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Sideline View: Day 1 takeaways from joint practices

The thermometer only read 80 or so degrees today but it was steamy on the field at the Browns practice facility in Berea, Ohio. The humidity was high and the sun was out for most of practice. The Browns have three adjacent fields on the premises.

* During practice, there were different competitive sessions taking place simultaneously. Practice was efficient and the energy level was high, but the teams avoided any extra-curricular activities during the competitive event.

* The first day of practice featured a focus on punt return/coverage, competitive team drills outside of the red zone, 1-on-1's, some 7-on-7's, and a move-the-ball period to close out practice. The Browns run the Shanahan system with a lot of zone runs with play-action passes designed to mimic that run action. Defensively, they use a lot of movement up front to free up their pass rushers. Their top rushers (Myles Garrett, Jadaveon Clowney and Tak McKinley) did not participate in the competitive sessions of practice. They are schemes that the Giants will see much of throughout the season and being able to practice against them here will prove useful. Denzel Ward and Odell Beckham Jr. did not participate in the practice, either.

* Shane Lemieux and Lorenzo Carter were back participating in competitive team drills after ramping up their activity following injuries. Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney did not participate, while Saquon Barkley only participated in individual drills and avoided any work against the Browns.

Check out must-see photos from the joint practices between the Giants and Browns in Cleveland.

* The biggest offensive play of the day came from Evan Engram, who caught a perfectly thrown pass from Daniel Jones while running open down the seam of the zone. The play could have turned into 60-plus yard touchdown catch. Engram was also very difficult for the linebackers to cover during 1-on-1 drills.

* Nakia Griffin-Stewart also made a nice catch in 1-on-1's, initially slipping on a route before getting up and boxing out the defender for a catch. Fellow tight end Cole Hikutini left practice after pulling up during team drills.

* Xavier McKinney jumped to knock away a pass intended for Harrison Bryant during 1-on-1's. Devante Downs also broke up a pass. Later, James Bradberry played good coverage in team drills, preventing a catch near the sideline.

* David Njoku showed off his athletic prowess, making two jumping catches over shorter Giants defenders during 1-on-1's. He later made another similar catch during team drills. Darius Slayton was Daniel Jones' most targeted receiver, but the catches he managed to make were mostly short. The Browns' secondary was very active getting their hands on the ball and Jones was harried in the backfield.

* Practice ended with a pair of "move the ball" periods between the two teams. Oshane Ximines had a sack early in the drive, but the Browns managed to recover and get a first down on a deep completion to Donovan Peoples-Jones. Trent Harris applied pressure throughout the drive, and he was the rusher that forced Baker Mayfield to scramble out of the pocket on a 3rd-and-10 at the Giants 20. He flushed Mayfield into Lorenzo Carter, who was closing for a sack just before Mayfield threw a prayer into the middle of the end zone that Rashard Higgins brought in for a touchdown in between a half-dozen players. The play could have been blown dead as a sack, but Mayfield was allowed to get the pass off.

* The Giants faltered on their attempt to move the ball, allowing a sack before rookie Greg Newsome grabbed an interception coming off of his coverage to grab the pick.

* The two teams will practice against each other again on Friday leading into Sunday's game.

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