The optimism surrounding the Browns offense this spring has been real, but not everyone is ready to drink the Kool-Aid just yet. Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot watched the most recent open OTA practice and came away with a concern that Browns fans need to hear even if it is not what they want to read right now.
“I thought the practice that we watched the other day was pretty sloppy in terms of balls going off the hands of receivers and backs and getting deflected and getting picked off,” Cabot said.
The Browns are running these offensive drills against a defense that is missing its most important players. Myles Garrett has not been participating. Several other key defensive contributors have been absent throughout the voluntary portion of the offseason program. The defense is operating as a skeleton crew in the most literal sense of the phrase, and the offense is still struggling to execute cleanly against them.
That is the uncomfortable part of this story. You are supposed to move the ball freely in shorts against a depleted defense in May. When the offense cannot consistently catch the football and is generating turnovers against a defense that is missing its best personnel, it raises legitimate questions about the execution level this group is actually at right now.
The optimists will correctly point out that these are voluntary OTAs and the regular season is still months away. Drops happen. Deflections happen. Todd Monken is still installing his system and there is a natural learning curve that comes with a new offense. All of that is true and fair.
But this is something worth paying attention to as mandatory minicamp approaches and the pads eventually come on in training camp.
The Browns have the pieces to be a dangerous offensive team in 2026. They have not looked like it consistently yet, and that needs to change.
NEXT: Browns Insider Said What Many Fans Are Thinking About Deshaun Watson
