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'Hard Knocks' Recap: Corey Coleman asked for trade after demotion to Cleveland Browns' second team

Third-year wide receiver Corey Coleman asked for a trade after his demotion to the Cleveland Browns' second-team offense.
Credit: Patrick Gorski
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Corey Coleman (19) looks on during a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

CLEVELAND -- Corey Coleman’s departure from the Cleveland Browns was anything but pleasant, and the NFL Films crew embedded with the team featured his final, unceremonious moments on the HBO Sports documentary series, “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns” Tuesday night.

Coleman was upset with his demotion to second-team offense after a slow start to training camp and demanded answers from Coach Hue Jackson in the opening scene of the second episode of the six-week miniseries.

“Why am I running second team?” Coleman asked Jackson, twice. “That (expletive) is crazy to me.”

Jackson responded by directing Coleman to offensive coordinator Todd Haley’s office, but the third-year wide receiver instead elected to demand a change in his station.

“If you don’t want me to play, why don’t y’all just trade me?” Coleman said.

The Browns obliged Coleman, whom they took with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft after trading out of the No. 2 spot and allowing the Philadelphia Eagles to select their franchise quarterback, Carson Wentz, who was on track to be an MVP candidate before tearing ligaments in his left knee last December.

“I think he just looks around,” Haley said to an assistant coach prior to the trade. “He is distracted. One of the go’s, he looked like he was running five miles an hour. We’ve just got to get his brain right.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic WKYC Digital Sports
On Sunday, the Cleveland Browns traded third-year wide receiver Corey Coleman to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Coleman was dealt to the Buffalo Bills for a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Following the trade, wide receivers coach Adam Henry addressed his position group by delivering a message that ended with “Be famous or be forgotten.”

“When you’re changing the culture, every little bit counts,” Henry said. “We’ve got to step up. We can’t control what we can’t control. Just move on. That’s how life is. I know we all wish him the best, but again, in here, we have to take care of what we have to take care of.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Corey Coleman high-points a pass in a drill during Organized Team Activities practice at team headquarters in Berea.

Because of injuries, Coleman was limited to just 19 games over his first two NFL seasons, and there were off-the-field concerns, including one that resulted in a lengthy police investigation and another in an early journey home from a road trip to play the Houston Texans last fall.

Coleman turned 56 receptions into 413 yards, five touchdowns and 34 first downs, including 17 each in both 2016 and 2017. Known for his breakaway speed, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Coleman had just eight 20-yard receptions and three 40-yard catches in his two seasons with the Browns.

“Twenty-twenty, bro?” defensive lineman Emmanuel Ogbah exclaimed prior to a position meeting. “You know what that’s like? That’s like saying, ‘Here, we don’t need your (expletive). Get the (expletive) out.”

On his way out of the Browns’ training facility after the deal to Buffalo was announced, Coleman left the organization with just two words, “Adios, Cleveland.”

Credit: Vincent Carchietta
Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku (85) celebrates his touchdowns with offensive guard Austin Corbett (63) during the first half against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

NJOKU FINDS SOLACE IN MEDITATION

Browns tight end David Njoku began his second training camp much like his first, with plenty of frustrations over his troubles consistently hanging onto the football, and to combat those issues, he spent extra time after practice working with quarterback Tyrod Taylor, Haley and wide receiver Rashard Higgins.

And while Njoku struggled his way through the first two weeks of training camp, there was plenty of productivity in last Thursday night’s 20-10 victory over the New York Giants in the 2018 preseason opener at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Njoku led the way with two touchdown receptions in the victory, production that could be linked to his meditation when he is away from the game.

“I use this as a benefit to whatever I do,” Njoku said. “I visualize myself making plays, doing my job, making sure everything is in place for when I go out there and play.”

Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

MYLES GARRETT THE POET

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is a different kind of football player.

While others enjoy video games, movies and other forms of entertainment, Garrett likes paleontology (the study of dinosaurs), as well as writing poetry, and credits both his grandmother and the man simply known as “The Greatest,” Muhammad Ali, for being able to express himself in words.

“I try to get some writing in at night if I can, or a little bit at lunchtime,” Garrett said.

“Most people want me to write something about me sacking a quarterback, but that’s not what goes through my mind when I’m trying to get away from football. I was a boy who liked to write long before I was a man who liked to hit people, so I’m not going to change for anybody else. I’m not going to hide who I am. I’m just going to stay true to myself.”

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Garrett even showed off his writing chops by reading a verse he composed recently.

“If I should die tonight, then I let your tears stream.

Just knowing you for some time has been better than any dream.

If I were to walk into the light, it would be with grace and a smile,

For it has been an honor and a privilege just to be yours for a while.”

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