The Browns' OTAs and minicamp featured a logjam of players from a variety of positions showing what they can do on punt and kick returns.

That's exactly the way special teams coordinator Amos Jones wanted it. The competition will continue at training camp, but the early returns were promising.

"You can have three guys back on the kickoff now so you better have six or seven guys that can catch a kickoff to get you through a game," said Jones, referencing an offseason adjustment to the league's kickoff rules. "We have taken everybody that has had a résumé – be it college with the rookies or veterans in this league that we have signed – anybody that can catch a kick, we have caught it. Same thing with the punt side of it from that standpoint."

Jabrill Peppers, who carried the load through most of 2017 on punts and split time with Matthew Dayes on kicks, is back in the thick of things at both spots. The optimism surrounding the second-year safety is high after a rookie year in which he struggled a bit to adjust to the subtle differences of returning punts in the NFL as compared to college.

The Browns finished 29th in the NFL with an average of 5.8 yards per punt return. Peppers returned all but eight of them.

"He definitely still has the juice," said former Browns returner Josh Cribbs, who is serving as an intern on the special teams staff. "He has a lot within him. He is a bigger-type returner. I am excited about him. I was excited about joining the staff just because of him in one aspect.