The Browns are well into their training-camp routine, and there’s no evidence that receiver Braylon Edwards will be joining the fold any time soon.
Coach Eric Mangini addressed on Tuesday Edwards’ ongoing status on the non-football injury list.
And, true to form, Mangini talked without saying much of anything.
“I think we’ll keep evaluating it and as soon as they do he’ll be out there,” Mangini said regarding Edwards.
Mangini added that he’s not concerned that Edwards is missing reps with his teammates. “You want everybody to be out there at all times,” Mangini said, ”but it’s no different than the situation you deal with during the course of the season, where you go in with the best plan and what you consider to be your best group of guys and that is what you’re going to move forward to.”
The reason for Mangini’s ambiguity regarding the Edwards situation became more clear when Mangini addressed with a surprising degree of candor the reasons for secrecy regarding player injuries.
“One of the things that we try to do in terms of the injuries is to not set any timetables because everything is different,” the fourth-year head coach said. “It’s important to take in to account that aspect of it. There is also the competitive disadvantage and the more that you have to prep for someone the better off that team is. I’ve been in a lot of those situations as well where you’re getting ready for somebody and you think they’re going to play and they aren’t able to play. That allows you to adjust the reps and focus on something else.”
In other words, when a player is injured the coach wants to keep the other team guessing as to whether the injured player will play, so that the other team will spend time preparing both for the player and the player’s replacement, reducing the other team’s ability to be completely prepared for the player who actually plays.
The other reality is that coaches want to keep injuries that won’t keep players from playing under wraps so that the injured body part doesn’t become a magnet for further abuse. That’s why, for example, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s rib/back injury wasn’t mentioned on the injury report during the week before the Super Bowl, and it’s why the Dolphins never once mentioned last season linebacker Matt Roth’s supposedly troublesome groin.
I just Hope Edwards dosn’t end up with the eagles. I blame every other team in the league for bowing down to the eagles when they trade players. The eagles never give up anything of value and get players everybhody else wants. The eagles are rip off artists. Clevland don’t trade Edwards for a 5th rounder.
Steve, those players everyone else wants have combined for ahhhh…..ZERO championships. While I’m not a League insider it’s a pretty safe assumption that no one bows to the Eagles. Just a thought.
“no sign of Braylon Edwards”
thought it was a headline re-run from the 08 season….
Staph.
You completely neglected to mention that Edwards IS at camp, IS working out, and IS participating in limited drills.
But yeah, other than that, he’s a no show.
Great headline Florio, never let the facts get in the way of writing an BS headline.
cancer
In other news there is no sign of florio’s brain.
crookedsteve,
Soooooo, your saying that a 5th round pick would be a rip-off for a pain in the butt receiver who can’t catch a cold?
Why would the Eagles or anyone else want him?
Just a thought.
He just practiced this morning… Nice job Florio. You personify the term “douche bag” my friend.
swollen balls?
Mike,
don’t change your brand. You got to be big by providing awesome analysis….now you’re trying to stay big by saturating the site with posts.
You were so anxious to start writing your next post that you didn’t give your usual rant about WHY the injury reporting procedure is important … a bookie giving the guy that cleans the toilets an envelope of $20s for the real injury report, etc.
Reading this article, it almost makes it seem like you agree with the hush-hush.