The Cleveland Browns were short-handed in preseason Week 1 as Kevin Stefanski decided to rest most starters, but a strong performance by both the offense and defense led the Cleveland Browns to a decisive victory in Carolina.
Both sides of the ball had a lot of positive plays, but three young wide receivers took huge advantage of Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman getting the night off.
Luke Floriea and Gage Larvadain have both had strong camps, and both had key plays in Friday’s game. Larvadain was a heal tackle away from a punt return touchdown and also scored on an end-around in the third quarter, while Floriea had a tremendous one-handed catch for 30 yards, but unfortunately tweaked his hamstring on the play.
Shedeur Sanders buys time and finds Luke Floriea for the one-handed catch! 😮
CLEvsCAR on @NFLNetwork
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/QzVH8AgevL— NFL (@NFL) August 9, 2025
But the real player of the night was the former UFL and NFL journeyman, Kaden Davis. While he only had 3 catches for 23 yards, he left the night with two touchdowns, coming from Shedeur Sanders. Neither Larvadain, Floriea, nor Davis is above 6 feet in height, but all three play with tremendous heart and a chip on their shoulder.
Andrew Berry is already hinting at keeping four quarterbacks, which will cut into another position and the number of players they keep. With Jeudy, Tillman, and Diontae Johnson all likely safe, there is likely only room for two or three additional wide receivers with five or six serious contenders.
