BEREA, Ohio -- Tramon Williams may have inadvertently sounded an alarm to Justin Gilbert on Friday night. In talking about the third-year cornerback and where he needed to make the biggest improvement from last season, the mental side of the game came up.

"I think he needed to grow mentally for sure," Williams said. "That's the toughest part of the game. Physically, we all can do it. There's a lot of good football players who are at home right now without opportunity. Physically, we all can do it. It's who can do it mentally. Who can stay in the game mental enough to come out and just able to make a career out of it, because a lot of guys can't do it."

The talk for Gilbert all offseason was about coming into this season with a clean slate. The disappointments of the last two seasons, on and off the field, were the past. This new regime is the future and the former No. 8 overall pick in the draft had an opportunity staring him in the face.

This, though, has been a rough week.

Rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman beat Gilbert earlier in the week for a long pass and the two exchanged words, getting separated by head coach Hue Jackson. Friday night saw Josh McCown throw multiple times at Gilbert during McCown's first series, completing two passes to Rannell Hall and misfiring on a third. Even when Gilbert had good coverage things didn't go his way.

"One of the balls that (quarterback) Robert (Griffin III) threw in the corner of the endzone was amazing," Williams said. He was referring to a deep touchdown pass that Coleman hauled in in the back corner of the endzone with Gilbert draped on him. "He was in great position. I told him to forget about that."

Forgetting is often the hard part but also the most important for a cornerback. Williams stood up for his embattled teammate.

"The ones that you don't want to live with are the ones that you just totally blow. You can't blow things, and he's not doing none of that," Williams said. "Most of the time, you watch the film, he's only a step away here or there and he's not in bad position, so I think he's progressing as a player."

Is he progressing quickly enough? Time can run out fast during training camp and the preseason.

The playmaker

Wide receiver Corey Coleman has been the undisputed star of training camp so far. He continued to shine on Friday night, including on that long touchdown catch.

"I just knew the situation..." Coleman said, "...and I wanted to keep us on the field, score a touchdown. We wasn't having a good drive. Think we had a penalty that drive, pushed us back, so I knew that I had to go up and make a play."

It's still too early to know how good Coleman will be in his first season, but it has been a long time since the Browns have had a player on offense that might be able to turn a scuffling drive into something -- maybe a *gasp* touchdown -- in a matter of seconds.

Odds and ends

*Taylor Gabriel is quietly having a nice camp. The third year undrafted free agent made a few nice catches on Friday. He has an uphill battle to make the roster in that crowded group, but he's played well.

*All four rookie wide receivers made plays on Friday night. Ricardo Louis made a catch in the front of the endzone. Jordan Payton had a long catch and run, breaking a tackle. Rashard Higgins made a nice play.

*Hue Jackson has to love the idea Connor Hamlett. He caught a touchdown pass Friday night. Hamlett is 6-foot-7 and looks every bit of it. Jackson loves tight ends and already has a good one in Gary Barndige, but he can never have too many.

*Paul Kruger had a nice start to the scrimmage. He batted a ball down at the line and made a nice play stretching out a run to the right side. Barkevious Mingo made a couple plays early as well.

*Spencer Drango told me in rookie minicamp he was going to compete at right tackle. Here he is, almost three months later, working with the first team.

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