Ex-Titan Taylor has the scoop

Taywan Taylor might get a game ball if the Browns beat Tennessee even if he is on the game-day IL.

Taywan Taylor might be awarded a game ball if the Browns beat Tennessee in the season opener even if he is on the game-day inactive list.

The Browns acquired the 5-foot-11 wide receiver from the Titans on Aug. 31 for a 2020 seventh-round draft. Not long after he walked into the Browns training complex in Berea, defensive coaches starting pressing him for information on the Tennessee offense that might not show up in film study.

Taylor has been more than willing to help his new team get an edge.

“The defensive coordinator (Steve Wilks) kind of pulled me to the side,” Taylor said after a light practice Sept. 2. “He asked me a few things about them. He said he didn’t want me to feel like I was in an interrogation room.

“I tried to give him some information on them. From there, he said they’re going to look at the game film, the game plan and use those little notes he got from me and take it over to the (defensive) meeting room and try to use that to help those guys. I think we’ll be wellprepared offensively, defensively and on special teams.”

The Titans selected Taylor

in the third round of the 2017 draft. He caught 53 passes for 697 yards and two touchdowns in 29 games over two seasons. He made nine career starts with Tennessee.

Taylor said he was on his way to practice in Tennessee when Titans general manager told him he’d been traded. Taylor said he got excited when he found out he’d be on the same team as Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis “Juice” Landry and Rashard Higgins.

Getting playing time is going to be a challenge for Taylor. But he is willing to put in the work. Unfortunately for him, from here on out the Browns are in game plan mode week to week. Training camp is the time for learning.

“I’m ready to bring effort, urgency, just ready to go out here and make plays,” Taylor said. “Our job is to go out there, get open, catch

the football, make plays and be playmakers. We have the guys in the room that have done it. They have proven that they can do it, and that’s going to feed off the rest of us.

“Just knowing I got guys like that in my room, like O, Juice and Rashard. Those guys bring it every day. Just to see about how they go about work every day – meeting rooms, practice, weight room – it’s going to be an honor to be able to just be behind those guys and learn and take notes to be able to soak in all that knowledge. I’m ready to go to work.”

Taylor is one of two wide receivers added to the roster over the weekend. The Browns claimed Khardale Hodge on waivers from the Rams on Sept. 1.

“The thing with the NFL is you’re continuing to look to upgrade your roster in any way that you can in

any position,” Coach Freddie Kitchens said. “We felt like the guys that we bought in do that. They came in, and they’re getting a little grasp for the offense now and get at it.

“They have to get into their books and they have to get ready to go. You can only carry but so many to the game, and the ones that are in the game have to be able to play.

“I have total confidence in our coaches and for them personally that they’ll do that and make that commitment to do it.”

Hodge signed with the Rams as an undrafted rookie from Prairie View A&M in 2018. He played in 14 regular season games and three postseason games in 2018, including Super Bowl LIII. He played primarily on special teams. He also caught two passes for 17 yards in the regular season.