Hard Knocks season 13, episode 2 recap: Cleveland Browns 02

Hard Knocks episode 2 brings fans the first preseason game for the Cleveland Browns and showcases the first big roster move of the preseason.

Last week on Hard Knocks, NFL fans got to meet new Cleveland Browns rookie Baker Mayfield, see the joy of Browns’ players as they watched newcomer Jarvis Landry prove to be a playmaker and introduce controversy in both the coach’s room and the players meeting rooms concerning how to deal with injuries.

This week on Hard Knocks, the Cleveland Browns get to play a real football game as they take on the New York Giants in their 2018 NFL preseason debut with a new offensive coordinator calling plays and both Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield showing they belong.

The Corey Coleman Saga

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Corey Coleman was at the center of controversy over the last week when he demanded a trade. This episode of Hard Knocks shows Coleman revealing his massive shoe collection to the camera crew. He talked about his love of shoes, and he showed that he is considerate when he said that he plans to give away a lot of his shoes to kids in need.

Offensive coordinator Todd Haley is trying to tell Corey Coleman to work harder to gain the quarterback’s trust. Haley is relentless, and Coleman isn’t running his routes right Haley tells Coleman that it is his fault he is missing the passes. Coleman is not happy with Coach Haley blaming him and isn’t taking responsibility.

Coleman then goes into Head Coach Hue Jackson’s office and asks why he is running with the second team instead of the first team. Jackson tells him to ask Todd Haley. Coleman then said that if the Browns don’t want him to play they should just trade him.

It was a tale of two Corey’s – the one who is generous with kids in need and the one who feels disrespected by the Browns’ coaches.

After the opening credits, the Cleveland Browns traded Corey Coleman to the Buffalo Bills for a seventh-round 2020 NFL Draft pick. This didn’t go over well with other players, who recognized that the Browns gave away Coleman for pretty much nothing in return.

Corey Coleman was a first-round draft pick by the Browns two years ago.

Replacing Corey Coleman

Wide receiver coach Adam Henry tells the remaining wide receivers that Corey Coleman is gone, and it is time for someone else to step up. Henry said that they wish Coleman the best, but they can only control what they can control.

“Be great, be famous, or be forgotten.”

Josh Gordon still hasn’t shown up at camp, so the Cleveland Browns have two spots open for young receivers to stop up.

General manager John Dorsey asks what the options are at wide receiver. He offers Dorsey a list of names that are options at free agents or trade possibilities and Dorsey mentions Dez Bryant’s name.

Hard Knocks moves to rookie Antonio Callaway and assistant Josh Cribbs challenges him to step up. The problem is that Callaway has problems getting in trouble.

Antonio Callaway is a first-round talent but off-the-field problems dropped him to the fourth round for the Browns. There were a lot of concerns. However, Callaway got promoted to the first team.

Callaway can’t stay out of trouble. The night before he was promoted to the first team, a police dash cam shows that he was pulled over at 3 a.m. and cited with marijuana possession. He was not arrested but he never told anyone in the Browns’ organization about getting pulled over.

They then showed Hue Jackson asking Callaway if something was wrong and he said no. He asked if he was being straight with him and Callaway said yes. Jackson reminded him that his office is open to him to talk if he needs it. Then Haley is riding Callaway about hustling more to make it to the next level. Haley is a lot gentler with Callaway than he was with Coleman and it is clear there is something wrong.

David Njoku

Tight end David Njoku is up next. He is shown meditating by himself and using meditation to get better at his game. He is then shown walking around asking players and coaches what color his gloves were (everyone thinks they are pink, but he thinks they are purple).

He is then shown struggling to catch the ball in practice. His teammates and coaches are both giving a hard time for his struggles catching the ball and he is forced to go catch 30 balls from a machine before he can quit practice for the day.

Baker Mayfield

Last week, Hue Jackson called out Baker Mayfield for not arriving as early as fellow quarterback Tyrod Taylor. This week, Baker is staying later than almost anyone and coming in easier than almost everyone because he wants to be the best. He spent a lot of time at a table with a game plan studying.

A reporter said that he is not given the opportunity to win the job and asked if that makes him handle things differently. Baker explained that at Texas Tech, he walked on and was not given a chance early to start. At OU, he walked on and was on the scout team to begin with and said he is taking things the same every step of the way.

He said he still wants to go out there and lead the team.

Baker Mayfield is then talking to Cleveland Browns’ legend Jim Brown who said that he heard Baker has the right attitude and is working hard. Baker was respectful, and Brown said he can call him if he ever needs anything. Brown said he is behind Baker 100 percent.

Struggles in Practice

Quarterback Drew Stanton backed up to make a pass and a defensive player slammed him to the ground. Todd Haley was livid and said that they hit the quarterback because they have no discipline whatsoever (quarterbacks are off limits in these drills). Hue Jackson is also mad because people are walking and not hustling.

Jackson tells his coaches that they better get onto the players to get them moving faster.

On the sidelines, Tyrod Taylor is talking to Hue Jackson and tells him they have cameras out there and they can show these players what they are doing, to which Jackson responds they have bad habits and everyone is so slow. This caused Jackson to show the players the video of their slow play and said that is what is being put on tape right now – not a team that looks hungry and urgent.

“You can not practice like this and be good.”

Hue Jackson reminded them that unmotivated talent gets nothing.

This is followed by a musical montage from practice.

Myles Garrett

Up next, we see that Myles Garrett likes to write poetry.

He enjoyed writing it because he learned it from his grandmother and because Muhammad Ali wrote poetry. He said that he was a boy who liked to write before he was a man who liked to hit people and it helps him remain true to himself.

They then showed him practicing and getting very aggressive. Hue Jackson is there to break up the arguments.

Antonio Callaway

As mentioned earlier, Antonio Callaway was cited for marijuana possession and never told his coaches. The Cleveland Browns released a statement when it hit the news that said they were aware of it and were investigating.

Hue Jackson and John Dorsey met with Callaway about the incident. Both men said they are disappointed and asked about the entire situation.

Callaway said that he was pulled over for not stopping, although he said he did. He said that the officer said that his license was suspended and then found an “old roach in a clip” and he opened it. The officer said he had to use it and told him that it was less than a speeding ticket.

Dorsey explained that this is the NFL and not college football. He said that people want to see him mess up and he needs to prove that he is moving forward. Jackson said that he can’t take a chance on things like this and that he is responsible for the Browns organization and teammates. Jackson said that he has his number and can call him if there are any problems and that if anything else happens, he won’t get off so easily.

This then moves into another meeting room where veteran quarterback Drew Stanton is talking to wide receiver coach Adam Henry. Stanton wants to know if he is too comfortable or just doesn’t get it and Henry said he doesn’t get it yet. He said that Callaway finally opened up to him the day before. Stanton said he is so talented, but he is a big kid who needs to transition to be a pro.

In the team meeting, Callaway is called in front of his teammates.

It was not to humiliate the player. Jackson said that he supports Callaway but made him apologize to his teammates for what happened over the weekend when he was pulled over. He said that he has to carry himself like a professional and it won’t happen again. Jackson said that nothing good can happen if you stay out late.

Hue Jackson said everyone gets one mulligan IF they are telling him the truth, but if they lie to him they are finished in Cleveland.

Devon Cajuste

Todd Haley said that they will start off the practice with the song “No Love” because that is what they are getting from everyone around the league. This is followed by Jarvis “Juice” Landry making another amazing catch and that is transitioned into by a journeyman tight end named Devon Cajuste.

Haley is back to his relentless self. Cajuste was cut by two other NFL teams but he said he loves challenges and wants to make this team. After some dropped balls and getting blindsided for not paying attention, Cajuste starts to make plays and the players seem to love him.

His dad is out there to watch him practice as well but Cajuste tells his dad that he was destroyed. His dad was there because Cajuste called him and said he needed someone to talk to and his dad was there the next day. Cajuste mentioned that his dad had two heart attacks and he told him that he just had his third and didn’t tell him about it.

Cajuste said the doctors told him that his dad had five years to live but has already exceeded that, proving that he can achieve anything if he never quits and never stops.

Carl Nassib and Brogan Roback

Carl Nassib said that he felt he was getting dumber and he needed to read more.

Next, Todd Haley is shown on the sidelines making fun of Carl’s name to the quarterbacks and then they start to make fun of fourth-string quarterback Brogan’s name.

The coaches then decide that they want to get Brogan Roback playing time and want to get him in the game at the end, saying he isn’t terrible. Hue Jackson said that he would love to get him a series.

Carl Nassib is still talking about the investment options for the players, specifically the Rule of Sevens.

Cleveland Browns vs. New York Giants

The first thing that the announcers reveal is that the Cleveland Browns are punishing Antonio Callaway for his citation by running him on every single offensive play of the first preseason game. Callaway is told he gets the first opportunity to prove himself in the wide receiver corps.

Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham Jr. greet each other on the field before the game.

It was a great start with Tyrod Taylor going a perfect five-for-five for 99 yards and a 36-yard touchdown pass to David Njoku (they skilled the first defensive performance of the game, which gave up a field goal to the New York Giants). Todd Haley was finally happy.

Then, it was time for the Cleveland Browns fans to finally see Baker Mayfield in action on the field.

Mayfield led them down the field, including Baker Mayfield helping the Browns pick up a first down on fourth down, and leading the Browns to a touchdown when he threw a 10-yard touchdown pass – again with Njoku grabbing the touchdown pass. Baker told Nick Chubb he was having dun and Chubb said he was busting his butt out there.

Then, it was time for Antonio Callaway to try to make up for his mistakes from the previous weekend. He worked and worked and worked but wasn’t catching anything early in the game. Callaway was getting tired, never getting a chance to come out to rest.

While Hard Knocks has ignored the defense almost the entire episode, Gregg Williams got a chance to shine as the defensive coordinator ripped into his defensive unit with a ton of curse words and the comment that when he cuts them, they will know it was because of their lack of effort.

In the locker room at halftime, Williams told people to stop walking and that they need to start running. He said that this is not college football anymore and if they don’t play with more passion, they don’t belong there.

Up next is Cajuste working mostly as a blocker, even though he is playing with a hurt shoulder. Cajuste is in a lot of pain but, despite the pain, he is leading to block with the shoulder. He then caught his first pass of the game, and then another catch which included a hurdle after the catch.

Baker said that Cajuste will hurdle his way to a touchdown one day and Cajuste told Njoku that he was preparing for the hurdle.

Antonio Callaway is still in there and then makes a spectacular sideline catch on a pass from Baker Mayfield. While it was called a no-catch, the replay gave him the catch. Hue Jackson told Baker Mayfield he only gets one more drive in the game. Baker wasn’t going to let this slip by.

Baker Mayfield hit Antonio Callaway on a slant down the middle that resulted in a 54-yard touchdown catch and run. Callaway caught three balls in the game for 87 yards. Todd Haley told Jarvis Landry that he needs to “take that kid on” even if it means living at his house because that is something Larry Fitzgerald would do.

The Cleveland Browns beat the New York Giants, 20-10.

After this, John Dorsey said that if Dez Bryant ever answered his phone calls, they would talk and then after watching the game, Bryant tweeted that he will come to Cleveland to see Mr. Dorsey.

Next. Hard Knocks season 13, episode 3 recap. dark

Things are changing in Cleveland when it comes to how people view the Browns.

Next week on Hard Knocks, the Cleveland Browns take on the Buffalo Bills – Jarvis Landry’s former team and the team that Corey Coleman was traded to. Hard Knocks airs on Tuesday nights on HBO.

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