Mayfield, Garrett among Browns’ standouts in preseason opener
—After Browns coach CLEVELAND
Freddie Kitchens declined earlier this week to disclose whether he would play his starters in the preseason opener, he used a fair number of them Thursday night against Washington.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield started along with the No. 1 offensive line (Eric Kush opened at right guard as expected), running back Nick Chubb, tight end David Njoku and wide receivers Rashard Higgins, Derrick Willies and Jaelen Strong. Receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry went through pregame warmups but didn’t play. Willies and Strong were their replacements.
The Browns used a no-huddle, hurry-up offense on the game’s opening possession, and Mayfield capped the seven-play, 89-yard march with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Higgins. Greg Joseph made the extra point to give the Browns a 7-0 lead with 12:52 left in the first quarter.
On defense, the Browns used a mix of starters and backups out of the gate. End Myles Garrett (knee) and tackle Larry Ogunjobi (groin) played after missing recent training camp practices with minor injuries. End Olivier Vernon (hamstring) and tackle Sheldon Richardson (abdo
men) did not play after going through pregame warm-ups. In his lone series, Garrett was dominant and drew a holding penalty that was declined.
Rookie Sione Takitaki started at middle linebacker in place of Joe Schobert, who had an excused absence because of a personal reason. Rookie Greedy Williams started at cornerback with Denzel Ward sitting out. Ward went through pregame warm-ups but didn’t play after tweaking something in Tuesday’s practice.
Cornerback TJ Carrie did not play or go through pregame warm-ups. He was spotted on the sideline. He hadn’t missed any time during training camp.
After the defense got a stop on its first series, backup quarterback Drew Stanton replaced Mayfield with 9:54 left in the first quarter as the No. 2 offense took the field.
The Browns used mostly backups on the defense’s second series. A blown coverage assignment allowed receiver Robert Davis to break open for quarterback Case Keenum’s 46-yard touchdown pass, which led to a 7-7 tie with 7:23 left in the opening quarter.
McCollum’s prediction
Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum has been invited to speak to Browns rookies before the Sept. 8 season opener against the Tennessee Titans at FirstEnergy Stadium.
But the GlenOak High School graduate said in a podcast this week with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that he doesn’t believe he can make it because he’s scheduled to do a photo shoot in Los Angeles that day.
It is the first time McCollum, 27, has been invited to speak to the team to which he’s been dedicated since before quarterback Tim Couch was drafted No. 1 overall in 1999.
“Even Jim Brown. Even though I wasn’t alive for that run, I’ve loved them forever,” McCollum told Wojnarowski of the Hall of Fame running back who led the Browns to their last championship in 1964.
“We are getting rewarded this year; it’s crazy. To see how good they can be now, win seven games last year I was hyped. Once we started Baker [Mayfield], once we brought in some new pieces, Juice [Jarvis Landry], we drafted well, getting [Nick] Chubb, then we added OBJ [Odell Beckham Jr.] and a cast of others. Defensively, we’re great. This is the year I think we win 10 games, get to the playoffs and make some real noise.”
McCollum said on “The Woj Pod” that he plans to attend at least three games — at the New York Jets on Monday, Sept. 16, at home against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 22 and at the San Francisco 49ers on Monday, Oct. 7, the night before the Trail Blazers face the Denver Nuggets at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
“I’ll probably get a suite and take some of the guys out,” he said of the San Francisco trip.
“It’s a reward for being loyal when all my friends were leaving,” he said as fans bailed as the Browns went 1-31 in 201617. “My brother stayed loyal, my guy Jeremy, G-Man stayed loyal. Not a lot of guys stayed loyal to the Cleveland Browns.
“It’s funny because when I was getting suite prices last year versus suite prices this season — opening night is sold out, but I’m still going to probably get to two or three games. It’s crazy how many people bought tickets instead of waiting until the last minute.”
Invited to training camp “pretty consistently,” McCollum said he attended three Browns games last season and talked to Landry and safety Damarious Randall on the field. A journalism major at Lehigh, McCollum invited them to appear on the “Pull Up” podcast he hosts with Jordan Schultz of “The Boardroom” on ESPN+.
Plenty of picks
With the Browns agreeing Thursday to trade running back Duke Johnson to the Houston Texans for a 2020 fourth-round draft pick that can become a third-round choice, Cleveland now has 10 selections next year.
The Browns have their own pick in each of the draft’s seven rounds, plus The Texans’ in the third or fourth round ( Johnson trade), the Arizona Cardinals’ in the sixth (cornerback Jamar Taylor trade) and the Buffalo Bills’ in the seventh (receiver Corey Coleman trade).