Terrelle Pryor

Cleveland Browns receiver Terrelle Pryor will finally get a chance to show what he can do against the 49ers.

(John Kuntz, Northeast Ohio Media Group)

BEREA, Ohio -- Terrelle Pryor is expected to make his NFL debut at receiver Sunday against the 49ers, one of the 10 teams that tried him out and failed to sign him this season. But revenge is the furthest thing from his mind.

"No, because I understand business,'' he said. "The Browns are the only ones that have really seen me at receiver, so hopefully I'll shock some people out there on the field. But at the same time I can't really look back on who didn't give me a chance. All I can really think about right now is playing hard for my teammates and trying to help them get a W on Sunday.''

Coach Mike Pettine indicated that Pryor will play at least a little on Sunday. The Browns have one receivers who's been ruled in Andrew Hawkins (concussion) and four that are questionable: Taylor Gabriel (concussion), Brian Hartline (hip), Marlon Moore (ribs), and Travis Benjamin (shoulder).

"Terrelle looks good,'' said Pettine. "I don't know if he's ready to take on a full role, but there's a chance that there will be some involvement in the plan there.''

He said he's probably not ready for a larger yet, but should be able to contribute.

"He's just got to play (to get some experience),'' said Pettine. "The credit to him, he came back in great shape, came back in really, really good shape and retained a lot of what we're doing. You say, 'Hey, it's going to be sooner than later.' More than likely, it's going to be sooner."

When Pryor is up to speed, the Browns can use him in multiple ways. In addition to receiver, he'll serve as the third quarterback and can play on special teams. His athletic ability and versatility gives the Browns the option of using him on gadget plays.

"He trained primarily this week as the split end, the X receiver, but we can move him around some,'' said Pettine. "There is some flexibility in the system. Flip (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) does a nice job of putting guys where they need to be to run the routes.

"He's not fully versed on the entire route tree so we're not going to put him in that position where he has to run everything. The positive thing is the way he came back here. We can potentially work him in early and get him some playing time between now and the end of the year."

By all accounts, Pryor (6-4, 223) returned to the Browns facility a better receiver than when he left -- despite playing no football in between.

"He worked,'' said Pettine. "He just wasn't doing aerobics stuff. He was working at his craft. He is better. We have all noticed it."

DeFilippo has been pleased with Pryor's grasp of the system.

"He did not take a huge drop off mentally from when he left here,'' he said. "If Terrelle plays on Sunday, I'm really, really looking forward to seeing that."

He said he hasn't sensed that other players resent Pryor walking in off the street and playing a new position with no experience.

"Obviously, Terrelle has a skillset that a lot of guys don't have in that he is a big, fast receiver with good hands and with a different view of the game than a lot of receivers because he has played the quarterback position,'' said DeFilippo. "He sees things a little bit differently. I am not saying it is better or worse than other receivers, but you see it differently when you have seen the whole thing. Again, Terrelle offers a skillset that we are looking forward to seeing."

His former Ohio State alum Donte Whitner is eager to see what he can do.

"Terrelle, he's been working hard,'' said Whitner. "Just coming back, I don't know how much to expect but I know he'll probably be out there on special teams in some capacity, and on offense in some capacity, so I'm just as excited as you guys are about seeing him on the field.''

Receiver Dwayne Bowe, who's struggled to get on the field this season after missing most of training camp with a pulled hamstring, has witnessed the same transformation in Pryor since he was cut by the Browns Sept. 10.

"I can't wait to see him out there,'' he said. "He's definitely 10 times better than when he came the first time. He's listening and he's learning and he's applying it. He came back super polished and he looks great. He made a couple of big plays today.''

Niners coach Jim Tomsula, who like Pryor hails from Pennsylvania, would've loved to have signed Pryor when he worked him out in early October, but he wasn't 100% healed from the hamstring.

"You all know him from Ohio State, but I know him from Jeannette, Pa.'' Tomsula said on a conference call. "Terrelle is just a tremendous athlete. He can pretty much do anything he wants to do. We had him in here for workouts. He had that leg injury and we didn't have a place right at that time, but I think Terrelle is a really, really tremendous athlete."

Pryor said the major difference between him now and during camp is a healthy hamstring. He pulled it early on and missed most of the rest of the summer.

"I believe coming back here I'm a better receiver, a better playmaker, smarter and I actually think it (the time away) helped me,'' he said. "My routes are a lot better, a lot more detailed and a lot more savvy. It's an exciting time for me and I'm looking forward to the opportunity."

In addition to watching videos of his own Browns teammates running routes, he studied film of other big-body wideouts such as Martavis Bryant, Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald and Randy Moss.

"How do those guys get open? How do they set defenders up? How do they run their routes? I tried to to learn that stuff of those guys, pulling up Youtube clips,'' he said. "It's very important to me to work on my craft, so I'm excited.''

Pryor knows he won't get open every play against elite NFL defenders.

"I just think I've got to stay on my technique and worry about myself,'' he said. "They get paid too, but when the ball's in my way, in my area, I expect to make a play. I expect high things from myself. I expect high things for our offense. Even though the record's not showing it, when we're on the field together, I expect us to play. Whether it's 2-10, 10-2 or whatever, I expect to play great and us to make some moves and play hard. I'm just looking forward to going out and putting my heart on the field with those guys.''

Despite his long journey, Pryor doesn't expect to let his emotions get the best of him.

"I understand the game of football,'' he said. "I'm going to go out and play how I practice. I practice hard and I'm going to play hard. I'm going to be physical. I'm going to play fast, and at the end of the day, do the best I can to help out Johnny (Manziel) and the whole team.''

Pettine on Gary Barnidge and Benjamin's optimism about the Browns' future and wanting to stay with the team

"We brainwashed them (laughter),'' he said. " It's a credit to their character. They see it. They see the work that's put in and how hard, how detailed we are and what we're doing. It's nice to have guys come out and say it. We all know that it's a bottom line business and we're associated with our record, but we feel like we're doing some pretty good things around here and it's nice to have players that recognize it."

Gabriel on his concussion



Gabriel, who's hoping to play Sunday, admitted that he doesn't remember the play in Pittsburgh on which he suffered his concussion.



"I didn't know right away (he had a head injury),'' he said. "I didn't know until, I would say, two hours later when I didn't remember the play. So it's a scary thing to go through, and I'm glad I'm out of the protocol."



He feels for Hawkins and Haden, who have both missed significant time with their concussions and are out for this game. Justin Gilbert is also inactive with his concussion.

"Sympathies out to those guys and hopefully those guys can get healthy,'' Gabriel said.

Pettine On Browns wide receivers' status for Sunday's game

The Browns were down to two receivers against the Bengals, and one of them was rookie Darius Jenning, but Pettine now expects to have Benjamin, Gabriel and others back from their injuries.

"Much better than we thought,'' said Pettine. "If you had asked me this question 10 minutes after the game, it would have been a very different answer. We feel good. I'd say we feel a lot better about it today than we did early in the week."

Charles Gaines will start at CB

Rookie Charles Gaines will get the nod again at cornerback opposite Tramon Williams and over Pierre Desir.

"The one thing about Gaines is that he is confident,'' said Pettine. "He has that corner mentality that he can hit the reset button. He is a young guy that we think has a future here, and we are getting to see him play."