Za'Darius Smith, Jerry Jeudy among Browns who may get much-needed reps in preseason finale

BEREA — Za'Darius Smith's attitude about the Browns ' preseason finale at the Seattle Seahawks may be one of a kind in terms of veteran players. The veteran defensive end believes whatever snaps he can get on Saturday will actually be ones he needs.

“For sure, most definitely," Smith said prior to Tuesday's training camp practice . "It's getting me ready for the regular season. Like I said, I'm going into year 10, so I haven't had practice in two weeks, so for me to go out there and hopefully get some reps this Saturday will be big for me and for our football team.”

Smith's correct in that he hasn't received many reps over the last couple of weeks. On the second day of camp in Berea, back on Aug. 5, he banged knees together with teammate Jerome Ford on a play, leading to a knee contusion,

The injury looked substantially worse in the moment. Smith needed to be carted to the locker room, and he didn't return to the practice field until last Thursday's second joint practice with his old team, the Minnesota Vikings.

A little more than two weeks since the injury, Smith's itching to get back to playing football. That's why he views the game in Seattle the way he does, as part of an overall process he believes he has to undergo to be ready when the lights really come on Sept. 8 in the regular-season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.

"We need practice too, man," Smith said. "Practice made perfect. If you don't use it you'll lose it. I think my coach from college always taught me that, man, to make sure you're involved even if you're on the sideline, to still act like you're mentally in the game. So for me, yeah for sure to get reps, most def.”

Smith's not the only one for whom the game against the Seahawks, for what it is, holds some importance. The Browns have had a number of players who have missed some time — many of them missing substantial time — during training camp because of various injuries.

There will still be practice time between now and the opener. The chance to get reps against another team before playing the Cowboys won't be there after Saturday night in Seattle.

Which is why head coach Kevin Stefanski, as has been his standard operating procedure the last three seasons, plans to play as many of his starters as possible for at least the start of Saturday's game.

"All of our starters should expect to play," Stefanski said. "Then we'll determine who does or doesn't, how many plays they do. Like I told you guys, in particular with (quarterback) Deshaun (Watson), I want to take in all the information this week and really make a final determination later in the week."

Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy's one such player. A knee injury sustained in OTAs has nagged at him throughout camp.

Jeudy, who was acquired in March in a trade with the Denver Broncos, was on the field Tuesday. While he did have one obvious drop on a deep throw, he also pulled in a couple of other catches that showcased what he brings to the passing game.

"Yeah, I think I'm doing good," Jeudy said. "I'm listening to the training staff. I feel like they had the best position for me possible to stay healthy and be ready for game one. And that's the goal right now."

Jeudy hasn't participated in either of the first two preseason games. However, he did take part in both joint practices against the Minnesota Vikings last week.

Whether or not Jeudy gets reps Saturday in Seattle remains to be seen. He, however, doesn't believe he necessarily needs to see reps Saturday in order to be ready to play.

"A baller is a baller," Jeudy said. "You're a football player no matter what, Week 1, preseason, no preseason, Week 5. If you are a baller, you going to go out there and ball, for me in my opinion."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Za'Darius Smith, Jerry Jeudy among Browns who may get much-needed reps in preseason finale