LB Wilson playing with renewed enthusiasm

LB wants to be ‘the baddest person out there’ for defense

Mack Wilson knows the time to shine is now or he might be in a different uniform next month. Plus, Jeff Schudel on Nolan Jones and expanded AHL playoffs for the Monsters.

Mack Wilson, in his third season with the Browns and drafted by former general manager John Dorsey, plays weakside linebacker.

Jeremiah OwusuKoramoah, whom the Browns moved up to take in the second round in April, also plays weakside linebacker.

Guess which player has his work cut out for him the rest of training camp and in the three preseason games ahead? Wilson knows the time to shine is now or he might be in a different uniform next month.

“Before we came back to practice, I just told myself that I’m going back to my college mindset, to where I just felt free and I just felt like every time I went on the field I was the baddest person out there,” Wilson said. “That’s the mind space I’m at right now, where that just keeps me going. I feel like I’m in college again, and that’s how I approach it. Have fun and do whatever it takes to help us win.”

Wilson arrived for training camp in better shape than a year ago. He made 82 tackles as a rookie, but only 39 last season when a knee injury sidelined him early in training camp last summer. He was inactive the first two games of 2020 and regressed instead of making the leap second-year players are expected to make.

“I never felt like I was myself,” he said. “I was down. I wanted to quit at times, but I found a way to keep myself motivated to get through last season. This offseason I just had a lot of time to think. Finding out that I had a son on the way, it really motivated me to work extremely hard this offseason.”

Moving up to seven spots from 59 to 52 to take Owusu-Koramoah sent a message to Wilson, though that wasn’t the intent. The rookie from Notre Dame started training camp on the reserve/COVID-19 list, which meant more snaps for Wilson. JOK is back now, but he was watching the first practice in pads when Wilson intercepted a pass from Baker Mayfield intended for tight end Austin Hooper in the end zone.

“Mack is more flexible, more bendable,” linebackers coach Jason Tarver said. “He’s running really well. He’s finishing to the ball well, which is our No. 1 thing for linebackers. He’s put himself in a position to compete by being in shape. He’s lighter, but he has more lean muscle mass.”

Wilson can play in the middle, but Anthony Walker and Jacob Phillips have that position locked down. Walker is recovering from a knee injury that will not require surgery, Coach Kevin Stefanski said.

• The Browns noon Aug. 8 practice at FirstEnergy Stadium will be just that — a practice instead of the Orange and Brown scrimmage that has become a summer tradition. Stefanski won’t reveal if full tackling will be on the agenda.

“We shall see,” he said. “We consider everything.

“It is going to be a nice spirited practice in FirstEnergy Stadium. It’s going to be fun to be around our fans again in our building. We’ll have a nice two-hour long practice where guys are competing against each other. We will do some red zone work. We will do some two-minute work. We will see some situational ball.”

Players are off Aug. 9.

Call up Jones?

Indians top prospect Nolan Jones is struggling at Triple-A Columbus. He is hitting .219 with nine home runs and 36 RBI through 78 games.

So the question is, should the Indians keep him in Columbus or promote him to see what he can do against Major League pitching the rest of the season since they obviously have given up any hope of the playoffs by trading second baseman Cesar Hernandez and outfielder Eddie Rosario?

Jones can play third base or right field. With Hernandez now playing for the White Sox, the Indians could move Jose Ramirez to second base and have Jones play third, or play Jones in right field and keep Ramirez at third.

Here is the MLB.com scouting report on Jones:

“Jones exudes patience at the plate, waiting for pitches he can hammer and taking walks if pitchers decline to challenge him. His combination of bat speed and strength plus the loft and leverage in his left-handed swing give him well above-average power that plays to all fields.

“His willingness to work deep counts and the length in his naturally long stroke do lead to strikeouts, an acceptable tradeoff for his pop and on-base ability, though he’ll have to make adjustments to solve left-handers.”

Jones has struck out 100 times in 265 at-bats with the Clippers this season. He has walked 44 times. The Indians selected him in the second round of the 2016 draft.

• Author Martin Gitlin will host an in-person presentation of his book titled “Ultimate Cleveland Indians Time Machine” at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 9 at the main branch of Mentor Public Library.

Gitlin’s presentation covers the lows and highs of Cleveland baseball from the infamous Spiders, who were 20-134 in 1899, to the present day, including switching from Indians to Guardians starting in 2022.

Anyone interested can register by calling the library at 440-255-8811 (ext. 247). Registration is required to attend. Those interested in the presentation but unable to attend in person can click on the following link: https://www.mentorpl.org/clevelandindianscelebration/

Gitlin’s book will be available for purchase.

Playoff expansion

There were no playoffs in the American Hockey League in 2020 because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Pacific Division staged its own playoff in 2021. No other divisions were involved.

Beginning in 2022, the AHL is expanding from the normal 16 playoff teams to 23. That means all but eight teams — the last two in each of the four divisions — will make the playoffs.

“Our clubs and their National Hockey League partners recognize the importance of playoff races and postseason experience on overall player development,” AHL President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Howson said in a statement. “Expanding the Calder Cup Playoff field will allow some 150 additional players to play more meaningful games in pursuit of a championship.”

The Monsters finished second in the Central Division last season with a record of 16-10-1-2.

Not all teams play the same number of games in the AHL, so playoff teams will be ranked by points percentage in the regularseason standings.

First round matchups will be best-of-three series. The top two teams in the Atlantic Division, the top three teams in each of the North and Central divisions, and the first-place team in the Pacific Division receive byes into the best-of-five Division Semifinals, with the first round winners re-seeded in each division. The division finals will also be best-offive series, followed by best-of-seven conference finals and a best-of-seven Calder Cup Finals series.

I didn’t know that

… until I read my Snapple bottle cap

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. … It is against the law to put pretzels in bags in Philadelphia. … Ancient Romans thought strawberries could cure bad breath and chronic fainting. … Pound cake got its name from the original recipe, which called for a pound of butter. … The sun is white, but the earth’s atmosphere make it look yellow. … Jousting is the official sport of Maryland.

Reach Schudel at JSchudel@News-Herald.com. On Twitter: @jsproinsider

TIM PHILLIS — FOR THE NEWS-HERALD Mack Wilson is playing for a starting position, or perhaps even a spot on the roster, during Browns training camp.