Head Coach Hue Jackson:
On why DL Myles Garrett did not practice and confirming that Garrett practiced yesterday:
"I just want to take it easy, make sure that we are getting there. He did practice yesterday. First of all, let me confirm that. He did a good job yesterday. He will practice tomorrow. I just want to make sure that we are conscious of the deals that we are dealing with and make sure that he is ready to go. He is doing good. Excited about him being out there yesterday. He is looking forward to getting back out tomorrow."
On if Garrett missing practice is related to his injury last year at Texas A&M:
"No."
On what is affecting Garrett:
"It is nothing major. I think we are right where we need to be. He has done a good job. He looked good yesterday. We will get him back out there tomorrow. I know you guys want to see him in the worst way. We picked the wrong day (vice president of communications) Peter (John-Baptiste) to have an off day (laughter). Now, I have to answer all of these questions (laughter). He is doing fine."
On what stood out about Garrett in yesterday's practice:
"It looked like Myles Garrett – big, fast, tough. He is everything that we think he is."
On how Garrett can impact other players on the team, including DL Emmanuel Ogbah:
"For our defensive football team, he is a really good player. He is just going to mix into the culture that we have over there on defense with the rest of the guys, and hopefully, uplift everybody. I hope they all uplift each other as we go through this process. We all know one man cannot do it by himself, but I think having a guy with his skill and his talent, obviously, everybody will be able to see that and try to play to that, as well."
On if DL Emmanuel Ogbah may be more comfortable returning to his position at DE in 4-3 alignment, similar to college:
"Absolutely. We saw a little bit of that. I know we were a 3-4 team, but he played as an end for us last year. I don't think that is a huge transition for him. He has done a good job. He is working hard, he is understanding what we are expecting from him at that position and he has done well thus far."
On WR Corey Coleman not practicing today:
"Right now, we are going to keep him out for a little while. Again, that was a tough spill for him, a little tougher than I thought. He is making his way through. You know Corey, he wants to be back out there right now. I just think that now is a time that if a guy is kind of banged up a little bit to make sure that we take care of him so that we can get him back for our training camp. We will see how it all unfolds at the end."
On if Coleman may not be ready until after the end of OTAs and veteran minicamp:
"I do not know that. I do not know that he will not. I do not know that he will. Once I go in and talk to the doctors and see exactly where he is, then I will know more."
On Browns players' response to defensive coordinator Gregg Williams:
"He has done an outstanding job, I have said that before. That is why I brought him here. I knew what I was getting. I am getting one of the best defensive coordinators in football. I think our defense has played to that. That is obvious. I think our practices are going to play to that. It is what we needed. That group has really responded over there. It makes the offense respond in a different way. We see a lot of different things each and every day. Overall, it is going to help our football team all the way around."
On Coleman starting OTAs by not practicing, given his comments on expectations for Coleman this season:
"I understand why it is like this. Nobody wants to lose a good player at practice or at any time, but I know those things happen. Again, if I wanted to push him through it, I could. What is most important is that we get him back. He has demonstrated the ability that we are looking for. Obviously, he has got to do it in the game. There are no games right now. The most important thing for the whole football team is health. It is making sure that we can get everybody back when it really starts to count ready to play. He has done a good job. He has improved. I stand behind my statement that I made earlier that he has got to be the guy to do it for us. That is what we drafted him for, and I am sure he will do that."
On if Coleman broke a bone:
"No."
On clarifying that Coleman fell on top of the ball last week while making a catch:
"I think it was a little bit of the ball, the ground and all of it, also a player on top of you. When you go back and look at it, it was a little bit of everything. This time of year, I am going to be cautious with our guys. I am not going to stick them back out there until I know for sure that we are 100 percent ready to go because I think that is what is important right now. I do not think it is sticking a guy out there that may be something a little minor wrong with him and that all of a sudden it becomes something major, and we get to training camp and we do not have him. We are going to play the cautious side of this and go from there."
On QB Brock Osweiler coming out of practice for a partial amount of time before returning:
"I think I can say it this time – he is fine. He is fine. I think it was his thigh more so than the knee area. I think he is fine."
On if the receiving corps now has a better opportunity to improve with Coleman and WR Kenny Brit not receiving full reps:
"Absolutely. Those guys have got to continue to step up, and they have. We have a lot of young players at that position that (senior offensive assistant) Al Saunders has done a great job of mentoring and developing. We have to see if they can play. That whole group has got to take another jump because we are young at that position. We all know that and respect that and understand it. We have to see if those guys can make the jump, and that is what we are getting the chance to see right now."
On if WR is the most 'unknown positon':
"We do not have a guy who is a leading returning player in the National Football League at that position, other than Corey, that has really played a lot of football in that group. I can see everyone saying that, but I feel comfortable that there is talent there. If we can develop it and harness it in the right way and the guys keep working and working at it every day, who knows what could happen."
On Jackson's self-evaluation from last season on the team's running game:
"Have got to run the ball more. I will be the first to tell you that. I beat myself up about that. I am a coach that likes to run the ball. We all recognize where we were in games last year, and trying to play from behind is hard, and understanding what our team was last year, feeling that you had to get off to a fast start to get ahead of a team because you knew how some things would unfold. I think (RB Isaiah) Crowell is poised for a big year. He deserves it. He worked extremely hard a year ago, him and Duke (Johnson) both. Our running game needs to come to the forefront."
On people characterizing Jackson as a 'pass-first coach':
"Somebody said the other day, 'Go look at my stats or go look at my film.' Go look at my film. Go look at my film (laughter)."
On speaking with Crowell, given he did not participate in portions of offseason workouts:
"Me and Crow had a very candid conversation. I am going to leave that between me and him. He is here. He is excited to be here. He understands where he is. We all want to make those things happen as we go throughout this, and who says we do not know that is can or it won't? But I know this, you cannot do anything if you are not here participating and playing. There are all kinds of way to handle things, but these are his teammates and the guys that he is going to fight with this year. He needs to be around them. He made the decision to be back here, and he has done an outstanding job."
On his coaching message to Crowell:
"Take it to another level. The guy had almost 1,000 yards a year ago when I did not hand him the ball. What can he do when I do hand him the ball? The greatest of all time, I am not saying that he is on our field, but I feel like we have some pretty good backs on our team. I just have to turn around and give it to them, and let them make it happen."
On if the Browns are better built to run the football this season:
"Yes, I do, and I credit our executive team for putting some linemen on our football team. Again, it starts up front. If we are going to make this big jump on our football team, it is going to be on both sides of the line. That is where you win first. Obviously, we have got to have better quarterback play and better all-around team play, but you win with big people. You win with your defensive front and your offensive line, and those guys control the game."
On if a zone-read toss used today by Osweiler is specifically designed for him:
"No, it is not. He might look long and gangly doing it, but he knows how to do it. He has worked at it. Brock has been a pleasant surprise. He has done a good job. He works hard at it every day. He is into it. I think he really enjoys being here. (Quarterbacks) Coach (David) Lee has done a great job with him. He has really meshed with the other quarterbacks. He has a good feel to him so who knows maybe he can do some of that stuff."
On there being no film of Osweiler doing such plays:
"None (laughter)."
On why it is important to show Osweiler running the zone read on occasion:
"Our defense is doing a lot of different things. It is not that we show it occasionally. It is based sometimes on what defenses are doing. Gregg (Williams) is one of those coaches that he is not going to let you ever out number him. He is not going to just let you run up the field when you want to and do certain things so you have to do some things creatively to be able to do that. We will scratch a little bit every now and then do some things, but we don't play our defense. We are trying to install our offense right now, just like they are trying to install their defense. There will be some things that we do a little bit outside the box and some things that we won't do right now just because there is no pads on. At the same time, we do have to compete against each other right now."
On saying Osweiler has been a pleasant surprise and what expectations were for him:
"I expected everything that you guys wrote. I watched everything you guys wrote about what he was and what he was not. I heard it from everywhere, too. Since he has been here, he has been outstanding. I don't get caught up – I think you guys know me – I don't judge people by what everybody else says, I kind of judge them by what I see, but everybody has a reputation before them. His was a little bit different. He is not any of that that we saw. The guy has been outstanding in our building, and I think that is what is most important."
On where DL Desmond Bryant is health-wise and what kind of player he can be in this defensive system:
"Desmond is one of my favorites. I had Desmond in Oakland. It was disappointing we did not have him this past year. I thought he was one of the missing links in our football team. He is a veteran player, knows how to play, extremely tough, extremely bright and loves football. Having him back has been good. When I look over there – we are going to ease him back into this because he has not been around us. He is back in the weight room, back on the practice field working in individual and doing some things and we will get him back to where he needs to be. When I think of him and the rest of our front seven and potentially what it could be, that is exciting. That is exciting because if he can go back and be the player that he was, it is going to give us a huge boost. We did not have him at all as I just mentioned a year ago so I think he is going to be a good player for us."
On how the QBs handled the wind today:
"Yeah, the wind was OK. The biggest thing I thought we did was we did not turn the ball over. That has to be something we have got to be better at. That is something I talked to the team about afterwards. The defense has got to get more and the offense has got to make sure we prevent them. That is going to be one of the keys to us winning games this year. The wind did not bother us today. It is a nice, breezy, beautiful day today. I know it doesn't get like that late in December and January, but it is what it is."
On if rookie QB DeShone Kizer working with the first-team offensive line is significant:
"No, I do not think it is significant. I am going to put him out there from time to time in different situations. I need to find out more about him than maybe everybody else here. He is a player who is a young player, who is learning how to play in the National Football League, having a ton thrown at him right now. I'm sure his head is spinning, but he is growing each and every day and he just has to keep working at it. He has to put the blinders on and stay in a room, keep watching tape and growing and listening, and that is what he is doing."
On if Kizer is in a 'really good situation' in Cleveland:
"I think so, yeah. There is a veteran player in the room that has been on a couple different teams. There is a young player who was drafted a year ago and who ended up playing and playing a lot of football. He has a lot of guys in there he can pull things from. Coach Lee has done a good job of creating the right environment. I would go in and throw my two cents in all the time, but he is. He is working hard, but the whole group is. Starting from (QB) Cody (Kessler) all the way down, I think each and every one of the guys have improved. They have got to continue to do that and keep taking these jumps over the next several weeks, and then we will get away from it a little bit and come back and get ready for training camp."
On how to help make Osweiler a more compact as a thrower:
"When I said that [he looked 'gangly' running the zone read], I probably said that – I hope you guys do not take it the wrong way – because he is tall so he looks gangly. I mean the guy is what, 6'8"? Whatever he is, but for a guy that is 6'8", he has pretty good hip flexibility. He really does. There are guys who are 6'8" who can't move. You guys did see him run down the field, so he can move. He is not just a statue so that is a credit to him and his mom and his dad. They did that the right way. He is not just a statue. I do not want anybody to think that. He is just so tall. I have not had a guy that tall before in my career. I think (Ravens QB) Joe Flacco is the tallest guy I have ever been around that way. He has done a good job, and he can handle it and he can move around."
On if Osweiler's motion has to be more compact:
"No, it is really interesting standing behind him because he is so tall. He is just looking on top of everybody and dropping balls down. It is really interesting, and I told him this yesterday, I went back and watched a little bit of film of him from last year, and he looks much better right now. He is more compact. He is throwing the ball with a lot more velocity. He is doing a lot of good things. He needs to keep growing, just like I said all of our quarterbacks do."
