Browns training camp officially underway as team prepares for 2025 season

BEREA, Ohio — Wednesday was a balmy day with Northeast Ohio clearly entering the heart of summer, which in Berea means that it's time for the Cleveland Browns Training Camp. The Browns' preparations for the 2025 season started in the spring during offseason workouts, but now with increased workloads, full pads and contact on the docket, things can really start being evaluated.

Clash of the QBs
For the Browns, there's no evaluation quite as topical as the one under center. Cleveland is in the midst of a four-player quarterback competition with veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett sharing reps with rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders as the team begins to narrow down who QB1 will be in Week 1.

The battle has Browns players eagerly awaiting the process, like Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio.

“It's a big thing. The starting quarterback is probably the most important position, so I know they're going to have a good battle. I know the guys are ready to work and it's going to be a good competition, so I'll look forward to it whenever it's announced," Bitonio said. “It's four quarterbacks. Everybody's trying to compete and play and it's a big number of guys with limited reps, you know what I mean? So it'll be interesting to see how they do it. Luckily you have a guy like Joe that has some experience and has some playing time and Kenny's played a lot. I think it's just going to be whoever's most comfortable in the system and can make throws. I think all of them are talented and all of them have that ability to be a starting quarterback in this league. Maybe not today, but in the future, so it'll be a good competition.”

On Wednesday, the quarterbacks took the field with some intriguing rep distributions. In 7-on-7 drills, Flacco and Pickett were on separate fields from Gabriel and Sanders. Flacco took the first reps on the veterans' field while Gabriel took the first reps on the rookies' field. Flacco had a nice connection to wide receiver Michael Woods II in those drills, with Woods making a diving snag. Pickett had a similar play with wide receiver Jamari Thrash.

Sanders hit wide receiver Gage Larvadain for a nice completion in the rookies' 7-on-7s. But it was in 11-on-11s when things got interesting.

Pickett took the first reps in 11-on-11 team drills, with Gabriel following and Sanders wrapping things up to end the session. Flacco stood to the side without an 11-on-11 rep on Wednesday, which is similar to how the Browns operated in minicamp. Pickett's connection with wide receiver Jerry Jeudy stood out on the first day of camp. Gabriel had what was the play of the day, hitting a wide-open Lavardain for a touchdown in 11-on-11s.

"I think you'll see at a bunch of different positions. We will work guys in different areas. So I know it will get reported on who's in there first and it may change. It will change tomorrow. So I caution you [not] to read too much into it until we get much later on in the process," said head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Here are compilation videos of each of the quarterbacks on the first day of training camp:

Defensive expecations
While the Browns offense continues shaping up with the competition at quarterback, a new offensive coordinator in Tommy Rees and a new offensive line coach in Mike Bloomgren, there's also room for the defense to grow.

One of the guys the Browns have their eye on is No. 5 overall pick Mason Graham. Graham is slated to have a big role on the interior defensive line, helping make an impact in the pass rush with star defensive end Myles Garrett on the edge beside him.

"I'm looking for Mason Graham. I'm looking for him to get in that backfield. I'm not trying to cover for too long out there, so he can go help my guy Myles out on the D line," said Browns cornerback Denzel Ward as he smiled. "But definitely Mason. I'm looking forward to all those guys, all our new guys we got, Carson [Schwesigner], everybody. So just looking for everybody to come out here, compete and try to be the best."

While Garrett would love an immediate impact from Graham, he's personally looking for cornerback MJ Emerson to take a leap in 2025. Emerson had a standout season in 2023, but struggled last year. As the new season approaches, Garrett is looking for him, among others, to elevate their game.

"I'd say MJ. MJ for sure. I think he knows that he didn't have the year that he wanted to last year and he had a great year before that and he wants to continue to improve. He wants to prove that he's the guy in that room and that should always be the mindset no matter who's in your room, whether it's me, whether it's Denzel, you're out to show that you're the very best, whether it's on your team or across the league. I want to see him achieve those goals for himself," Garrett said. "Grant [Delpit], get back to playing at that Pro Bowl level. I want to see those linebackers step up, especially the young ones. I think DB [Devin Bush] has a lot to prove, Schwesinger, he has a lot to prove and who's going to be at the end next to me. And I think a lot of guys are really taking hold of that challenge. Jacques [Cesaire] has made it very clear that it's up for grabs, so looking at it like that, you've got to attack every single day, you can let off the gas for even one play."

Garrett and Ward both described the mentality to get the results they're looking for as needing to be "hungry," "focused" and "intense."

Other notes from camp:
The Browns began training camp having placed quarterback Deshaun Watson and defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. on the active/physically unable to perform list and wide receiver David Bell on the active/non-football injury list. All three players will be out of training camp but are eligible to return upon a cleared physical.

Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins, the Browns' second-round pick in this year's draft, remains one of only two rookies from the draft class unsigned. Judkins is not at camp as he deals with legal issues, having been arrested on domestic violence charges in Florida just before camp.

"On the Quinshon Judkins situation, I don't have much to add. These are things that we take very, very, very seriously. We're gathering information. I know you guys will talk to Andrew [Berry] tomorrow, but I don't have much to add on that situation," Stefanski said. "This is something I take very seriously—we take very seriously. It's not something that we want to be a part of. We want to be shining the light on the good things that our guys are doing in this community."

While the four aforementioned players were expected to be absent from camp, there were three other notable absences. Linebacker Jordan Hicks, tight end David Njoku and running back Jerome Ford were not on the field for the first day of camp. Hicks and Njoku were excused for personal reasons, while Ford is dealing with an undisclosed injury.