Throughout his first NFL training camp, Browns wide receiver Jordan Payton will regularly chronicle his thoughts and insights in a recurring journal on ClevelandBrowns.com. These are Payton's original thoughts relayed to senior writer Andrew Gribble in periodic interviews before and after practice.
At NFL training camp, it's important to take advantage of your opportunities whenever they present themselves. That's how I viewed what happened last Friday and Saturday during our scrimmages in Berea and Columbus.
You have to showcase what you can do. For me, that's breaking tackles and catching the ball. When the ball's in my hands, that's what I like to do. I like to break tackles. I've worked on breaking tackles and getting up field throughout my career. I would have liked to finish in the end zone in both of the scrimmages but they were big plays, nonetheless. You've got to do it every day.
So for me to do that in both scrimmages was important. It was good. But it's just a step. Every day I try to build on that. It was great but obviously you have to come do it again. And do it again. And do it again. That's the name of the game is being consistent.
This is the first "game week" of training camp, but nothing much has changed. We're still nose to the turf grinding it out. It's only changed in the sense we have an opponent at the end of the week. We're gearing some things up to be ready to play Friday in Green Bay.
And yes, this is a big, big opportunity for a rookie such as myself. You go out there and you play the way they drafted you. They drafted me to play because they felt I play a certain way and you go out there and you play that way and excel in that way. It's about playing your best and doing everything right in the game.
The feelings heading into my first NFL game are similar to when I prepared for my first game at UCLA. You have a little anxiousness and nervousness but now that you're a little bit older, you understand what works for you and what doesn't work for you. Now you just have to trust your technique and trust your ability and trust what you know and go out there and play.
It's going to be a great game. It's going to be unbelievable playing my first game ever in one of the greatest stadiums of all time. It's going to be an unbelievable experience and we can't wait to get out there.
