There has been a lot of talk on Cleveland sports radio shows and in print concerning the Browns coaches not being in attendance at the Pro Days of quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles this week since several of the head coaches of other teams drafting near the top were in attendance.
Browns GM Ray Farmer was reported to be at both workouts, but Mike Pettine, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains were not according to multiple reports.
There have been some that have assumed the Browns are not going to draft either player with the fourth pick since they weren't at the workout.
On the other hand, the Browns might just be concealing their interest in those players.
It was reported by Tony Pauline of Draftinsiders.net that the Browns were one of five times to meet privately with Bortles Wednesday before his workout.
Whether the Browns are not as interested in either of the quarterbacks as many have thought they were or if they are planning on bringing both of them to Cleveland for their own private interviews and workouts is unclear. The Browns might not put as much stock in a scripted Pro Day as in a private workout the team conducts themselves.
Johnny Manziel, considered one of the three top quarterbacks besides Bridgewater and Bortles, is scheduled to have his Pro Day on March 27. Fresno State's Derek Carr, also linked to the Browns has his Pro Day still later this week. It will be interesting to see if the Browns coaches attend one or both of those workouts.
NFL Network Analyst Mike Mayock wasn't impressed with Bridgewater's workout on Monday.
"Very average at best," Mayock said. "To be honest, I expected a little more...I saw a lot of flutters, a lot of inaccuracy."
By all reports, Bortles had a good showing at his workout on Wednesday.
"I thought it looked like it was supposed to look," Mayock said. "When you're talking about a 6'5, 229-pound quarterback, he's athletic and that's obvious. I thought Jordan Palmer did a nice job of highlighting what this kid does well; a lot of movement, a lot of throws both left and right, short, intermediate and deep. I thought it was really solid from every perspective. Again, I always say I have to see a quarterback throw live and it's just another box for me to check off.
"Really good arm strength; I wouldn't say elite, I'd say really good," he continued. "I think the word for this kid is potential. He's young, he's got a lot of work to do -- I can see that on tape -- but what I saw out there is he's potentially a franchise quarterback."
Mayock seemed to back off his comments from earlier in the week on Bridgewater by talking about Bortles and Bridgewater together on Wednesday.
"I got a really good feel actually both from Bortles and Bridgewater this week," Mayock said. "I think if you're talking about being up on the board, if you're talking about watching tape, if you're talking about coaches putting you on the spot about what you know and what you can learn, I think both of those guys, Bortles and Bridgewater, crossed off all of those boxes. People are excited about them."
Mayock has said that he considers Bridgewater the most 'NFL ready' quarterback of the three.
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