BEREA ― The Browns went around a hour-and-45 minutes while in shells in their first practice since their preseason opener. What they ultimately did on Day 14 of training camp was about putting it in context with what lies ahead at the end of this week. For Cleveland, that is two opportunities to face the Buffalo Bills. They're two completely different opportunities, however, in many ways. The joint practice on Aug. 20 will be where the Browns get to see their No. 1s against the Bills' No. 1, with some reps for those below that level getting a few reps here or there. For those players, the Aug. 22 preseason home game will be their chance to shine. Subscribe to Browns Insider newsletter
The question is, will it be Shedeur Sanders' last stand in the preseason quarterback competition? That's where our Day 14 takeaways and observations begin. QB decision could be coming after this week, but it's getting obvious Coach Todd Monken faced another line of questions regarding a timeline on when he might make a decision on his starting quarterback between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. Specifically, in context with a presumed desire to hopefully make the finlal preseason game Aug. 27 against the New England Patriots the "dress rehearsal." “Would I like to have a decision today? Of course," Monken said. "Would I like a decision by next Monday? Of course. I’d love to have that decision. We’ll see. We’ve got a lot of football this week, we’ve already had a lot of football. We’ve got four days of practice and a game that all adds into any decision with the roster and who the starters are. Some are further along than others. We already know, that’s part of it, and I’m OK. By the time we get to next week, that’d be great, we can start planning that way, have some practices, and then here we go against Jacksonville.” Here's the thing, if the decision does come after this week's concluded, then place your bets on Watson getting the nod. It's true that Sanders may be getting the No. 1 reps in two of the three practices ahead of the joint practice, as well as splitting them in the practice before playing the entire first half of the preseason game. However, it could also be argued that the fact Sanders is getting all of that time in the preseason game means Watson's heading toward being the guy. Here's another thing Monken said when asked about the possibility of Watson not even playing the third quarter of the game against the Bills if things go well enough in the practice. “No, that’s the way it’s going to go," Monken said of Watson playing the third quarter. "It’s probably going to go that way. I’m not going to pin myself in a corner. Shedeur is going to play the first half, Deshaun will play the third quarter, Dillon (Gabriel) will play the fourth quarter as we speak right now.” Bills joint practice to determine look of preseason game There may only be one joint practice instead of the normal two, but that only makes that one even more important. It's clear that Monken believes that as well, which is why he won't got into specifics on his plans for the game in terms of personnel. “We both talked about that if we see out of our ones, our older players, what we want to see on Thursday, they would not play in the game," Monken said. "We agreed upon that. The plan is that we’ll play our ones a significant amount against each other on Thursday in a controlled environment. Not that the other guys aren’t going to get reps, but in a controlled environment, and see where we’re at. I would assume if it’s anything like we’ve practiced before, it’ll be on point with what we want and what we see." So what does that mean for who'll be around Sanders when he starts the game against Buffalo? Monken's already made it clear the offensive line could be drastically different in the game than practice, but does that mean even rookie left tackle Spencer Fano doesn't start, if only to get more reps? Do the two rookie wide receivers, KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, play? The answer for them is like the answer for many of them, which comes down to the answer of the balance between injury prevention and season preparations. "If coaches weren’t afraid of getting their guys hurt, there’s no way they would say that a joint practice is like a game," Monken said. "There’s no way, because everything matters when you’re stacking plays, unless we move the ball, which we’re going to at the end against them, there are no consequences. … We all get scarred in life, but no one’s going to say that a controlled environment is better than a game. But if you’re going to play one-on-ones, it’s going to be pretty damn close, if that makes sense. You’d love to play your guys. It used to be, what, play a quarter, play a half, start the third quarter and then no one plays, and I thought that was really cool." Michael Coats Jr. back, looking like he may stay Cornerback Michael Coats Jr. left the Bears game with an ankle injury, which raised deeper concerns about the cornerback depth. Well, there was Coats back on the field for practice, his right ankle taped up but not preventing him from participating. Coats was always one of the more promising undrafted free agents the Browns signed back in late April and early May. The West Virginia University product has generated a lot of reps for himself, in part because of the various injury concerns at the position. Before the injury in Chicago, Coats had an interception on a nice break on a pass. That wasn't surprising, considering he's been regularly doing that in practice. So if you're working up your own roster projection, it's a smart wager to keep Coats around. What about practice on Day 14? Well, it was a practice How much of the practice that took place on Day 14 did Monken feel was "cool" we may never know. However, it certainly wasn't one of the practices that will go down in the books as one of the legendary ones. Buy Cleveland Browns tickets Neither quarterback was particularly sharp on a consistent basis. For every throw that may have caught one's attention, there were two throws that simply caused eyebrows to be raised. The two quarterbacks had some success in some red-zone work, with both throwing multiple touchdowns. However, neither was able to get the ball across midfield on the practice-ending two-minute drill where the offense started at its own 14 with 1:24 remaining and three timeouts while down three points. That ending felt like the perfect encapsulation for the day in general. Basivally, it's on to the next day. 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. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/ This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Is a QB decision finally coming after week with Bills? Browns camp Day 14 takeaways