After the NFL Draft in late April, teams have just over four months to get themselves ready to go for Week 1 of the regular season in early September. Most of that work is done privately, but not all of it. More and more, teams are getting a better measure of themselves by holding joint practices and scrimmages with other clubs. And that Browns-Panthers joint session will hold a little extra meaning for Cleveland QB Shedeur Sanders.
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The Cleveland Browns announced in late March that they would be holding joint practices with a couple of teams this year. It’s a tradition they started back in 2021. They will begin with the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C., leading up to Week 1 of the preseason. Then, they will hit the road again ahead of Week 2, spending two days in Philadelphia with the Eagles.
Sanders’ wide receiver buddy, Travis Hunter, was selected No. 2 overall, well ahead of where Sanders went in the fifth round. But his other top wideout, Jimmy Horn Jr., was taken in the sixth round by the same Panthers with whom Sanders’ Browns will be practicing ahead of Week 1. It’ll be an earlier-than-expected reunion for the pair.
Jimmy Horn Jr. transferred over to the Colorado Buffaloes ahead of the 2023 campaign. That was at the same time as Sanders, Hunter, and the rest of them arrived in Boulder along with head coach Deion Sanders. Horn, who stands 5’8″ and 175 pounds and runs a 4.46 in the 40, received offers from Penn State and Houston after departing South Florida. Ultimately, he decided to team up with Sanders and Hunter in Colorado.
Horn was a short-yardage go-to for Sanders in 2023, hauling in 58 receptions for 567 yards and six TDs. He slowed down somewhat in 2024, grabbing 37 receptions for 441 yards and a TD. He will need to work hard to make the team in Carolina. They’ve spent their top pick on a wideout in each of their last two drafts: Xavier Legette in 2024 and Tetairoa McMillan No. 8 overall this year.
The browns will have a join practice with the panthers this summer 🔥 Jimmy and shedeur reunion
— Dalvinthetruth (@dalvinthetruth) May 3, 2025
This will be Cleveland’s fifth straight year running joint practices during the summer. The first time they did it, in 2021, they matched up with the New York Giants. Considering how that one went, it was surprising that coach Kevin Stefanski elected to keep doing it. Browns CB Troy Hill came to blows with Giants WR Sterling Shepard, which created a massive scuffle between the two teams.
But that didn’t faze Stefanski and company. If anything, the added competition and aggression were welcomed during the long summer. They hosted the Eagles for two days in 2022, then went to Philly for a pair in 2023. In 2024, they had the Minnesota Vikings over at their facilities prior to a matchup in Week 2 of the preseason.
