Newsletter: NFL Combine Updates, DL/LB Get on the Field, and Previewing the Rest of the Weekend

Who showed out and what to watch for the rest of the weekend.

(Photo - USA Today)

Thursday afternoon saw the defensive line and linebacker prospects hit the field at Lucas Oil Stadium —specialists also participated, but come on, who cares? Top defensive player Abdul Carter was set to sit out drills before his recent injury news, but it’s always a shame to see the top prospects opt out of the workout.

There are more complaints each year that the Combine is dying when players don’t participate. Yes, it sucks but I don’t expect the event to go away anytime soon. There is so much that happens throughout the week with nearly all of the football world in one city. I say “nearly” because teams haven’t sent coaches in recent years opting to virtually interview players.

Players have formal and informal interviews for nearly a full day before they get on the field. The formals are in individual suites where the GM, head coach, and select others grill the prospect in an intimate setting. The informals take place in one of Lucas Oil Stadium’s club sections similar to the Lake and City Clubs at Huntington Bank Stadium. This can get ugly as certain scouts or coaches get big egos trying to secure the guys they want to talk to.

The Jets were the first team I saw go fully virtual with those interviews having players put headphones on for a Zoom call with a position coach. Both types of interviews are important pieces for the coaching staff to understand how players comprehend and absorb football information. Coaches will then work their experience with the kid into their final evaluation.

There were two big Browns-related news pieces on Thursday with the Carter news in the morning, and Myles Garrett returning to the headlines in the afternoon. Mary Kay Cabot reported that Garrett’s agents essentially told Andrew Berry to stop calling them with extension proposals and reiterated that he doesn’t want to play for Cleveland next season. It’s not a great development but not exactly surprising since it’s only been about three weeks since the initial request.

Similar to when he made the request, this report comes soon after Berry made comments saying he expects Myles to stay. Stefanski echoed those thoughts when he spoke to the media, as Jake broke down yesterday. I agree that it’s much more likely Myles is traded before signing an extension. I’ve never thought the request was posturing to get more money out of the Browns. He’s too good of a player and too smart of a person to not be straight forward with what he wants. Does anyone really think the team would say no if he directly asked more more money? No. It’s a crappy situation to be in but the best Cleveland Brown since the return is likely to be on a different team next season.