TE Heiden Expected to Be Ready to Go for the Start of Camp
Tight end is going to be an interesting position for the Browns as training camp gets rolling. The teams starter from a season ago – Kellen Winslow Jr., is now a member of the Buccaneers, and the team will look to a couple of other options to take his place.
One player that they expect to be in the mix is Steve Heiden, who tore his ACL and MCL last season, but according to Pro Football Weekly, he’s expected to be back on the field ready to go when camp opens at the end of the month.
TE Steve Heiden, who tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee last December expects to be cleared to practice when Browns veterans take the field on July 31, his agent, Jack Wirth, recently told PFW. “He’s made great progress,” Wirth said, noting that Heiden has told him the only limitation he could have in training camp is that he might be limited to one practice a day. Heiden, 32, caught 23 passes for 249 yards last season for Cleveland.
He will compete for playing time with ex-Bill Robert Royal, a strong blocker, and second-year pro Martin Rucker, who was not a factor as a rookie but caught 84 passes in his final season at Missouri. Royal, the first unrestricted free agent signed away from another club in Eric Mangini’s time as head coach, might have the biggest role in the offense, the way we hear it, but the Browns are expected to frequently employ two-TE sets.
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This post has 4 comments
July 21st, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Royal will get more playing time than Heiden. He’s younger, a little smaller and more nimble, a better blocker, healthier and a fresh face brought in by Mangini.
August 13th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
You are an idiot…….Heiden is the man. Heiden is a sweet blocker and I have never seen him drop a pass.
July 22nd, 2009 at 7:47 am
My feeling is that the time Heiden was here was actually stolen by the all show K2; in my opinion the guy was a lot of hype and didn’t really do much for the team, except take away from Heiden’s time. We’ll never know what he woould (Heiden) have developed into or great plays he could have made, because the pressure was on to play tha A-ole. My guess is he still has a few good plays left, but the stuff he coould have really shined on is gone for those years. Oh, well. onward and upward.
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:53 am
Heiden is a true team player, the Browns need more players like him. You never heard him complain and was always there for whatever the team wanted. He will be an excellent Mentor for the younger TEs on the team.
As Butch has said how impressive would his numbers have been if K2 was not here? I believe over all Heiden was a much better TE. He may not have had the speed, but his hands were incredible and he made defenses pay when they tried to bring him down, and on top of it all he blocks!