STEVE DOERSCHUK
BEREA — When will the stitches come out? When will Braylon Edwards get it on the way he did before taking stitches to his right foot Saturday?
“Ask the chief that one,” quarterback Derek Anderson said after working without his Pro Bowl wideout for a third straight practice Monday.
Coach Romeo Crennel said, “We’ll get him back.” He wouldn’t say when.
The view culled from training camp rounds Monday had it that Edwards will miss the Aug. 18 game against the Giants and probably the Aug. 23 game at Detroit, but will be back in plenty of time for the Sept. 7 opener against Dallas.
“I’m not worried that he will not be back,” Crennel said. “They kept him overnight (in the hospital Saturday) to see if there was anything more than a cut. It’s nothing more than a cut.”
Crennel didn’t know the stitch count.
“It really doesn’t make any difference how many,” he said. “He’s going to be back.”
Fellow wideout Donté Stallworth stepped on Edwards foot after the latter had removed a shoe in Saturday’s practice.
“Hey, kids are kids,” said Crennel, 61. “We’ll educate ’em a little bit more, tell them about keeping your shoes on until you’re inside, and then take ’em off.
“Things like this ... you don’t want ’em to happen, you don’t like ’em to happen, but they happen. And so what can you do about it, other than try to educate ’em?”
Anderson alluded to a Monday phone conversation with Edwards when he said,
“He’s doing good. He’s obviously disappointed he’s gonna be home for a little bit. But he’ll be ready to go when he gets back.”
Anderson said he is prepared to work the offense with whomever is available.
“You have to,” Andersons said. “In this league, guys are up and down every week.”
Quarterback Brady Quinn sees Edwards as the type to hit the ground running, even if he sits out a while.
“Any time you have a guy like Braylon Edwards to throw to, you’ve got kind of a wide margin of error to where you can put the ball,” Quinn said. “That kind of helps out things.
“I don’t think he’ll miss a step at all.”
Kasper’s exasperation
Kevin Kasper’s hamstring-related absence from practice has dragged on more than a week.
“We’re gonna work him and slowly work him back,” Crennel said. “There’s no timetable. We’ll just have to see how he goes.”
Kasper came through spring practice and the first few days of training camp looking like Joe Jurevicius’ likely replacement as the No. 3 wideout. His head fake and deft footwork that left No. 1 cornerback Eric Wright five yards in the dust was as impressive as any move witnessed in camp.
Kasper is good enough to get invited to NFL camps year in and year out, and this team could use him. However, he spent another practice watching in shorts Monday.
“I don’t know how much rope he’ll get,” Crennel said, “because as you get down to (cut) time, you have to have guys who can help you. So there’s not much rope left at that time.
“But he did show enough that we are definitely interested in seeing how he can come along.”
Heiden eases in
Steve Heiden isn’t indispensable. In six years with the Browns, the 31-year-old tight end has caught 154 passes. That’s not the same layer of the atmosphere as Kellen Winslow Jr.’s 171 catches in the last two years.
However, Heiden is the man coaches want as their No. 2 tight end who plays a prominent role when former tight end Rob Chudzinski dials up two-tight-end sets. The brass is relieved he is practicing again, albeit in a brace, after straining a knee.
“We were in Chud’s offense last year. That makes it a lot easier mentally,”
Heiden said before hitting the showers. “It’s just physically getting back in the flow of things.”
Routinely one of the fittest players on the team, Heiden said the knee feels “good.”
Joshin’ Cribbs
Anderson likes to tease four-year Kent State quarterback Joshua Cribbs about his throwing ability.
Asked if QBs coach Rip Scherer works with Cribbs on his throwing technique — Cribbs figures to line up at quarterback a number of times this season — Anderson got a twinkle in his eye and said, “Not workable.”
Anderson was reminded he was dissing Cribbs’ passing prowess last year.
“I know,” he said. “You can fix it.”
Turning serious, Anderson said, “He threw one day ... I don’t know if you guys saw it ...like 65 yards in the air, and he was running.
“We have a package for him. It’s a little different look for the defense when he’s in there.”
Winslow on the run
After icing a hamstring and sitting out part of a Sunday practice, Kellen Winslow Jr. looked fairly frisky in Monday’s lone practice.
Winslow even threw a trick pass that barely made it to Jamal Lewis. Winslow lined up wide at the snap, stepped back, and caught a pass — it would be ruled a backward lateral in a game — from Anderson. Winslow then ran to his right behind the line and looked for Lewis, who was about 30 yards downfield.
The pass appeared to be thrown into the wind, except there was no wind.
“Oh, there was a little Aflleck there?” Anderson said.
On the corner
In the Browns’ view, Terry Cousin is one of those aging cornerbacks who hangs around because he has enough juice left that his experience makes him an effective nickel back.
Cousin seemed to struggle early in camp, but there remains a good chance he will beat out young veteran Mike Adams for the No. 1 nickel role.
“Mike was here last year, so he has a leg up as far as that goes, but as you look at Cousin, he’s a heady player as well,” Crennel said. “I think that will be a good battle.”
Cousin, 33, played 16 games for a playoff team, Jacksonville, in 2007.
Extra points
n Anderson, probably the best golfer on the Browns, had a phone conversation with his pal Ben Curtis after the latter barely missed winning the PGA Championship. “Obviously, he was a little disappointed in the way the tournament went, but it’s pretty sweet he made the Ryder Cup.”
n Has Cleveland native Steve Sanders made a move on the depth chart at wide receiver? Crennel likes the fact Sanders can play the “X,” “Y,” and “Z” positions in the Browns system. “If he shows he can be a reliable receiver, that pushes him toward the top,” Crennel said. For now, Sanders is listed at No. 4 at one of the wideout spots behind Edwards, Kasper and Syndric Steptoe.
