we're very intensive in a meeting room setting with him, so we spend as much time as we can to make sure we close that gap so when he does get on that field, he's in position to know the information and go out there and try to execute.
"Obviously, we want as many on the field as we can. If you're available to us, you have a chance to improve, but he certainly can improve, although not being out there."
Veteran rest days for Myles Garrett, Jakeem Grant Sr.
There were a number of players who weren't practicing Wednesday. Two notable ones were All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett and yet another receiver, Jakeem Grant Sr.
However, neither Garrett nor Grant were absent due to injury. It was a scheduled rest day for both veterans.
Among those who didn't practice due to injury, it continued to include PUP list members Bell and Denzel Ward (foot) and non-football injury list members Sheldon Day (back) and Anthony Walker Jr. (groin), as well as Javon Wims, who's spent all camp on the non-football illness list. Punter Corey Bojorquez (right foot) and cornerback Reggie Robinson II (core muscle) also were on the practice injury list for the second consecutive day.
Second day off of camp coming Thursday
The Browns won't be on the practice field Thursday, as it is a scheduled day off for the players. Most, likely, won't even be in the building.
Coach Kevin Stefanski said there's nothing formal on the slate for the players. However, he did say the facility will be open for them to use if necessary.
"We have a bunch of modalities that we can offer them here," Stefanski said. "We certainly are here for guys who want to recover. Luckily, they will have something to recover from after today. What they do with their off day, so much of it is getting their mind, body and spirit right for the next day.”
It's the second day off of the week for the players, who also had Sunday off. They had four consecutive full-squad workouts prior to that one, followed by three in a row before Thursday's off day.
They'll only be on the field Saturday and Sunday before another day off on Monday. The Browns will then depart on Wednesday for Jacksonville, where they will open the preseason on Aug. 12 against the Jaguars.
“Just the way the schedule comes out," Stefanski said of the way the days off fell. "We are just trying to be mindful of things. Then knowing that we are going to be going down to Jacksonville, just trying to work the schedule as we see fit. Everybody’s preseason games do not come on the same day, so you will start to see a little bit divergence of schedules throughout the league.”
No fight, no problem for Kevin Stefanski
Stefanski has a firm zero-tolerance policy in camp about fights between players. So far, it hasn't had to be enforced with anyone.
The closest thing to a scuffle through the first seven practices occurred Tuesday, when receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones and cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. got mixed up following a play on the sidelines. The two exchanged some words and a few shoves, but nothing more.
And Stefanski wants to make sure it never gets to anything more than that, with anyone.
“I address those types of things really every day with the guys," Stefanski said. "It is a competitive practice. It is a competitive sport. It is a physical sport. All of those things. I do understand that guys are going to play hard and there is a chippiness to every practice that we have ever been a part of in all of our lives, but we just do not want to waste time dealing with those type of things.”
One in, one out as Browns make roster moves
The Browns added to their depleted receiver room when they signed Daylen Baldwin prior to Wednesday's practice. To make room for Baldwin on the 90-man roster, they waived safety Nate Meadors.
Baldwin was a senior at Michigan in 2021, where he caught 17 catches for 256 yards and two touchdowns in 14 games. The 6-foot-2, 212-pound rookie also played collegiately at Morgan State (2017-18) and Jackson State (2020).
Meadors had been signed as a free agent in the offseason. The UCLA product played in three games between 2019 and 2020 with the Vikings.
Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.
On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Amari Cooper returns to field at Cleveland Browns training camp
