Mary Kay Cabot Talks Browns Training Camp, Deshaun Watson & Nick Chubb - Guardians Deadline Moves

Browns Camp at Greenbrier welcome everyone to the latest edition of the bullpen with Adam the bull brought to you by bet Rivers if you're not using the BET Rivers app you are lost in the soup it doesn't matter what you want to bet on football Futures the NFL season right around the corner college football right around the corner baseball heating up I got a parlay for you on Friday I'll have one for you the Olympics soccer tennis we love tennis here at B Rivers anything you want covered we've got you covered check out the BET Rivers app today as we start to turn the page from July into August summer still hot but the fall and all the great fall sports are right around the corner um coming up on today's podcast the Guardians busy at the trade deadline were they busy enough I'll get into that but first we're going to be joined by Mary K cabitt from cleveland.com the Browns are down in greenb again this year getting ready for the start of the Season there's been talk from deshun Watson Nick chub looks healthy is he ready to go and a lot more from Browns Camp underway in Greenbrier when Mary K cabin of cleveland.com the preeminent Browns beat reporter joins me in the bullpen next right here the bullpen with Adam the bull brought to you by bet Rivers you're watching Adam the bull on the BET Rivers network all right welcome back it's the bullpen with Adam the bull brought to you by bet rivers and now we're joined by the best Browns beat reporter out there she's been covering the team for a long time of course she's seen a lot of losses but now the wins are starting to pile up and hopefully they will continue to pile up this year she's down in Greenbrier where the Browns are practicing starting training camp for the second time so yeah second time in two years the great Mary K cabit cleveland.com Mary Kay how are you thank you for joining me I'm doing great we've had quite a time down here yeah five five days of practice so far a couple of them had to be moved and you know transferred and pivoted around because of thunderstorms and rain but uh everybody's getting through it and uh we have a day with no practice today and then heading back out for full pads tomorrow the First full padded practice so it should be quite interesting it it it seemed like it was a great experience for the team last year and and so it made sense to go back this year do you feel like the same things happening this season I think so they had to keep it fresh and I think they're doing a team bonding or team building exercise today I'm not exactly sure what it is they're doing we'll probably find out later because I'm sure some of the guys will talk about it um but I do think that there is something to be said for getting away from everyone and kind ofo closing ranks a little bit and making sure that you're just you know bonding and getting to know each other better there's a lot of new guys on this team and uh and I do think it helps to come Nick Chubb's injury recovery down here Mary K Nick chub uh we know this guy it's it's hard to believe he's a human being sometimes the way he just recovers from injury he he seems like the perfect football player uh but but in the end he is human and he's coming off a serious injury obviously everything we've seen of him working out wise looks great from being there from talking with him from talking to people around the team how confident are they in his ability to bounce back this year they're very very confident in his ability to get on the field this year but what they're doing is pumping the brakes a little bit on the notion that he can be back for the opener you know that that's what Nick is aiming for and to watch him Sprint the other day and go through the cones it actually looked like he could possibly accomplish that goal but Jimmy Haslam has pumped the brakes on that Andrew Barry has pumped the brakes on that and I think they're just trying to give him the chance uh to recover as as fully as he can before they get him back out Deshaun Watson's comments Mary Kay when it comes to deshun Watson we all know all the Gory details both on and off the field off the field is obviously serious business but in reality and I I don't see I'm not taking anything that's he's been accused of lightly I think most people are sick of talking about it uh but his comments the other day kind of riled people up um people have chosen their camps on deshun Watson it is what it is people will change their mind on him only in terms of on the field if he plays well he hasn't played well enough he hasn't been healthy to this point but he has a chance to turn it all around and the comments don't matter if he plays good football this team looks primed to be a Super Bowl Contender but they're only a Super Bowl Contender if he plays like a Superbowl level quarterback do you believe he will he can do that this year I think he can do that as long as the arm decides to cooperate the thing that I've been saying over and over again is that there is no precedent for this kind of surgery in an NFL quarterback and I don't think anybody really knows exactly how this arm is going to respond In the Heat of the Moment when he has to take hits on the arm because in addition to the fractured shoulder socket he also had a personal personally torn labram so this was a pretty significant surgery that he had to go through and that's the whole key in my mind is how does he come back from this surgery how does he hold up and withstand the car wreck that you have to uh be engaged in 10 times a g you know a game basically so um so that's the whole key for me I I don't think he's forgotten how to play football even though he has not played a full season since 20120 I don't think that uh you know that he suddenly just isn't an elite quarterback I think it's going to be can he come back physically from the Training camp injuries surgery and emotionally from everything that he's been through very K can you give us some updates where we're at with some of the guys who have been banged up or had some injuries here to start Camp well miles Garrett uh who has been ramping up in Camp still hasn't practiced with the team at all he hasn't put on the Jersey or the helmet or anything like that yet and gone out there and practice with the team but I would imagine once they get home on Sunday for the for a padded practice in front of fans I would think Miles will be out there for that Jerry Judy he's been nursing a um a minor knee injury and he he hasn't really practiced yet at all uh he's been around and you know visible to us but he's not actually practicing with the team yet uh so that's you know that's those you know those are two big guys right there and then from an offensive tackle standpoint you've got Jack Concklin not out there yet and then you've got jedric Wills Jr so one of those two guys are going to need to step up and get out there and and play some left tackle for the Cleveland Browns before too long yeah we're talking with Mary Kay kabin and uh Amari Cooper's new contract Mary Kay how big was it to get uh the Amari Cooper and it you know we thought I honestly I thought it would take a lot more to to make him happy but they gave him a little more money and he seems happy and he's he's in Camp now how big is it to I mean we don't know if he wouldn't have been or not but but how big was it to get that done and to have a happy Amari Cooper in the mix it's huge it's absolutely huge to get him in and have him happy you really don't want to go into this season without Amari Cooper and without a happy Amari Cooper and the reason why they were able to get it done in short order for the most part was because of the fact that he wanted guaranteed money for this year and that's what he got so he got all of his $20 million guaranteed he didn't have to worry about going out there and getting hurt in training camp and now he does have uh the option to make another $5 million which would put him at 25 for this year with a chance to either hit free agency at the end of the season or negotiate an extension with the Browns at some point between now and the end of the season or after the season so I think he sees that the Browns would love to have him here over the uh Long Haul he wants to be here for the long term and uh and so it seems like a win-win Will Watson play in NFL preseason? for everyone Mary K going back to deshan Watson for a minute do you expect him to play it all in the preseason I wouldn't be surprised if he actually does get out there and play some in that final preseason game in Seattle I can't believe we have to go out to Seattle for a preseason game but having said that I wouldn't be surprised insane I know I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin uh doesn't throw him out there for that just to get him some reps in live action or mostly live action against some I guess starters I mean they would have to figure out what the Seahawks were going to do because you don't necessarily want to put backups against starters and whatnot in a preseason game but if he wants him to get the feel for the speed the game maybe get some contact and just get his feet wet a little bit before the season that's probably going to be the time in the place to do it he'll also have a chance to get some of that when they practice uh when they do their joint practices against the Minnesota Vikings now if Kevin feels he gets enough good work in against the Vikings then he maybe he Kevin Stefanski will call plays won't feel pressured to play him in that final preseason game against the Seahawks so we'll just have to see how it plays out I love the fact that Kevin's def is still calling plays I I I I was worried that you know maybe there was that he would be forced to give it up which seemed crazy to me because I think he's done a great job as the head coach obviously that was not the case and it's good to have new voices and you know people chiming in like Ken dorsy but we all know I mean Kevin stefansky has told us multiple times he enjoys calling the plays and I didn't want him to have to lose that job so I I think it's a positive for the organization that he has the power to say hey I'm the co head coach and I'm the play caller did you did you like that as well so I definitely think it was the right decision for Kevin stefansky to retain play calling it's one of the reasons he got this job in the first place I know that GM Andrew Barry thinks that's one of his strengths in the organization is as a play caller he has way more experience than Ken dorsy does in calling plays and I think this also frees up Ken dorsy to really hone in and focus on DeShaun Watson in a year when he needs someone to give him all the attention that they have in terms of getting his confidence back helping him assimilate to a new offense and just kind of being his person so I think it's great that they're doing it this way I felt all along that they should and it's absolutely the right decision Mary K let's wrap it up with some Stadium talk New Browns stadium? here I know Jimmy Hassam recently said you know he he's heard that fans would rather it be in Brook Park who knows if that's true or not but Andrew Barry talked about a dome I know selfishly I I'd like the Browns to play in a dome I think it's better for the team uh you know but there there are some fans that would like it Outdoors but my guess is talking to fans the majority in the end would rather it be a dome plus you could do so much more with it besides just football it would be good I think in the long term for the area how do you think that ends up resolving itself it seems like it is headed towards the doed stadium in Brook Park that's where the momentum feels like it is right now and I thought it was very significant when Andrew Barry came out the other day during his availability and stated unequivocally that he would prefer a dome and gave his reasons why he was the first person in the organization to actually come out and admit that he wants the doed stadium I thought that was significant he's a high ranking official in the Cleveland Browns and I think it's a window into the mindset of what they're really thinking no doubt I think I said Berea but I meant Brook Park of course Mary Kay have fun the rest of the trip we'll see you when you get back thanks for joining me as always sure thanks for having me great talking with Mary K cabit cleveland.com but now it's time to talk Guardians MLB trade deadline moves trade deadline Guardians made two moves in the final 48 hours before the deadline they acquire outfielder laye Thomas from the Washington Nationals and they pick up starting pitcher Alex Cobb from the San Francisco Giants overall I'd give the Guardians a B minus C+ for the trade deadline would have liked a bigger acquisition at starting pitcher I do think Alex Cobb is a good pitcher the problem is he's been hurt all year he had hip surgery he's been rehabbing his way back uh he was expected to make his first start of 2024 over the weekend and then he developed a blister pushing him back again he'll probably start at some point next week for the Guardians maybe they have him take one rehab starting Columbus or akan before he does we'll see but he should start over the next week or two at the very latest uh I would have liked them to get two pitchers including one that has actually pitched this year I like the lane Thomas acquisition like the cack position I like it don't love it I think Lane Thomas is a is a good fit I like it more than the cback position uh he's good Defender although some of the defensive metrics are not great this year excellent arm great base runner or great base stealer he's third I believe in baseball and stolen bases he has good power although it's down from last year he crushes Lefty League average against righties he'll help he'll play probably five six days a week the Guardians need to get Kyle manzardo up here today he should be on the roster there's no doubt about it get him up ad Lane Thomas hopefully you get two additional bats and you get rolling we'll see with Cobb Gavin William Gavin Williams pitched well yesterday against Detroit the schedule is tough the rest of the way the Guardians will be seriously challenged I would have liked a better pitcher but in the end the top pitchers did not get traded there was supposedly some injury issues with Jack flarity I've heard that the Guardians made a good offer for flarity they didn't get him had they gotten flarity in addition to Cobb I would have given them an a for this this trade deadline in addition to Lan Thomas I would have loved to see them get a short stop too but that was not easy to do uh outside of outside of pro you know like there were not many better hitters than Lane Thomas traded at the deadline there were not a lot of great pitchers traded deadline starters could they have gotten one more starter yes I would have really like that could could a short stop a one more relief pitcher sure they they didn't do nothing but the Orioles and Yankees also no I don't think they improved any more than the Guardians did at this trade deadline so I'll give them a B minus C+ I like it don't love what they did they could have done more but they didn't sit on their hands that was the most important thing they got better in two spots is it good enough we'll see they're a competitor they're a contender there's no doubt they've got the best record in baseball they got their six and a half game lead in the division uh they can win the World Series as is uh would I liked their chances more if they added Jack flarity sure uh I still think they got a shot to win the World Series by and Williams have to be healthy in a perfect world it's by it's byby Williams uh Cobb and Lively as your four starters in the playoffs you got the good Bullpen they can win that way they can win that way their Superstars got to be great Jose is there well they one Superstar and then their other All Stars Naylor fry Quan all have to be really good in the playoffs I like the one through I like the one through five of quan Thomas Jose Naylor and um and Fry hopefully get Bo Naylor hot down the stretch and get just enough from the other spots all right that's it for me for today thanks to Mary K cin for joining me thanks to Max and Andrew for andreww the newest member of the bullpen team and I pronounced his name right he's from Canada we'll give him a pass for that N I love anyway uh we'll talk to you next time where else but right here in the bullpen with Adam the bull brought to you by B River see you everybody [Music]