Hoping for a Browns awakening

Former Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano calls it “the audacity of hope.”

Current Browns General Manager John Dorsey described it this way: “Let’s awaken this sleeping giant, the Cleveland Browns.”

Whatever you want to call it – however you want to term it – the revitalization of the Browns is the goal. It’s what this is all about.

Understanding that, then, I paid very close attention to what Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens said on Friday on the first day of the team’s three-day rookie minicamp, when asked by the media about sharing the long and tradition-rich history of the club with the rookies.

“Definitely with the rookies. We even did it with the veterans,” Kitchen said. “Our first team meeting, we showed them a video of what the Browns meant to the city and what the Browns mean to the NFL in general and some of the good times that Cleveland has had in the past.

“When you talk about three AFC Championships (title game appearances) in the 80s, just knowing what those guys went through to get there, hopefully, our guys can feed off of that some. I know it doesn’t hurt to be able to communicate with those guys to show them what could happen and the potential of it happening.”

A lot of the coaches the team has had in this dreadful expansion era have talked about understanding the history of the Browns. They have said – kind of, sort of, at least – what Kitchens said, but there was a difference. This is a difference.

When you listen not necessarily to what people say, but rather look between the lines at how they said it, you can find what they really mean. The way almost all of those other coaches said it wasn’t unbelievable. But it’s evident that Kitchens really, truly means it, and because of that, I already like this guy – a lot.

As Kitchens so famously said, “If you’re not wearing brown and orange, you don’t matter.”

Keep your eyes on this QB

The free agent I like best at Browns rookie minicamp this weekend?

Actually, the free agent I like best going forward?

It’s quarterback David Blough from Purdue.

Ohio State fans remember Blough, whose performance in Purdue’s stunning lopsided win over the Buckeyes was their only loss of last season and cost them a spot in the College Football Playoff. But while that is what most people – especially those in Ohio — will remember about Blough, it’s not everything. The rest of his resume is very good, too.

As such, I think he has a great chance to be the Browns’ No. 3 quarterback behind Baker Mayfield and Drew Stanton.

Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens likes him a lot, too. You can tell, for he was effusive in his praise when asked about him on Saturday.

“He is accurate, he is relentless, some of the characteristics you would like in quarterbacks,” Kitchens said. “I don’t know how much you can teach accuracy. You can fool with it a little bit, but if they are accurate in college, they are usually going to be accurate in the NFL. He is competitive.”

When asked about his expectations for Blough, Kitchens said, “Just show improvement. Just like everyone else. Everybody likes to treat the quarterback position differently, but that position is like all the rest. They need to show improvement. They need to work every day, too, and see where they are the end of this.”

It would be fun to watch two young quarterbacks develop together at the same time in Mayfield and Blough. Obviously, they are not at the same spot and never will be, but Purdue quarterbacks have a long history of excellence – it’s why the school is called “The Cradle of Quarterbacks” – and the Browns could do a whole lot worse than having Blough on their roster.

Come on, would you rather that third quarterback to be someone like, say, Kevin Hogan or Tyrod Taylor?

I didn’t think so.

A real leader in the making

Because he had never been a head coach at any level, especially in the NFL, I have to come clean and say that I had some reservations about Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens’ ability to be a leader.

I thought he could do it, and more importantly that he would do it, but I had no real evidence to support that opinion. I still don’t have concrete proof, but I feel even better about it – much more so, in fact – than I did.

It comes with what Kitchens did and said at the team’s rookie minicamp over the weekend. He was outstanding.

And it all crystalized during his press conference on Saturday. In several different ways covering several different, bit related, subjects, Kitchen displayed the kind of leadership characteristics that will serve both him and the Browns well going forward.

When asked to comment on Browns defensive end Myles Garrett telling reporters that former defensive coordinator/interim head coach Gregg Williams told him last season to use only two moves to elude blockers, Kitchens said:

“First and foremost, Gregg Williams was a good football coach. He has been a good football coach in the National Football League for a while, if that is the angle here. As far as Myles is concerned, we need to get good at our craft in all areas. I think Myles will be the first to tell you that. We will give him every opportunity to master his craft, and therefore, we expect the production to go up. We expect the production to go up on the whole defensive line, the linebackers and the secondary. The production all over our football team needs to go up.

“The negativity – I am not blaming anybody here – surrounding some of the aspects of the team last year, we were 7-8-1 so that may be justified, but moving forward, we are not worried one bit about last year on any area of last year offensively, defensively, special teams or anything. Everything that we have, we have to goal in mind of getting better in everything. Whether it is press-man coverage, whether it is Myles rushing or whether it is the Scottish Hammer, everybody is getting better.

“Last year is last year. No two teams are the same. I have said that numerous times. You are not going to pick up where you left off. We are not interested in revisiting last year at all. We were 7-8-1. We didn’t do [anything] last year. We didn’t win anything. We were third in the division.

“I don’t know where all of this is coming from. Just because the Super Bowl is our goal does not mean that is where we are right now. We are a team just like the other 31 teams, and we are focused on training camp, OTAs, minicamp and getting better when those guys are back in the building.”