Cleveland Browns training camp takeaways: Injuries, freakish Myles Garrett and LT issues

BEREA — Training camp , for all intents and purposes, is behind the Browns .

So what did we learn over those 16 practices? Well, that all depends on what you expected to learn.

If you thought you'd come away from those practices being able to answer all the questions about the Browns when camp started, you walked away from Wednesday's practice disappointed. If you thought you'd get a better handle on what this team could become while understanding there's still a long way to go to learn the whole truth, you might've come away at least somewhat satiated.

If your biggest takeaway is that injuries made establishing almost any kind of firm narrative impossible, then you probably were watching Browns training camp. If that sounds like a cop-out answer, well, it really isn't one.

Why's that? Because that's exactly where these training camp takeaways are going to begin.

Injuries are the overarching storyline for Cleveland Browns training camp

Training camp started with some big names on various injury lists — Nick Chubb, Jedrick Wills Jr., Jack Conklin, Dalvin Tomlinson, Greg Newsome II and Nyheim Hines.

Camp ended with all those players still on one of the injury lists. The problem has been that, over the course of the last four weeks, there have been a whole lot of other players — big names and small — who have dealt with various injuries of both major and minor impact.

Wednesday was actually typical for training camp. A lengthy list of players — more than a dozen in total — not practicing due to one injury or another.

At the same time, one player — wide receiver Amari Cooper — comes back from injury, while another one — running back Pierre Strong Jr. — has to be taken to the hospital because of a rib contusion. Meanwhile, the quarterback whose arm is under a microscope, Deshaun Watson, stops throwing due to "general arm soreness."

There's still two-and-a-half weeks until the Sept. 8 season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. The biggest thing the Browns need in that time is a little bit of good injury luck, and some players to get back from injuries.

Myles Garrett's a freak of nature who may be sitting on his best season ever

That pretty much sums it up, right? Do you really need that explained even more?

OK, here you go: Myles Garrett came into training camp as the NFL's reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Somehow, the Browns' all-time franchise sack leader may have even gotten better than he has been before.

Again, this is the REIGNING NFL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR. And he may be better than he's ever been before.

Doubt that statement? You can go ask the Minnesota Vikings' Christian Darrisaw, the highest-paid left tackle in the game, what he thought of his two days trying to slow down Garrett in the teams' joint practice.

Training camp didn't settle the Deshaun Watson debate

Everyone has an opinion on how quarterback Deshaun Watson has looked so far. To be fair, there have been some good throws, and even good days.

However, it's also fair to say there have been plenty of days when Watson has had his struggles. Some of those can be blamed on a lack of pass protection, while others can be credited to the Browns defense.

If Watson or anyone else hoped training camp would put away the questions about whether or not he can be the quarterback to lead the Browns to possibly a Super Bowl — and very few likely thought it would — that hasn't been the case. The reality has always been that those answers can only come from what he does in the regular season — a full regular season, no less.

Of course, another big takeaway from camp may go hand-in-hand with Watson's ability to get that full regular season played.

Left tackle could become a very serious problem

Jedrick Wills Jr.'s recovery from an early November knee injury continues to be an ongoing process. He had an arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Dec. 12 after he had suffered a high-grade sprain to the MCL, a low-grade sprain to the PCL and bone bruises on Nov. 5.

Wills could be back as soon as next week, although no one has indicated that to be fact. If he's not, what has been exposed over the course of training camp is a concern that could be, literally, crippling to the Browns offense.

James Hudson III, Hakeeem Adeniji and Germain Ifedi have, for one reason or another, lined up at left tackle with the first unit. Ifedi's likely to start there in the preseason finale at the Seattle Seahawks because Hudson's out with an ankle injury and Adeniji is on injured reserve with a knee injury.

Ifedi may end up being the option until Wills comes back. However, the veteran of 102 games in his career only has four career left tackle snaps in regular-season games.

Not that having a question mark at left tackle is that big a deal, except the Browns' first four games alone feature the likes of Micah Parsons, Josh Hines-Allen, Brian Burns and Maxx Crosby as the edge rushers they'll face. Good luck and Godspeed if you're not secure in your left tackle spot facing that quartet, let alone the other ones later in the Browns' schedule.

The Cleveland Browns defense could be close to the level it was in 2023

It always helps to have a player like Garrett flying around like some mutant combination of the best parts of Lawrence Taylor, Michael Strahan and Reggie White. It also doesn't hurt to have, despite the camp-long injury issues, a large part of the league's top-ranked defense back for a second year under the same coordinator.

It also, apparently, doesn't hurt that the defense is walking around with a bit of a chip on their shoulder. Seems like the fans weren't the only ones who remembered what happened on that January Saturday night in Houston.

The Browns defense has flown around when it's actually been turned loose in practice. It hasn't always been perfect in execution, but it's shown enough to leave most everyone with the same impression that they may be ready for an encore to their elite performance last season.

That is, of course, assuming the injury issues of training camp don't carry over into the regular season.

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: Cleveland Browns training camp takeaways: Injuries, freakish Myles Garrett and LT issues