After missing much of camp with an injury, Mike Hall Jr. reveals what happened. Opens up about potential new role in Cleveland Browns defense.
NFL training camps tend to produce some heated moments between teammates. It simply comes with the territory.
The first intense moment between two Cleveland Browns players came just four days into their camp back in early August. Star running back Quinshon Judkins was looking for someone to chip near the line of scrimmage before running to the flat on a pass play, and lit up defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. in the process.
The moment clearly caught Hall off guard after he stopped engaging with guard Zion Johnson due to a tweak of some sort. Those types of plays can sometimes boil over.
As Hall explained nearly a month later, though, he and Judkins apparently cleared the air after the incident.
"Yeah, we're teammates at the end of the day, so it's just a little mishap on the field. But other than that, it's my brother at the end of the day," said Hall. "It's still my teammate, so we're getting ready to play Jacksonville, and that's what I'm worried about."
According to Hall, the fellow Ohio State Buckeyes talked it out and focused on moving forward. As far as they're concerned, it's water under the bridge.
That doesn't erase the fact that after that day of practice, Hall missed every practice over the two weeks of camp that followed, finally returning on Aug. 18. During that time, head coach Todd Monken kept things mum when it came to Hall's injury situation, as he's done with every injured player throughout the preseason.
Hall similarly provided very little context of his own, other than downplaying the severity of anything he was nursing.
"Just dealing with some little minor tweaks, whatever, just dealing with training staff," he explained. "But I mean, as far as just the 10 days [away], I was here at meetings every day and just still on team, still here."
With the Browns' brass spending much of camp searching for addition edge rushers to add to the roster, Hall's return came at a critical time after losing veteran DE Alex Wright to a season-ending Achilles tear one week prior.
While Hall is generally a DT the lack of depth on the edge convinced Monken and the rest of the coaching staff to give him some reps as a DE in the final weeks of camp. While Monken has since said he believes Hall is more disruptive as an interior player, the 2024 second-round pick is ready for whatever role (or roles) may come his way.
"I played a little bit of end in college, so it's something new. But do whatever it takes to be out there for the team and do whatever for my brothers," said Hall. "Wherever Coach Monk and AB and everybody, wherever they feel comfortable putting me at, I have no problem with playing as long as I'm causing havoc in the backfield."
Just how often he gets bumped outside remains to be seen, but Hall's versatility could certainly come in handy.
