00:00And you want Browns coverage? This guy's your guy. Scott Patrick, Chronicle Telegram, BrownZone.com.
00:05Hello, Scott.
00:06Hey, Scott.
00:07What's going on, guys?
00:09OTAs, baby. That's what's going on.
00:13Yeah, that and the Cavs, huh?
00:18It's about the same.
00:19So you're going to roll everybody out there for OTAs this week,
00:23and everybody's going to be looking at one thing and one thing in particular.
00:27Who's taking snaps at quarterback?
00:30Scott, who's going to be taking snaps at quarterback?
00:33I think everybody will, Jeff.
00:35Yeah, I'm with you.
00:36The question is who gets the most with the ones who goes first with the ones.
00:42I'd expect Deshaun Watson to get the first ones.
00:47I still don't think it's going to be lopsided where he's taking 75%, 80% of the first-team snaps.
00:55That doesn't make sense to me.
00:56We've talked about it a billion times.
00:58I don't feel like they're ready to make that decision.
01:00I think it's too early to make that decision.
01:02This is a time of year where you've got to see who you have on all these – not all
01:07these guys.
01:08Deshaun Watson and Shudder Sanders.
01:09You've got to get a good look at both of them.
01:11I think they should be split pretty even.
01:14You know, last time we were out there for the veteran voluntary mini camp before the draft, they're split pretty
01:23even.
01:23You know, Shudder got the first ones.
01:25Then Deshaun took more in the team drills.
01:28So, you know, and the problem is it's only one day we're out there, so we're not seeing all three
01:32of the OTAs this week.
01:34So, that could change every day.
01:37But I think it should be split.
01:38It's going to be really interesting to see how Todd does it.
01:42How excited do you think he is just to have all these guys together?
01:45I mean, you sit around and you get hired, and then all of a sudden you're like, okay, I see
01:49these guys.
01:50Now I've got rookies.
01:51Now I can put this whole thing together.
01:53How much gets accomplished, and how important is it for him to set the stage for the future?
01:58Yeah, for the new coach, it's important.
02:00And each of these is an extra step.
02:02I talked about the voluntary mini camp, and then you had the rookie camp, and then we'll have OTAs.
02:08And not everybody will be there.
02:10You know, I don't think Miles Garrett's going to be there.
02:12There's other guys that, you know, it's still voluntary.
02:16But it is the veterans and the rookies together, and that's important.
02:19And it's important to see how Casey Kincepcion and Denzel Boston and Spencer Fano start to fit with this offensive
02:27unit,
02:28because they're going to get a bunch of playing time when they get to week one.
02:31Those guys are going to be in there playing a bunch.
02:33And even on the defensive side of the ball with Emmanuel McNeil-Warren.
02:37So to me, that's one of the big parts of OTAs, especially the early OTAs, is fitting in the rookies
02:43with the veterans.
02:44And then the final step is the mandatory mini camp in June, where you do see everybody that's healthy is
02:51out there,
02:51and you get as close a glimpse as what your team's going to look like when you come back for
02:56training camp as you can get.
02:58Scott Petrarch joining us, ChronicleTelegram, BrownZone.com, where you can read all of Scott's coverage of the Browns.
03:04In listening to Todd Munkin, since he's been here, when he's been asked about quarterback,
03:10I think he's given us some really good hints, not about people, but about what he's thinking process-wise, Scott.
03:18And it sure seems to me like he wants to have somebody named as the starting quarterback before they ever
03:25get to training camp.
03:26Do you get that feeling in listening to him?
03:29Oh, there's no doubt. There's no doubt, Jeff.
03:31I mean, he said that, I don't know, the first time he said it, was it before the Combine?
03:35The Combine's for sure when he talked about that.
03:38And I get it.
03:40You know, you want your guy getting the majority of the reps, and you're trying to be ready for week
03:44one,
03:44and it's a new system, and it's guys learning each other, and him learning the quarterback.
03:49So I think any coach would say that ideally.
03:52And, you know, you ask Kevin Stefanski, did last year's quarterback competition go as well as it could have,
03:59and did it prepare this offense when you got to week one?
04:02Probably not, right?
04:03Joe Flacco didn't take a ton of reps early, and then he started getting them late.
04:07And there are reasons for all that.
04:08But I think ideally you want to know.
04:11Now, you can't make the wrong decision in May or June if it's going to affect you in September.
04:17So that's why I do think you have to take some time and really make an informed decision
04:24because making a quick one just to make a quick one could come back to bite you.
04:28What's important to get implemented when you have these sessions?
04:33Like what – give me a behind-the-scenes, I think, for fans that don't really understand what's happening at
04:38OTAs
04:39and, like, is this – you know, how much do they install, and does it matter who the quarterback is?
04:44I mean, to me, probably every camp's a little bit different, but, like, what actually happens?
04:50Yeah, you're not seeing a lot of – you know, there's no contact, right?
04:54I mean, it's minimal if there is any.
04:57But you're seeing some 7-on-7, you've seen 11-on-11.
05:00But it is installed.
05:01Like, they will put in the whole offensive system before the end of minicamp.
05:07And then they come back and they start training camp and they put it in – and they reinstall it.
05:12But they get it in, and that's hugely important, right?
05:14It's Todd's offense.
05:16And it's him calling in the plays of the quarterback through the headset.
05:20And it's lining up, and it's the pace that they want to run, right?
05:23It's the pace that this is how we get in and out of the huddle.
05:26This is how we do our motions, our shifts, all those things.
05:30And then, you know, the defensive ball, it's the same thing.
05:32It's the checks and it's the substitution patterns.
05:35So, yeah, it's, you know, really from the day they started, April 7th, it started from scratch with this is
05:42how I want to do it.
05:43This is how we are going to do it.
05:45And it's just building upon that, building upon that.
05:48But I think operationally it's really important to Todd.
05:51He's talked about it multiple times that, you know, he hates bad football.
05:55And what he hates is when his team goes out there, you know, whether he's the head coach or when
05:59he's the coordinator,
05:59it doesn't look like it knows what it's doing.
06:02And that means late getting out of the huddle, having to burn timeouts, not getting the audible right,
06:07all those things that are critical to playing winning football.
06:10And this is where you start to eliminate those things and be on the same page as a group.
06:17Scott Petrack joining us from the Chronicle Telegram, brownzone.com.
06:23I've seen some national folks, Scott, some of the folks at ESPN.
06:28And give a prediction about the Browns that I thought, boy, that's a little bold.
06:32Tim Hasselbeck, one of them, when the schedule came out, he said, the way this plays out,
06:37he said, I think the Browns could be one of the surprise teams in the AFC.
06:41I don't see that yet.
06:43But I wonder if that is a possibility this year.
06:48Do you think this, the defense we know, can the offense mesh quickly enough to make this thing fly quickly?
06:57Right.
06:58Well, I mean, that's a huge question, Jeff.
06:59And it's not only the number of rookies that are going to play big roles, right?
07:04You need Spencer Fano to be good right away at left tackle, right?
07:08Yeah.
07:09He can't be giving up two sacks a game, and it can't be third down, and he misses the protection,
07:15and you don't convert third down to get your quarterback killed, whatever.
07:18Can't be a big learning curve.
07:20It can't be.
07:21And it's the same as receivers.
07:22And I think by having two rookie receivers, it gives you some leeway because you probably
07:28only need one of them to be having an immediate impact, and you have two chances at it with
07:33Concepcion and Boston.
07:34But we talked about, okay, how can this team be better?
07:37Where does this team need to be better?
07:38Obviously, it's offense.
07:40And, okay, is the offensive line going to be better?
07:42I would think so, but so much of that is Fano at left tackle.
07:46Maybe it might be even Parker Brailsford at center, right?
07:49Yeah.
07:50You could have two rookies in there.
07:51And then it's how do you jumpstart, energize, put a jolt into the passing game?
07:58And it's with these receivers, or at least one of these receivers joining a, you would
08:03hope, bouncing back Jerry Judy to give this passing game some juice.
08:07And then it's all about the quarterback.
08:09So, I get where people, you can connect some dots and go, well, the schedule's pretty easy.
08:13There's no travel.
08:15Now, the six out of nine road games early means these rookies better be ready to play
08:19and better be ready to contribute right away if this team's going to be, if this team's
08:24going to hang around to take advantage of the four straight home games that come later
08:28in the season.
08:30But, you know, I get it, but the big question is going to be the quarterback.
08:34And do they get the quarterback play they need, whether that's Deshaun Watson and
08:38Shadir Sanders or Shadir Sanders?
08:40And going back to the original question, the issue with just giving Deshaun Watson, if
08:44that's going to be the choice, all the reps, is that we haven't seen him stay healthy.
08:48So, I do think you have to have a dual track where you get Shadir Sanders ready, even if
08:52he's not the number one guy.
08:54Because I feel like just looking at history, there's a good chance that he's going to have
08:58to play because Deshaun Watson hasn't made it through a full season since he's been here.
09:02Scott, we haven't had a chance to talk about the schedule yet.
09:05Your thoughts on just the way this whole thing kind of shook out.
09:08You get to see Baker Mayfield early in the season.
09:11You got to go to Florida when it's going to be about 104 degrees, Scott, twice.
09:15But at least you're home for five weeks, though, too.
09:19It's a weird one.
09:20The back-to-back road games to start, you don't see very often.
09:23Both of them being in Florida in September when it's hot, like Jeff mentioned, that's strange.
09:29The six out of nine to start is weird.
09:32And then the four in a row at home is weird, too.
09:34Like, there's just a bunch of weird parts of this schedule.
09:38Now, if they can manage to win one or two in Florida and then come home and you get
09:43Carolina and they get to Thursday night game and go, OK, they're two and two, they're
09:47three and one, then you can settle in and go, OK, they're probably going to be relevant
09:50for a while.
09:52If they get off to a bad start, then it's an uphill climb and a lot of that's on the
09:55road.
09:55So, it's an interesting schedule.
09:59So, you have to stay in contention or around contention to take advantage of those home
10:05games.
10:05Like, to me, that's going to be the bottom line is, can they start well enough to hang
10:10on long enough?
10:12What's impressed you most about Todd Munkin so far?
10:17Anything come to mind?
10:18Yeah.
10:19And I don't know if it's not a surprise, because we know him a little bit from 2019, just
10:25his reputation.
10:26But I do still appreciate the straightforwardness of him, whether it's dealing with us or dealing
10:32with the players.
10:34You know, there's not a lot of errors there.
10:35He just tells you what he's thinking.
10:37And I do appreciate that.
10:38And I think that that's not that Kevin wasn't like that.
10:42I think behind the scenes, Kevin was like that.
10:44But from a media perspective, it's a little bit of a breath of fresh air.
10:48And I think there's enough of a change in personality inside the locker room, behind
10:52the scenes, in the meeting rooms, that it changes kind of the tone in the building, which
10:58is probably necessary after six years.
11:00Thank you, Ken, sir.
11:02Looking forward to all your coverage of OTAs and everything else.
11:06Thanks, guys.
11:06Scott Petrek.
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