Here's What Happened at Day 8 of Browns Training Camp

Absences

Stefanski opened up practice with the announcement that Pickett would be back in a limited capacity on Friday. What that ultimately meant was that he was an active participant in individual drills, but not team sessions.

Cornerback Anthony Kendall and defensive end Isaiah McGuire were the two new absences for the Browns. Kendall left Wednesday's practice with an injury but it was unclear what McGuire is dealing with.

Also, file this under the "something to keep an eye on" folder, as Greg Newsome II seemed to tweak his shoulder during an 11-on-11 blitz pickup drill, breaking up a pass against Jerry Jeudy and wound up sitting out any full-contact team drills the rest of the day.

QB Competition Update

On the day Pickett returned to the field in a limited capacity, it was his fiercest competitor, Joe Flacco, who put together the best day among the quarterbacks.

In team sessions, Flacco took about 17 snaps and threw 13 passes, completing nine of them, and tossing a touchdown 2024 fifth-round pick Jamari Thrash to end his day. That throw, and a go ball to Jerry Jeudy in an earlier 11-on-11 session that was broken up by Newsome, were his most aggressive throws of the day. But his strategy of taking what the defense was giving him throughout much of practice was an effective one overall. He also had another touchdown throw to Harold Fannin Jr. in 7-on-7s.

As expected, Flacco has been the most consistent of all the quarterbacks in this four-way competition. That said, a key week looms large with the team heading to Carolina for a joint practice on Wednesday. Whether or not Pickett is able to participate will be important to the outlook of this competition.

Dillon Gabriel was responsible for a lot of the sloppiness that Stefanski eluded to during his radio interview. The rookie QB completed just three passes on the day. It didn't help that Jeudy dropped two of Gabriel's passes, including a perfect one on an out route for a touchdown during red zone work. Fellow rookie Fannin Jr. also dropped a pass during that session.

Still, Gabriel was too inconsistent overall and tossed what was a pretty egregious interception during 11-on-11 blitz work. After a few days where it seemed like Gabriel was gaining confidence, Friday was a step backwards.

Meanwhile, the Browns continued to keep Shedeur Sanders rotating with the twos and threes. That didn't stop him from making the most of his limited reps, completing 6-of-9 passes and tossing one touchdown on a crossing route to running back Ahmani Marshall during 7-on-7s.

At this point, it's pretty clear where the Browns view Sanders in this pecking order. They are being very patient with him, and it will likely take a head-turning preseason to find himself moving up the depth chart.

Play of the Day

Today, LaMarion James gets the nod for his acrobatic interception of Gabriel, made possible in part by safety Nik Nedham, who couldn't bring in the pick initially, despite it being thrown right at him. Anyway, for James to keep this one off the ground after the deflection by Needham was really impressive.

Player of the Day

As mentioned earlier, Flacco had a solid day overall and put an exclamation point on his performance with a nice touchdown throw to Jamari Thrash (watch below). That was in consideration for play of the day, but we like to diversify this section of our recap. Anyway, Flacco was decisive, getting the ball out and keeping it out of harm's way all day long. At one point, he went 4-for-4 in 7-on-7 work, and that final red zone 11-on-11s saw him go 2-for-3.

I'll mention Alex Wright as an honorable mention here, though, as well. Found myself calling his name a lot for constantly getting into the backfield at multiple parts of practice.

Quote of the Day

Linebacker coach Jason Tarver on rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger:

"He's so good at remembering and then applying things as they occur. He'll surprise me and be like, coach, I remember we said this the second day. So then he does it, and that's cool. When he can stay in that process, that's really powerful because he learns so fast."

What's Next?

The Browns are back at it for Day 9 of training camp on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. It's the second to last session that is open to the public.