Couch's recovery pleasing to eye

BEREA -- Players might have been going through the motions in coach Butch Davis' new offense at Cleveland Browns mini-camp this week, but there was something special about seeing quarterback Tim Couch zing passes to open receivers.
Time after time, Couch connected with teammates, with only a few exceptions.
The Browns are moving to a simpler offense, with easier reads, Couch said. It's one that feels more like the offense that made Couch the University of Kentucky's career passing leader.
That should be good news for Browns fans, who'd become frustrated over the past two years in watching an offense that wasn't very imaginative and often barely productive.
Executing: "It's a great offense. We're getting guys wide open," Couch said. "It's fun; the reads are pretty simple. We're just going out there and throwing and catching."
Couch described the new offense as a get-rid-of-the-ball-quick style that utilizes much play-action, though he acknowledges that will require establishing a running game, which has been anemic in Cleveland.
Couch said, "Everybody knows what they are doing on the play. There's not a lot of route adjustments. Everyone is on the same page ... We don't have miscommunication like we have in the past.
"It's a a lot like what I was doing in college, just dropping back and getting rid of the ball quick. You know what everybody is going to be doing," Couch said.
Even better news for Browns fans is that Couch is healthy. His broken thumb has healed, and a full off-season of rehabilitation has possibly made the thumb even stronger than before, he said.
Couch missed more than half of last season after breaking his thumb by accidentally hitting it on a teammate's helmet on the last play of practice.
He stayed in Cleveland during the off-season to work on the thumb as well as learn the new system under Davis.
Shaking off the rust: "I started out the beginning of practice a little bit rusty, kind of off-balance and my timing was off a little bit, but I thought as practice went on, it picked up," Couch said.
Wide receiver JaJuan Dawson, who also missed much of last season due to injury, praised Couch's performance in the first practice, and said working with the QB in the off-season should pay dividends later this year.
"Tim did a great job controlling the offense, and that's what we're going to need from him," Dawson said. "We had a lot of time together in the off-season once we both were healthy, and I think it really paid off."
One thing Couch is looking forward to is the addition of former Ohio State Buckeye and Oakland Raider TE Rickey Dudley.
Dudley said he believes the Browns' offense is more suited to his pass-catching ability, as well as blocking, and he hopes to be an integral part of Cleveland's success.
"Rickey Dudley is going to be a great target. He's not hard to find over the middle," Couch said, adding that he expects Dudley to be particularly effective near the goal line.
"He trusts my ability, and I trust his ability," Dudley said of working with Couch.
Added depth: Also in the good news category for Browns fans is that Couch has a healthy back-up in Ty Detmer -- at least temporarily. Detmer missed all of last season due to injury.
Continuing with the theme of last-play injuries, Detmer ended the morning practice session Monday by scrambling on a broken play. In the open field, Detmer tried to make a few moves on defenders, pulled up lame and limped toward the locker room.
"He pulled the one muscle he has," joked Davis, adding that Detmer had a slight pull of his hamstring, but it wasn't serious and wouldn't keep him out of practice. "I said, 'You have to have a muscle before you can pull one, don't you?' "
XGeorge Welker is a sports writer for The Vindicator.