Cleveland Browns Return Home – Coach Stefanski Excited for Pre-Season Practice with Browns Fans in Attendance

The Cleveland Browns completed their eighth and final day of practice on Sunday at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.

After the final practice, Head Coach Kevin Stefanski met with the media.

Stefanski began the press conference by providing remarks about how great the experience was at the Greenbrier Resort.  

He also thanked the Cleveland Browns staff for the great work they did in helping the team prepare to practice in West Virginia.

“What an amazing experience,” said Stefanski. “They were so gracious to us down here. We were guests, (they) made it a great, great experience. I’m extremely grateful to the men and women in our organization that worked tirelessly to get us down here and they’re working tirelessly right now to pack everything up. So really, a great effort by everybody.”

Stefanski also expressed how excited the team was to return home to practice in front of Browns fans and also to be part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame festivities.

“We get to see our fans on August 1st in Berea, which we’re very excited about and then it’s all part of the process,” Stefanski said. “Still coming along, still work to do and then excited about next week. We get to play in the Hall of Fame Game and we get to honor Joe Thomas’s contribution to this organization.”

Stefanski Talks about the Final Practice in West Virginia

During the final practice the Browns continued to work on red zone drills.

Specifically, one of the drills the Browns focused on was third down situations in the red zone.

“So the drill we were doing down there was third downs in the red zone, that’s really challenging, and I thought the defense did a really nice job,” said Stefanski.

In addition, Stefanski believed that both the offense and defense performed well in practice during the drills.

“I was telling Coach (Jim)  Schwartz that’s great work for the offense, great work for the defense,” said Stefanski.

“It’s good versus good. Coach Schwartz and the DBs and then front and the linebackers, they’re going to make the offense work. They’re going to make you earn everything. You’re going to have to throw into tight windows.”

It was noted during the press conference that there were a  lot of passes broken up by the defense. 

Stefanski was asked if these types of drills would help the offense as they prepare for the regular season.

Stefanski responded affirmatively and emphasized that in order to be successful in the red zone, receivers are going to have to make catches when they are closely covered.

“When you get into the red zone, you have to be so precise and those windows are so small – you better be making contested catches,” said Stefanski. “And the quarterback has to drive throws, and you have to look off safeties and all those things. So, it’s just great work for both sides.”

Browns Week Ahead

The Cleveland Browns return to their practice field at their headquarters in Berea on Tuesday afternoon at 2pm.  

The gates for practice on Tuesday will open at 1pm. 

Also, the Cleveland Browns will host their first ever Jr. Browns Classic Flag Football Tournament from 1:30-3:30pm on Tuesday.

In addition, the first 1000 fans to attend Tuesday’s practice will receive a free Browns/University Hospitals tie headband.