By Zac Jackson
This report filed August 3, 2001:

Edinboro, Pa. — Most of the news coming out of the Browns-Bills practice Friday afternoon was good news for Browns fans.

Tim Couch was impressive. The defense held its own. The Browns quarterbacks connected with a variety of different receivers and some of the players potentially on the bubble to make the roster—the young wide receivers in particular—made a positive impression.

“I was really proud of the way our guys competed,” Browns Head Coach Butch Davis said.

Quincy Morgan made a handful of big plays and Lenzie Jackson, Bobby Brown, Zola Davis and Andre King racked up receiving yards by the bundle.

“Our players really performed and played well and, in particular, I thought we threw and caught the ball extremely well,” Davis said. “I thought Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb and Ty Detmer all threw the ball well and the receivers came up with plays. Mike Sellers, Rickey Dudley, Quincy Morgan and Andre King made plays.

It’s the same thing we’ve seen in practice—a lot of consistency in catching the ball and making plays.” Morgan looked like a player ready to claim a starting position.

“That’s what you’re looking for when you bring somebody on the team is for him to come and do the things he’s capable of doing,” Davis said of Morgan. “He’s a guy that’s got excellent speed and he’s a big, physical receiver. He made one great play in a blitz drill where they were really trying to be physical with him and he was strong enough to fight the press coverage.”

With Jackson, Brown, Davis and King competing for what potentially could be only one roster spot, every single day of training camp counts.

“I’m very pleased with those young receivers,” Davis said. “More than anything else I think they showed up with an attitude and they wanted to compete. They came out to measure themselves and find out where they stand. It’s a shot of confidence for a young football team. We’re a long way from being ready to start the season. But we’re closer.”

Jackson started the day returning kicks and punts and finished it by making a one-handed, diving catch and several other impressive plays.

“I’m just having fun out there,” Jackson said. “I don’t see it as a competition. I just see it as an opportunity for me to go out there and show the coaches what I can do. I’ve been working hard and I just let my play take over everything else.

“I’ve just got a chance to be a receiver and go out and show what I can do. I’m gonna do the best I can every day and I’ll let the coaches make decisions at the end.”

“If you don’t drop many passes,” Davis said, “it’s going to be hard to get rid of you.”

Couch, Holcomb and Detmer were impressive in their first action against another team.

“I thought Tim did well,” Davis said. “I think he was 4-for-5 against the blitz and I thought that was very good. In the team periods he put the ball right on the money and made some good throws. Tim’s playing very well.

“Kelly and Ty are playing extremely well and we’re pleased with both of them. We’ve tried to divide the work on the second team as evenly as possible and we’ll probably do the same thing tomorrow. I don’t know if one of them has a lead on the other one.”

Browns fans know Detmer but Holcomb, like Couch, has had an outstanding camp.

“Kelly is very, very accurate,” Davis said. “He’s got a great arm, great anticipation and throws the ball extremely well. He’s got a little built-in advantage, but not a whole lot, in the fact that he’s been doing this offense for a very long time. He’s pretty crafty in the things that he can do.

“Tim was very poised, particularly in the two-minute drill when they tried to blitz. We had a couple completions and they changed the tempo of the drill and went to the pressure. He felt the pressure and scrambled for a 17-yard gain. I think that’s huge because quarterbacks that can make plays with their legs are invaluable.”

RAIN DELAY—The cancellation of the morning practice was bad news for fans that made the trip to Edinboro, but it allowed the Browns a little rest and relaxation.

“We went back and most guys took a nap,” Davis said. “Some of them watched the Women’s British Open and other guys ate and took their tape off. We didn’t do anything football related.”

“It helped us because we’ve been practicing hard,” Corey Fuller said. “It was nice to get a little rest. I went straight back to the room and went straight to sleep.

LOOKING AHEAD—The teams will hold a full-speed scrimmage Saturday morning at Edinboro’s Sax-Harrison Stadium (11:00 a.m., Empire Sports Network).

“In tomorrow’s scrimmage we’ll dial the intensity and the tempo up and both coaching staffs now have a little scouting report,” Davis said. “We’ll go back tonight and dissect some film and all the things that looked real good, we’ll have to find an answer for.”

“It felt really good to be out there, especially going against great receivers like Eric Moulds and Peerless Price and a great quarterback like Rob Johnson,” Fuller said. “It was a great experience, especially with our new coaching staff getting to see what we can do against some great competition.

“Tomorrow it will be easier to judge everything. Today it was good just to have different competition.”

ON THE LINE--The first team offensive line for the Browns looked like this: Roman Oben and Roger Chanoine at tackle, Steve Zahursky and Brad Bedell at guard and Dave Wohlabaugh at center. “I was proud of our offensive line because they fought and they competed. That was a positive,” Davis said.

QUICK HITS—Wali Rainer went airborne to knock a Rob Johnson pass back in the quarterback’s face…Holcomb threw a long TD pass to Bobby Brown early in the afternoon and another to Zola Davis on the final play of practice…Detmer hit Mike Sellers on a long play down the sideline and Jackson on a deep ball over the middle…Buffalo’s Eric Moulds showed why he is one of the NFL’s top receivers with a terrific touchdown catch in the middle of three defenders near the end of the afternoon.

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