BEREA, Ohio -- Here are five observations from the Browns' training camp.

Camp Classic Moment

Undoubtedly the most memorable camp incident in the short history of this second incarnation of the Cleveland Browns was one of the more poignant moments that this writer has witnessed in 23 seasons of NFL coverage. It came at the conclusion of the first full-squad day of camp in 1999, the first practice for the Browns since owner Art Modell spirited away the old Cleveland franchise to Baltimore in 1996. During the morning session, middle linebacker Chris Spielman took on a Tarek Saleh block head-on, and his upper extremities went numb with the collision. Spielman, who sat out the entire '98 campaign while his wife battled breast cancer, had a history of back and neck problems. He did not come out for the afternoon practice and Cleveland officials quietly arranged for him to visit with orthopedic and neurological specialists the next day. But Spielman, who had been signed for his leadership, toughness and popularity with Ohio State fans in the area, apparently knew what the battery of medical tests would reveal. Following the afternoon practice, with everyone having departed the field at least 30 minutes earlier, the solitary figure of Spielman emerged from the locker room. Dressed only in shorts and a T-shirt, and with his helmet in one hand, Spielman walked the length of the field. He never turned even once to look to the side, instead focusing unwaveringly on a blocking dummy at the far end of the field. So oblivious was Spielman to what was going on around him that, with a band of writers watching the incredulous scene from the media work room at the club's practice facility, he trooped right through the water sprinklers that were irrigating the fields. As if in a trance, onward he marched, until he finally reached the dummy. Spielman pulled on his helmet, slugged the padded dummy a few times, and then trudged back in, where he was confronted by the media members. He tried to downplay the incongruous incident and rebuffed queries about whether he might retire. But retirement was exactly what Spielman had on his mind. Two days later, he announced he was leaving the game. The end of his career came as a blow to the young Cleveland team. Local merchandisers, who hoped to capitalize on Spielman's statewide celebrity, had already printed up T-shirts and game jerseys with his name emblazoned across the back. His signing had been hailed as a significant move for what amounted to an expansion franchise. But the feisty linebacker never played even a down for the Browns, and few media members who watched the end of Spielman's career that day in 1999 will ever forget the surreal scene of his long and painful march across the field. — Len Pasquarelli

1. Depending on your point of view, you've either got to admire Tim Couch or pity the Cleveland Browns quarterback. For three years now, Couch, the first overall choice in the 1999 draft, has heard all the promises about surrounding him with more weapons and a better offensive line. It's still early in camp, but the offensive line is a mess because of injuries. Also, the team's arsenal has all the explosiveness of a pop gun. Cleveland signed three veteran linemen during the offseason, but two of them, tackle Ross Verba (back) and guard Tre Johnson (knee), are still recovering from surgeries and are two weeks away from getting back on the practice field full-time. The third, tackle Tony Jones, abruptly retired on Saturday morning. Four offensive linemen were injured during a Saturday afternoon scrimmage, including starting left guard Jim Pyne, who probably will miss 7 to 10 days. Until the rightside pair of Verba and Johnson return, and maybe not even then, the line is woefully below NFL caliber and Couch could spend much of the year running for his life. As for improving at the skill positions, the staff has no idea who will emerge at tailback and the wide receivers don't seem much better than a year ago. For the second year in a row, wide receiver JaJuan Dawson is injured. Third-year pro Kevin Johnson still hasn't developed into a "go to" guy and second-round pick Quincy Morgan has been miserable in the first week of camp. Folks wonder if Couch will ever live up to his franchise player role, but how can he, given such a subpar supporting cast? Until the offense undergoes a huge upgrade, Couch will never be the player he should be, and that's not his fault.

2. Having witnessed just five victories in two seasons, loyal Dawg Pound fans might not want to hear about patience, but they are going to have to exercise an industrial dose of that element with first-year coach Butch Davis. The former University of Miami coach will succeed. Eventually. The problem is, it will take a while for Davis to purge many of the stiffs he inherited and to get his kind of players on the roster. The bad news is that this is going to take a while. The good news is that Davis, a Jimmy Johnson protégée with a keen eye for personnel, will get the job done. The players seem to have taken to his enthusiasm and borderline collegiate approach. That wears thin on veteran teams but not young ones. And even if it means taking a step backwards this year, the Browns will be a young team. That was graphically demonstrated on Saturday night when Davis released Errict Rhett, the Browns' senior-most tailback, and decided to go with a kiddy corps at the position. Davis isn't regarded as a tremendous game-day coach, but so what? Before you can win in the NFL, or at any level, some essential components must be in place. Davis will make the Browns more disciplined, better focused, more accountable and generally smarter. Just don't expect more than four or five victories in his debut campaign.

3. Seven-year veteran linebacker Jamir Miller has always been a guy who passed the eyeball test. He's a physically gifted and imposing defender who clearly looked the part of a stud, but he's also a player whose productivity never quite matched his potential. At 6-feet-5 and nearly 270 pounds, Miller is a rare combination of terrific size and above-average quickness. But when he gets on the field, he often looks stiff and simply isn't a playmaker. In fact, what Miller is more than anything else, it seems, is an enigma -- a guy who is being paid to be great but in actuality is only pretty good. A challenge for defensive coordinator Foge Fazio this season is to figure out how to deploy Miller, one of the club's highest-paid players and a guy who needs to start earning his paycheck. Miller will line up in "base" situations at the strongside spot, but the Browns might move him around on third down to provide him more opportunities for the big play. He will probably blitz at times and drop off in coverage in some other instances. Until he becomes more of a force, however, Miller might be nothing more in his career than the classic tease. As a first-round draft choice of the Arizona Cardinals in 1994, he once had 11 quarterback pressures in one game against Atlanta. But for his career, Miller has averaged just 3.5 sacks per season and only once had more than five sacks.

4. Defensive ends Courtney Brown and Keith McKenzie have switched sides this season, and the early results are positive. The first player chosen in the 2000 draft, Brown will move to the right side, where he should get more sack opportunities working away from the chip-blocks of tight ends and fullbacks. The former Penn State star had just 4½ sacks as a rookie, three of them in one game. He played the run well and, when he plants himself, is an effective anchor. But the Browns are paying him a ton of money for sacks and he needs to get into the double-digit level in 2001. McKenzie had eight sacks last year playing the weakside spot, but he hasn't griped about moving to left end. The knock on McKenzie during his four seasons in Green Bay was that he was a one-dimensional player, a guy who loved to rush the passer but whose stamina eroded if forced to play too many snaps. He improved as a run defender last year, though, and displayed a truly selfless bent. "If the move meant that Courtney was going to be, say, 20 percent better, but that Keith was going to regress 30 percent, we wouldn't have done it," Davis said. "But both guys have taken well to this, and it looks like it's going to work out."

5. There is a certain buzz in camp about rookie cornerback Anthony Henry, a fourth-round choice from South Florida, and a young player who could eventually nudge Daylon McCutcheon from the starting spot opposite Corey Fuller. But the rookie defensive back about whom some of the coaches are privately raving is Michael Jameson, a sixth-rounder from Texas A&M. The bet here is that Jameson will be starting by midseason. The Cleveland safeties, after all, aren't very good. Despite some encouraging words from Davis after the Saturday scrimmage, free safety Percy Ellsworth is a big, rangy player who doesn't hit very hard. The strong safety, Marquis Smith, is the secondary equivalent of Jamir Miller, a physical specimen who doesn't get around the ball very often and who struggles sometimes in the cerebral end of the game. Jameson isn't as big as either of the current starters, but he has better range than both of them and appears to be a pretty good "ball" athlete. Cleveland might also have to get backup safety Earl Little, their "nickel" player in the secondary, on the field more often. Little seems to always be around the ball and had an interception in the scrimmage. Our second bet: In about two years, the starting cornerback tandem will be Henry and second-year pro Lewis Sanders, provided the latter can figure out how to stay healthy. Both youngsters are big and potentially physical cover defenders. Of Henry's emerging skills, Davis said: "He's not there yet but, in maybe two years, he could be a 'shut down' type of corner."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.