BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns have had some stiff competition this preseason, and in back-to-back weeks will have faced the Super Bowl-contending Philadelphia Eagles, and the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. For Browns safety Juan Thornhill, the competition is not only welcome, but it's also familiar.
Thornhill, who started his career in Kansas City and won a Super Bowl with them last year, is looking forward to seeing his former team.
"It's going to be a lot of fun going out there, seeing a lot of familiar faces, seeing your coaches and your former teammates. It's going to be pretty fun out there, getting out there and talking a little bit of trash, make a couple plays. Yeah, I'm excited for it," Thornhill said.
With head coach Kevin Stefanski outlining the plan for Saturday's preseason game against the Chiefs, the starters will see around 20-25 plays. That means Thornhill will have his chance. He has an idea of what they can expect from the Chiefs.
"I think with Coach Reid, he has the history of letting guys play that last game, usually like a half or something, but I don't think Pat will play that much. He'll probably play a couple reps," Thornhill said. "Hopefully we get back there to him a little bit and Coach Reid gets a little scared and takes him out. So I think we'll see him out there, but I don't know how long."
Saturday's preseason game against the Chiefs comes a little over a week after the Browns took on the Eagles. Prior to that preseason game, the Browns held a few joint practice sessions in Philadelphia where the team got to go head to head in training camp reps against a team that just made the Super Bowl.
Going against the two teams that were just vying for the championship last year brings with it a chance to hone the skills of the Browns players while they set their sights on being in that position this season. The team believes these past two weeks will provide them with good work to take into the regualr season.
"Obviously talking about the two teams in the Super Bowl last season, so getting good work of practice versus the NFC champs last week was great. And then going up against Coach (Andy) Reid and the AFC champs this week," head coach Kevin Stefanski said. "Obviously in practice, going against the ones and getting a ton of reps in this game. Getting our ones out there, getting our starters out there versus their good players. I think it’s a great challenge for us. As you know, it’s all part of the process as we get started. It’s part of getting ready for Sept. 10."
For Thornhill, who knows the Chiefs and Eagles firsthand, the belief that this preseason competition holds immense value is shared.
"It's huge. When you play against one of the top teams—Philadelphia that made it to the Super Bowl and then Kansas City that won the Super Bowl— you're playing against the best two teams technically in the NFL from last season. So it is a great view on how we can work and better ourselves as a team, just being able to see top competition like that for two weeks in a row," he said.
This preseason has already held explosive moments for the Browns, on offense and defense. With the chance to go against one of, and often times, the top team in the league for the past several years, Thornhill hopes this can be the start of taking out his former team and ending their Super Bowl contending streak.
"I never wish anything bad on them, but hopefully this was their last year because I'm hoping that we can get there each and every year," Thornhill said.
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