Coller from Cleveland: Receivers stand out, defense shines, a tough final drive

Details of another competitive practice in Cleveland.

A view from the end zone during joint practices between the Vikings and Browns. / Matthew Coller

CLEVELAND — The Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns should have held their joint practices in the mud at Municipal Stadium. Both days felt like old-school practices with a lot of jawing and competitive reps between the teams (though they avoided any skirmishes) and the result was each club walking away having learned a lot about where they stand.

Here’s what we took away from Day 2 of the workouts…

Dominant defense

On one of the first plays of a 7-on-7 period, Deshaun Watson was picked off by Ivan Pace Jr. on an underneath pass to a running back and that seemed to set the tone. Watson and backup Jameis Winston were intercepted several times, including by UDFA corner Dwight McGlothern and edge rusher Andre Carter II. There was another near pick by Lewis Cine. Akayleb Evans had a couple pass breakups mixed in as well.

Those were the splashiest plays but the consistency with which the Vikings’ pass rush got to Watson was impressive. Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner seemed to have outstanding joint practices off the edge, with Turner rushing Watson during the two-minute drill at the end of practice to ruin Cleveland’s chances of scoring.

Since the practice was closed to the public, Flores seemed to be showing a lot of looks we might expect in games. Those looks do not seem kind to quarterbacks trying to figure out which players are rushing. The safeties and linebackers caused a lot of confusion for Watson, which resulted in him holding onto the ball longer than he wanted.

The pleasant surprise from the two days was probably the defensive tackles. Jerry Tillery, Jonathan Bullard and Harrison Phillips gave the Cleveland O-line a lot of trouble. Tillery in particular seems to be giving the interior DL a different look because he can create penetration.

Receivers step up with Addison out

With Jordan Addison missing practice due to a knee injury, a few other receivers got chances to step up. Brandon Powell made several plays, including a catch in the two-minute drill. Trishton Jackon, Trent Sherfield and Lucky Jackson all had standout moments. Trishton Jackson caught a toe-tap touchdown in the back of the end zone, Sherfield had good route and catch in red zone drills and Lucky Jackson had two plays in one-on-ones where he beat the Browns corner and made high-difficulty catches.

After practice Kevin O’Connell ran through some of the things he noticed about the receiving corps.

“Trent had a big one down the sideline yesterday on kind of a man coverage look… then BP comes back, makes a big catch on kind of a similar type play…down there in the red zone today for a touchdown,” O’Connell said. “Then Trishton [Jackson] making some plays, Lucky continues to show up, I was showing a clip last night in the kicking game of Lucky [Jackson] showing up.”

All three players have made strong cases for the 53-man roster. Trishton has been developing for several years on the practice squad and made his way onto the field for a handful of plays last year. Sherfield brings an edge to his game and has more experience. Lucky has battled his way here from the XFL to the PS last year. It won’t be an easy decision for O’Connell.

Darnold’s command of the offense

The Browns playing a completely different style of defense tested Sam Darnold’s command of the defense. Despite some of the bumps against a D that might be the best in the NFL, it was good experience to see where they stand and where they need to go. Darnold said he is coming along with his knowledge of the system and his overall feel for O’Connell’s vision for the plays.

“When coach O’Connell calls a play, being able to know exactly what he’s thinking with that play and if we get a certain coverage where he wants me to go with the ball,” Darnold said. “It’s understanding the play caller’s intent when he calls a play and making that play come to life.”

The 2-minute drill

After completing a pass to Brandon Powell, Darnold threw three straight incompletions to Justin Jefferson and then got picked off on fourth down to end the drill.

While the drive was not a success, the veteran quarterback was still able to learn something from the miscue. He explained that he had a tight end open over the middle on a checkdown that probably would have resulted in an easy first down based on how the defense was playing the receivers.

“Rather than feeling like I have to force a ball in there on fourth down. It’s little things like that we learn from a grow,” Darnold said.

A determining factor of how Darnold works out at quarterback for the Vikings may be whether he can make the right decisions in moments where his impulse is to try to do something special with his arm.

He’s also figuring out when he can should the limits with Jefferson, who thrives in contested-catch situations.

“It’s continuing to get used to each other, it’s hard to describe,” Darnold said. “It’s just a feeling you have a with a receiver.”

Jefferson’s battle with Cleveland corner

The Browns have a bevy of good cornerbacks. The one who battled Justin Jefferson the most was Martin Emerson, a 6-foot-2 DB in his third year. They went back and forth with catches and pass breakups and plenty of trash talk in between.

“It’s great work going up against them in these joint practices,” Jefferson said. “He’s a tremendous corner and we’ve been going at it this entire joint practices.”

Jefferson noted that he won’t play in the preseason game on Saturday so it was good to see intense work against a talented DB.

“He’s a long, physical corner. He’s definitely going to cause some problems. It’s great to go against corners like that.”

The star receiver also talked about his growing chemistry with Darnold.

“It’s developing for sure,” Jefferson said. “I didn’t have any time with him in OTAs so training camp is the time that I’m trying to connect with him. I think he’s been doing a tremendous job. He’s been making plays all around. He’s still learning the system and getting used to me.”

The kicker

Will Reichard went 5-for-5, including a 52-yarder that was good from much longer. Reichard has not missed a single kick in weeks.

Injury update

O’Connell said again that Addison’s injury is not serious. It sounds like he isn’t expected to miss regular season time. Blake Cashman suffered a finger injury that needed stitches. O’Connell said that Thayer Thomas had a concussion on Thursday and would miss some time.