The Browns will coach in the Senior Bowl this week, but head of football operations Sashi Brown won’t be there.
Brown is not medically permitted to travel to the showcase in Mobile, Ala., because he underwent back surgery last week, a team spokesman said. He’s expected to be cleared to travel in the coming weeks.
Senior Bowl practices will run Tuesday through Thursday. The all-star game featuring 107 draft-eligible prospects will be held Saturday.
Browns coach Hue Jackson and his staff will coach the South team. The Chicago Bears will coach the North team.
Jackson believes coaching in the Senior Bowl will be a tremendous opportunity for the Browns to evaluate draft prospects up close and in person. The franchise owns two picks in the first round (Nos. 1 and 12 overall) and two in the second round (Nos. 33 and 52 overall) of April’s draft.
“Anytime you get a chance to be with the players, to coach them in your fundamentals, your techniques, be able to be around them in meetings, you get to see them in a lot of different settings that maybe you wouldn’t get to see if you weren’t coaching the game,” Jackson told the Beacon Journal last week. “This is information you normally have to gather thirdhand from somebody else. You get to get that information firsthand now.”
Although coaching in the Senior Bowl is a golden opportunity for the Browns, the absence of Brown, who controls the 53-man roster, is a disappointing development.
Andrew Berry, Browns vice president of player personnel, is attending the event along with the rest of the scouting staff and the entire coaching staff.
Changing duties
The Browns will move Greg Seamon from tight ends coach to quarterbacks coach and Mark Hutson from assistant offensive line coach to tight ends coach, a team spokesman confirmed Monday.
Jackson told the Beacon Journal last week he planned to use the Senior Bowl as a trial run to gauge whether he needs to replace departed associate head coach-offense Pep Hamilton, who served as a quarterbacks coach and helped install game plans and run practices last season. On Jan. 9, Hamilton left the Browns to become the assistant head coach and passing game coordinator at the University of Michigan.
“I feel pretty good about our staff right now. I think people truly believe we have another position open, and maybe we do, maybe we don’t,” said Jackson, who will continue to call the offense’s plays and work with the quarterbacks. “It all depends on how I see it and feel about it.
“I feel good about the guys I have, and [the Senior Bowl presents] a chance for us to go out there and practice and for me to watch our staff in its entirety and then see if we do need to make an addition. But I feel good about where we are right now.”
Seamon has more than 40 years of coaching and scouting experience. He has known Jackson for about 32 years, so there is a high level of trust and respect between the two. Seamon was the offensive coordinator at the University of the Pacific when Jackson played quarterback there from 1985-86.
Hutson has previous experience as an NFL tight ends coach. He held the title with the Oakland Raiders from 2012-14.
Unable to persuade
Sports Illustrated’s Peter King reported the Browns talked to Clemson national championship-winning quarterback Deshaun Watson and asked him to participate in the Senior Bowl this week, but he still declined his invitation.
Senior Bowl Executive Director Phil Savage confirmed last week Watson would pass on attending.
Super Bowl connections
The Browns and Washington each have five former players who are members of the Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, more than any other NFL team, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The former Browns who play for ex-Cleveland coach Bill Belichick as members of the Patriots are running back Dion Lewis, defensive end Jabaal Sheard and linebacker Barkevious Mingo.
The former Browns on the Falcons’ roster are center Alex Mack and wide receiver Taylor Gabriel. Former Browns offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has the same title with the Falcons after fleeing Cleveland following the 2014 season. And Falcons coach Dan Quinn interviewed with the Browns, but they instead chose Mike Pettine as their head coach in 2014.
Browns 10-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas used Twitter to congratulate Mack, Gabriel and Shanahan for making the Super Bowl and added “@Browns will know what this feels like next year!!”
But Thomas defended Patriots quarterback Tom Brady after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him for Deflategate and has formed a rooting interest related to the saga.
“As much as I’d like to see my buddy @alexmack55 win a super bowl, I would sure love to see @nflcommish have to hand a SB trophy to Brady!” Thomas wrote on Twitter.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.