BROWNS Team begins training camp minus draftees

Coach Butch Davis hopes to get his seven draft picks signed relatively soon.
BEREA (AP) -- The Cleveland Browns will officially open training camp for their veterans with a much-anticipated quarterback controversy -- and a surprising one at center.
The club has yet to sign any of its 2003 draft picks, including center Jeff Faine, a first-round selection expected to start the season as snapper for either Tim Couch or Kelly Holcomb.
The Browns concluded their third day of rookie training camp on Thursday with all seven of their draft picks unsigned as contract holdouts.
Coach Butch Davis, who began the week seemingly unconcerned about the absence of so many first-year players, has become increasingly irritated by the situation.
A lose-lose situation
"They are not helping themselves, and they are not helping the Cleveland Browns," Davis said.
Davis warned the holdouts that every day they miss diminishes their chances of making the 53-man roster.
"As the veterans start to report, these rookies are going to get a sense that if they are going to be a part of the team, they need to get here," Davis said. "If the rookies don't show, we are more than prepared to make changes as we need to have the starting lineup."
Of the draft picks, Faine, the 21st overall pick from Notre Dame, is the only one being counted on to start immediately. Until he arrives, Davis said right guard Shaun O'Hara will move to center.
Davis remains optimistic the rookies will sign soon. He said the club has made fair offers and is continuing an open line of communication with the player's agents.
"There's dialogue," he said. "They're faxing proposals, talking to agents back and forth. We need somebody to break, somebody to sign. A lot of these guys will eventually sign contracts pretty close to what we're offering now."
Faine's agents, Jim Steiner and Ben Dogra, did not return phone messages seeking comment.
Cleveland's veterans have been slowly trickling in all week, and had physicals on Thursday. Today, they'll weigh-in beginning at 6 a.m., followed by a 110-yard conditioning test at 7.
Couch vs. Holcomb
Then, after morning meetings and lunch, the Browns will take the field for their first practice at 3:30 p.m. For the next two hours, the attention of fans and media members will turn to the quarterbacks.
The Couch vs. Holcomb matchup has been the talk of Cleveland for months. It began last season when Holcomb, a career backup, played well in two games while filling in for an injured Couch. The controversy then picked up steam when Holcomb passed for 429 yards in an opening-round playoff loss to Pittsburgh.
Davis is on record saying he will pick his starter before the third preseason game at Detroit on Aug. 23. Until he decides, every one of Couch and Holcomb's plays will be analyzed endlessly.
Will it be Couch? Or Holcomb? The controversy even followed Davis on a family summer vacation.
"Do you know they asked me that in Alaska?" Davis said. "I told them who will be the starter, but it will take 12 weeks to get here. They're bringing it by canoe."
Brown looking to rebound
Another of the big issues facing the Browns in camp is the health of defensive end Courtney Brown, a former No. 1 overall draft pick who has missed 16 games the past two seasons because of injuries.
Brown's 2002 season ended prematurely when he injured his left knee, eventually requiring microfracture surgery -- a radical procedure that involves holes being drilled into the knee to promote cartilage growth.
Brown, who spent six weeks on crutches and months in rehab, expected to be cleared by team doctors to begin practice today.
"I'm excited about the season," he said. "I'm ready to go out there and play again. Injuries are part of the game. Unfortunately, I've had a few. I never expected them but they happen, so you just have to look past it and move forward.
"I definitely have high expectations of myself and I'm excited to go out and fill those expectations this year."