BEREA — Tight end Kellen Winslow was back and practicing Tuesday as the Browns opened a three-day minicamp.
Winslow participated in individual drills in both practices but was held out of team drills. He was the only player in uniform pants, as usual, and looked good running routes.
The team had its own version of don’t ask, don’t tell when it came to Winslow missing “voluntary” organized team activities the last month.
Coach Romeo Crennel didn’t ask about his absence at OTAs, and Winslow didn’t talk to the media to tell why he wasn’t there.
“No. Hey, it’s voluntary,” Crennel said when asked if he asked Winslow where he’d been. “Hey, he’s here now. It’s mandatory that he’s here and he showed up, so we’ll work with him.”
Winslow declined to speak with reporters. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, had said he was rehabilitating his surgically repaired knee in San Diego while the Browns were going through OTAs.
“We’re working through what he’s able to do,” Crennel said. “We have to see where he is and we’ll work with him. The more he can do, then we’ll let him do more. That’s between the medical staff and Kellen. We’ll come to some kind of agreement of what he’s able to do and we’ll see how it goes.
“Maybe if he were with us, he would’ve been back to an old self. But he wasn’t here, so we have to deal with him now that he’s here.”

Injury update

Backup tight end Steve Heiden participated in individual drills as he recovers from back surgery.
“He’s making improvement,” Crennel said. “We’ve gotta be careful, make sure we can get him to training camp, because it was back surgery. We don’t want to overdo it.”
• Receiver Joe Jurevicius won’t participate in minicamp as he recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery and a staph infection.
“Joe is here every day,” Crennel said. “He’s rehabbing. He works in the pool, he works on the machines and he’s making improvement. When he’s able to get on the field, we’ll put him on the field.”
• Safety Gary Baxter participated in individual drills as he continues to try to come back from two torn patellar tendons.

Practice reps

Drops were a problem for receivers, and Joshua Cribbs was the biggest offender. He dropped a pair in the morning during team drills and another in the afternoon.
“It was just not being focused,” Cribbs said. “Thank God it’s minicamp and not a game. I have time to correct it.”
• Safety Brodney Pool intercepted a deep pass from Derek Anderson intended for Braylon Edwards.
• Rookie tight end Martin Rucker made a diving catch over the middle and a running catch down the seam.

Extra points

Receiver Donte Stallworth and cornerback Brandon McDonald were absent Tuesday after deaths in their families.
• Reserve offensive lineman Lennie Friedman and his wife, Katie, recently had their third child.
• The Browns will practice twice again today.
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com. 

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