Included below are select quotes from interviews with the following Browns players during today's media availability:
- TE Seth DeValve
- *DL Nick Hayden *
- LB Emmanuel Ogbah
- DB Jordan Poyer
TE Seth DeValve:
On his recovery and being moved to the active roster today:
"The last couple of weeks have been a lot of time spent in the training room, a lot of time spent with the strength trainers, the athletic trainers doing whatever they say however many times a day getting what I need to get done. I've made progress each day to the point where I feel like I can get back and start doing some drills at practice."
On if there is catch-up work to do with the amount of competition among the TE corps:
"Yeah, there is. One of the benefits of getting to sit back is you get to kind of see the whole picture offensively, schematically of what we're doing. Mentally, I feel very prepared and ready to get in and do everything that I'm asked to do from a mental standpoint. Right now, physically, they're still working me back into some things so it'll be an ongoing process however long that takes, but I feel prepared mentally in my ability to do what I have to get done."
On if he was getting antsy to return to the field after watching the TEs perform:
"Absolutely. It's very hard to watch. It's very hard to watch. Unfortunately, I've been a spectator for the majority of my time here so far. It's something you have to be patient with because a hamstring injury is not something you can tough through like some injuries where you can just wrap it up and get out there. Hamstring, you'll just keep re-injuring it if you try to do that. I've had to be patient. It's been very difficult, very frustrating at times watching instead of playing, but my time will come."
On if coming from an Ivy League school has prepared him to learn the playbook quicker and be mentally prepared:
"I do feel I'm ready. You can control the things you can control. If I can't be on the field, I can be in my notes and in my playbook and in the meetings just as diligently as anybody else. I do feel prepared to play. I do feel that I know what I'm doing. Now, it's just a matter of being able to get out there and do it."
On if he is prepared by learning the playbook everyday:
"Absolutely. Yep."
On how and when his injury occurred:
"I was hurt initially during minicamp back in the spring. It was just while I was running a route my hamstring pulled and I started my recovery process from there."
On if the hamstring injury was serious since it has lasted until now:
"It was minor but it's been reoccurring so I've had to take the time to get it healthy, get it better so that it doesn't keep reoccurring."
On how he would describe his playing style:
"I'm very much a hybrid TE-WR in my own mind, one who is able to block and is big enough and strong enough to block but really my training up to this point in my career and what I feel I'm best at is route running. That being said, I can be used in different areas to create different mismatch opportunities. Really being strong and fast and mobile for my size is what I feel I bring to the table."
On TE Gary Barnidge's mentorship on and off the field:
"It's an extremely fortunate opportunity that I have, that we all have in that room, the younger tight ends, to learn from somebody that's done it a long time and somebody that's done it very well. He is like a coach. He's very helpful for all of us. He asks really good questions in meetings. He's processesing the game on a higher level and sees things that I need to learn to see out of defenses. We've learned a lot from him."
DL Nick Hayden:
On getting an opportunity with the Cleveland Browns:
"It's been great. It's my first time in a defense that's a 3-4 defense. Just getting every snap and every opportunity I can get out there on the practice field. It's a learning experience for me. It's been great so far, and I've been enjoying my time."
On if he had only played in the NFL as a DT in a 4-3 defense prior to joining the Browns:
"4-3 D tackle. This is something new for me and it's been great. As an older veteran, it's always fun to learn something new as the years go on so it's been great learning it so far. Guys have been great and helpful. It's been fun."
On the difference between playing DT in a 4-3 defense and a DE in a 3-4 defense:
"It's pretty much the same. It's a lot more, maybe more two-gapping in a 3-4 then a 4-3. There are more gaps secured in a 4-3, but it's pretty much the same carry over. More read technique in a 3-4 I would have to say, but mostly everything is just football."
On waiting until July to be signed as a free agent:
"It's definitely hard, but it's not bad in another way though, too. I got that time off to spend with my family and stuff like that so it was kind of nice to spend time back home and enjoy myself a little bit. I'm glad they gave me the opportunity to come in and show what I have got. Hopefully, I can bring a lot to the team."
On if he ever got nervous during that waiting period:
"Yeah, here and there, and if not, if I'm done, I'm done. Obviously, I still want to play. I still think I have a couple more good years left in me. It's definitely a little nerve wracking not knowing what my future is going to hold, but I was always confident that a team was going to call and I was going to be ready to go." * *
On DL Danny Shelton:
"I'm very impressed with them. You can tell they definitely have a lot of talent. Danny, he's physical. He's strong. You can tell that he deserved to be a first-round pick. What he brings to the team is he is a great leader, brings a lot of energy. A lot of the other young guys, as well, they're talented. It seems like guys coming in each year, the more talented they get and the better they get."
On if he feels he'll be in the primary defensive plans for the DL:
"That's up to (Head) Coach (Hue Jackson). I don't know. I'm running with the first team right now and that's a good sign so we'll see what happens. I just have to just keep working hard, learn the system and just try to get after it each day."
On returning home to Wisconsin and playing Green Bay on Friday:
"I've actually played there a couple of times before. It's always awesome to get back home and play in front of fans that know me from Wisconsin and everything else. It's always a fun time to get up there and play and get to play in that stadium."
On defining his game and what he can bring to the field:
"I'm relentless. I'm going to get after it each play, play hurt if I have to play hurt, play physical, just get after them. I'll always be the one running to the ball. You'll always see me going after the ball and just being a leader out there and helping the guys out as best as I can."
LB Emmanuel Ogbah:
On looking forward to preseason action:
"It's the first game. You've got the first game jitters. I'm just ready to go."
On what he is looking to do in his first preseason game:
"Do my responsibility and just cause havoc to that O-line."
On playing at Lambeau Field:
"It hasn't hit me yet because I haven't stepped onto that field yet. I guess it will hit me once I get there. It's somewhere that I've grown up watching on TV. It will be a cool experience to play there."
On being on the same field as Packers QB Aaron Rodgers:
"It's definitely going to feel great. He's a guy I grew up watching on TV, watching him play on Sundays. It'll be a cool experience to go out there and just play against a legend like that."
On his transition to the NFL:
"It's going well. Just getting used to the position and getting better at it. Improving daily, that's my main goal."
On if he will play as a down lineman or linebacker on Friday:
"I'll be playing both in the game."
On which position he spends most of his time with:
"I spend most of my time with the D-line, but I still look at the outside linebacker plays and all that. I still go through it."
On if he emulates his game after players like Packers LB Clay Matthews:
"Growing up, I used to watch a lot of different pass rushers. He was one of them that I actually watched. I try to mimic my game after great players like that, just so that I can be as good or better than them."
On what he has seen from Matthews:
"It's a certain move. He actually gets really low when he does his pass rushing. That's the kind of things that I watch. Just kind of staying lower and just getting under the offensive linemen."
On how challenging it is to play two positions:
"It's definitely challenging because you have to know a bunch of plays. You have to know different positons. I actually like that. It makes me more flexible. I'll be able to do whatever the coaches ask me to do."
On the toughest part of training camp so far:
"The toughest part of training camp would be the meetings, the long hours of meetings. It's really helpful, though, to get the focus in, just know what you're responsible for and what you have to do at a certain time. I like that. It actually helps me out a lot"
On what he is working on in particular with the defensive line:
"On the D-line, I'm kind of working on my pad level. Sometimes, I tend to get high at times. I need to fix that because it's going to hurt me in the future if I keep doing that."
DB Jordan Poyer:
On how anxious he is to see the defense on Friday night:
"I'm super anxious. We've been working hard since OTAs. Just want to come in and be detailed on Friday night and come and execute our job."
On if he added weight in the offseason:
"I gained a little bit of weight. I'm about 194 right now. Last year, I played at about 186-187. I feel good, feel great, feel in probably the best shape I've ever been in. It's good weight."
On if you have play at good weight as a free safety:
"Yeah, definitely. You have got to be able to go red line to red line. That's for sure."
On if he is strictly at free safety:
"I think all of our safeties are playing a role going down into the box and playing high. I think everybody can do both. Both different keys, but I think the versatility of our safeties, we should be able to play both positions."
On his connection with DB Ibraheim Campbell:
"Me and I.C., we watch a lot of film together. He came in last year, and I think me and him kicked it off really well. He's a smart football player, and I think we both kind of take the film room pretty seriously. I think our chemistry has come along really well. Obviously, we both have got a lot of work to do, but I enjoy playing alongside of him."
On approaching the offseason as a starter:
"I personally approached this like every other offseason. I tend to come into every camp preparing myself as the starter, wanting to be a starter in the NFL. It's not given. It's earned. That's how I kind of approached this offseason as I would have to earn that. I have a responsibility. When it comes down to it, I've done everything that I could to try and make that happen."
On the young WRs on the team:
"It's a great group of receivers. They can all run, they can all catch the ball and they're all strong. It's been fun competing against them. I try to tend to come into camp every day and use them as someone that makes myself better. It's a great group of receivers, and I'm happy they're on our team."
On if he believes this is a moment in his career to be recognized as a starter:
"Obviously, the situation being in right now, I want to take hold of it and grasp it and do everything possible I can with it. That being said, I've been preparing like a starter. It's earned. It's not given. I definitely want to earn that position."
On live competition against another team on Friday night:
"We're excited. It's a game. They're keeping score. Anytime they're keeping score, you want to compete and you want to win. That's going to be our job and that's what we are going to come into the game looking forward to do."
