CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Joe Flacco to Jerry Jeudy Express is starting to heat up in camp and look a lot like the explosive Flacco to Amari Cooper connection from 2023.
If the two keep up like this, Jeudy just might exceed his career-high 1,229 yards from last season, which was his first 1,000-yard season out of five. The production also earned him his first Pro Bowl, and he’s aiming for a repeat performance.
Flacco can see it.
“Yeah, Jerry’s good,” Flacco said after the joint practice Wednesday. “Yeah, he’s a difference maker. He is. I’m excited for him, you know, because I think obviously he’s not with the team that he was drafted by, so I think he’s got a little chip on his shoulder just like all of us do in this league for one reason or the other. And you can tell that he’s a difference maker. So I’m excited for the things he’s doing.”
Against the Panthers, Jeudy made a nice one-handed grab down the left seam in an 11-on-11 period, leaving a couple of defenders in his wake. Another deep right out to Jeudy in 7-on-7s was broken up, but a flag was thrown on the play. In the 11-on-11 red zone period, Jeudy caught a TD pass from Flacco on the left side of the end zone.
Kenny Pickett also found him on a crossing route in 7-on-7s, and Dillon Gabriel connected with him on an out-route in that period.
Overall, it was a fine afternoon for Jeudy, who can mostly relax the rest of the trip. Stefanski will rest him and No. 2 receiver Cedric Tillman against the Panthers on Friday night.
Cedric Tillman makes some plays
Tillman also made a few good plays before getting Friday night off, and is developing chemistry with Flacco and Kenny Pickett. In 7-on-7s, he corralled a crossing route in the end zone over cornerback Chau Smith-Wade, who’s had an excellent camp. In the final 11-on-11 period, he grabbed an out-route from Flacco before walking off slowly. The Browns said he’s fine.
In the first 11-on-11 period, he had a pass from Flacco broken up by starting cornerback Mike Jackson, and in the opening 7-on-7, he snared a curl from Pickett.
Will Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel be ready for the Eagles next week?
Pickett and Gabriel, who were limited to 7-on-7s in the joint practice, will both sit out the preseason opener, but Kevin Stefanski hopes they can do more in joint practices next week against the Eagles on Wednesday and Thursday in Philly.
“We’ll see how it progresses,” Stefanski said. “I think with all these injuries, you’ve got to take it as one day at a time.”
Pickett said Monday that even when he gets back to 11-on-11s, he’ll have to manage the hamstring for a few weeks, which indicates he won’t play in the second preseason game in Philly next Friday.
If he can’t face his former team from 2024 in 11-on-11s, it will be a big missed opportunity. Pickett was undoubtedly eager to try to gain some ground in the competition against the Super Bowl champions, with whom he won a Super Bowl ring last year as Jalen Hurts’ backup. The two practices are arguably the most important in the QB competition considering the caliber of defense and proximity to the season opener Sept. 7.
The plan, like in Carolina, is to have the veterans get the bulk of the team periods against the Eagles, and let the backups play most of the game.
Shedeur Sanders will have a chance to play fast
The Browns won’t complicate things for Sanders and the rest of the backups when they face the Panthers Friday night. It will be similar to what they’ve done in practice, except for the live tackling, including the first chances to sack the quarterback. The Browns had one live practice in camp, but quarterbacks are off-limits.
The opener will mark the first opportunity for Sanders to show he can release the ball more quickly and not retreat or take unnecessary hits.
At Colorado, he was sacked an FBS-high 94 times over the past two seasons, but he’s been working hard in camp to hit the checkdown or throw the ball away under duress.
“My expectations for Shedeur are no different than the rest of the guys,” Stefanski said Wednesday. “We expect them to go operate. When you get these preseason games, you try to keep it very simple so guys can play fast. All concepts that our players know can kind of not think too much and just play ball.”
Sanders, who has yet to take a snap with the Browns first-team offense, has done an excellent job with the backups, completing plenty of passes and coming up the learning curve quickly in terms of getting the call played in the huddle and making adjustments.
But the Browns will call plays that Sanders has had success with in camp to help him build confidence his first time out.
Pesky pre-snap penalties for Browns starters and key backups
Flacco lamented the pre-snap penalties that plagued the Browns during the practice, and at other times during camp.
“That’s the biggest thing,” Flacco said. “I think it’s been a point of emphasis for us this camp. It’s the pre snap ones are the one that we can control. It’s all mental. And I think we did have some of those today. To come out here and get against another team where maybe you’re a little bit more revved up, I think that showed today. So, we need to refine it a little bit and this is probably a good environment for that because it allows you to realize, ‘man, maybe I went a little overboard’ and the next time you’re faced with that, to relax a little bit more and just go play your game.”
He noted that back home, “there’s been days where we’ve been really good and there’s been days where we’ve been not been good enough. I definitely think today was a little bit more so. That’s natural, but it’s very controllable, so you don’t want to see it.”
The Browns will have to dial those back in joint practices next week against the Eagles.
Browns first-team offense and defense both topped the Panthers in team drills
The Browns’ first-team offense “won” most of the drills against the Panthers on Wednesday, with a number of touchdown passes in 7-on-7s, including one from Dillon Gabriel to Jamari Thrash on a post route, and one from Pickett to David Njoki on another post.
In the team red zone period, the Browns starters won handily, but the Panthers beat the Browns twos and threes.
Defensively, the teams split the 7-on-7 periods, but the Browns won the two 11-on-11 drills, both at the line of scrimmage and with takeaways, which has been a huge point of emphasis this camp.
One of those was an interception by cornerback Tony Brown II on pass from Andy Dalton intended for receiver Jimmy Horn. All in all, in the important team periods, the Browns’ starters got the best of the Panthers, who went 5-12 last year.
Guard Zak Zinter stayed home
Browns second-year guard Zak Zinter, who left practice with an injury back in Berea on Monday, didn’t make the trip to Carolina. The Browns didn’t specify the nature or severity of his injury.
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