Haden likely to play vs. Bucs
Pro Bowl cornerback faces big test, coming off ankle surgery.
Browns coach Hue Jackson wasn’t kidding when he said this week would be “huge” for two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden.
Not only is Haden expected to play for the first time this preseason when the Browns visit Tampa Bay in the third exhibition game for both teams at 8 p.m. Friday, but he’s also set to have a new sidekick in Jamar Taylor.
The Browns have been cautious with Haden as he’s worked his way back from March 16 ankle surgery. He returned to practice Aug. 8 but sat out the first two preseason games. Now he’s scheduled to fully participate in joint practices with the Bucs today and Wednesday in Florida and make his preseason debut at the end of the work week.
Haden said he’s on pace to be ready for the Sept. 11 regular-season opener at Philadelphia. This week, though, will present a serious test.
“I haven’t had any setbacks,”
Haden said after Sunday’s practice. “Ankle’s just been getting better and better, so I’ve just been doing more and more. Breaking, jumping, doing a little bit of everything. So now I’m able to do team, 11-on-11 stuff full speed, full go.
“It’s going to be some real competition. And I think being able to go back full go finally against another team, trying to get after it, is going to be really good for me.”
It’ll also give Haden a test drive with his new partner. Taylor practiced with the first-team defense opposite Haden on Sunday. Tramon Williams, who’s started every game in which he’s appeared the past six seasons, worked as the first-team nickel corner.
“It means he is one of the starting corners,” Jackson said of Taylor, a former second-round pick who was traded from the Miami Dolphins to the Browns on the last day of the 2016 draft.
“Anybody that we put out there first, they have a chance to claim what is theirs and what they want,” Jackson added. “That is all everybody wants is just an opportunity to show that they belong or that they should be one of the 53, one of the guys and one of the starters. He is going to get that opportunity, and he has to make the most of it.”
Haden said he and Taylor can be a solid tandem.
“Jamar will be a really good starter,” Haden said. “You can tell by just people doing individual drills and the way that he comes out of his breaks, the way he understands football, the way he understands concepts. He’s a smart football player and his ability to be able to lock people up in press coverage, backpedals, his breaks, just watching him play, he’s a good player in the league.”
Taylor entered training camp as the No. 1 nickel corner, supplanting K’Waun Williams, who held the role for the past two years. Williams recently appealed the twoweek suspension and fine he received from the team stemming from a disagreement about the health of his right ankle. Williams’ agent said his client got a second medical opinion Wednesday at the Cleveland Clinic, where a specialist said Williams needs surgery to remove bone spurs.
“I really don’t really know too much of the situation. I just hope that everything clears out,” Haden said. “K’Waun was one of my really good friends on the team.”