Browns and Giants to have joint practices in Cleveland

Both teams will have two days of joint practices before their preseason game

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski announced in a press conference with media Wednesday that the Browns and New York Giants will have two days of joint practices in Cleveland prior to their preseason game on August 22.

It will be a slightly less tense setting than a regular-season game environment in which there will be some familiar faces on both teams.

The first familiar face that has to come to mind for New York fans is former Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who spent the first five years of his career in New York before joining the Browns in 2019. Beckham did not get the chance to face his former team when the Browns visited the Giants in Week 15 last season due to an ACL injury.

Because Beckham may still be recovering from his ACL injury, it is unclear how much work he will actually do in the practices and preseason game. His rehab might not have progressed to a full workload by the time the Giants arrive in Cleveland.

There will be another reunion of sorts with safety Jabrill Peppers, who played in Cleveland for the first two seasons of his career. Peppers was a part of the trade between the Browns and Giants back in 2019. In exchange for Beckham, New York acquired Peppers, a first-round pick and a third-round pick.

The joint practices with the Browns could be the first of two in which the Giants participate in August. There have also been reports that the Giants will hold joint sessions with Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots prior to New York’s third and final preseason matchup on August 29.

Joint sessions with the Patriots was hardly a surprising idea considering Joe Judge’s history in New England. But this recent report about the Browns perhaps provides some insight into how Judge best thinks he can prepare this Giants team heading into the 2021 season.