A lot of the changes in the NFL over the last couple of years have been hard to keep track of. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a lot of things being adjusted as did the new collective bargaining agreement.
Some of the pandemic changes have stayed, some have returned to their previous ways and still others have been adjusted again.
One of the biggest changes from the new CBA was eliminating the fourth preseason game and adding the 17th regular season game to the schedule. That adjustment led to teams not playing their starters in the first couple of preseason matchups before getting them a warmup in the third preseason game.
As a part of the new schedule, teams have an extra week between the end of the preseason and the start of the regular season. For the Cleveland Browns, that means a weekend off for the players to get ready for the regular season.
After many of the key starters didn’t play a down in preseason, the team will not practice until Monday after finishing up practice Thursday afternoon. In terms of rest versus rust, the Browns squarely seem to value rest for their young team.
Don’t expect a lot of news from the team over your holiday weekend.