Although Griffin has been a member of the Browns for just over four months and been through just a week’s worth of training-camp practices, that time has him believing change is on the horizon for a franchise with just one playoff appearance and two winning seasons in the last 17 years.
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“That’s why we drafted him”, Coach Hue Jackson said after practice.
“He’s got to get lined up right”, Jackson said. “He’s a tremendously talented young man and he’s got some growing to do”. He caught a two-yard touchdown pass from Griffin after the 53-yard play to Coleman.
Veteran cornerback Tramon Williams also had praise for the rookie.
Tramon’s Pick: CB Tramon Williams intercepted a pass by QB Josh McCown to start McCown’s second series.
“I’ve seen some rookies come in and they don’t catch on that fast”, Williams said. You don’t know if they’re going to have a learning curve, but he seems to have it all right now.
“They’re doing a good job of taking care of their bodies and making sure they’re available every single day”.
“That’s what is going to give us the best chance to win games”, Jackson said. Quarterback Robert Griffin III hooked up on the second play of the scrimmage on a long pass play down the sideline to Corey Coleman. Again, I don’t want to anoint this young man yet. “He knows there are some things I’m expecting him to get cleaned up here real fast in order to be the type of player I think he can be”.
Coleman too recognized that there are things he needs to clean up before he starts his rookie season.
He was misaligned on a few plays and and had other mistakes on Friday night that he wants to avoid as the exhibition games begin.
“I think I did decent, some plays that I messed up on, some plays that I did good on”, he said, adding the No. 1 thing for him to work on is studying the playbook. “Just try to learn and take in all the information that I can”.
He capped the big night with the touchdown, as cornerback Justin Gilbert had tight coverage, but Griffin III made a flawless throw and Coleman found a way to get both feet inbounds.
Coleman got behind Justin Gilbert on the play, but Williams said he told Gilbert to forget it, calling the throw “amazing”. Coleman should be considered a high-end WR3 in the upcoming fantasy football campaign with moderate upside as the Browns will likely be trailing an ample amount of time during the season and will have to throw the ball to keep them in the game.
Jackson has yet to name his starting quarterback, but Griffin seemingly made that more or less a formality with his work in the scrimmage. Quarterback Robert Griffin III had just signed on with the team in free agency.
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“He’s a fantastic player and I think we all recognize that”, Jackson said. What makes it even more unbelievable is Sashi Brown, executive vice president of football operations, traded down twice – from second to eighth and eighth to 15th – and was still able to get his top receiver and bundle future picks.
