CLEVELAND — The Browns had a spirited, lengthy session on their back practice fields on Wednesday. And we have five things for you from my 17th NFL camp stop.
• Obviously, the quarterback situation is sucking up a lot of the oxygen here, and both Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders have taken steps amid all the noise. Watson started to get his sea legs during the second week of camp and is playing with more confidence with what looks like an improved situation around him. Todd Monken’s offense is also closer to what Watson ran in Houston under Bill O’Brien, so it’s giving him more command at the line of scrimmage, while giving him a chance to play his game. We’ll see how that translates under the lights in the preseason. Meanwhile, Sanders’s processing and pocket movement have improved, and his command at the line has progressed, too. Much of his work now is about minimizing unforced errors and playing with a better understanding of situational football, areas where young quarterbacks typically struggle. As for where this competition goes from here, one will start in Chicago on Saturday, and the other will start at home next week against the Bills. The coaches will have joint practices with Buffalo in between to evaluate both quarterbacks further. Then, the plan would be to make a decision and use the final three weeks before the opener to build the offense for the starter—and the offense would look different for Watson than it would for Sanders, so that’ll require some time as well.
