Temporarily lost in the New Orleans Saints' shuffle this week that saw the departure of popular starting offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb and the emergence of popular backup Zach Strief in the starting role was the place of relatively unknown Charles Brown.
Soft-spoken Brown, the team's second-round draft pick in 2010, didn't exactly vow to win the job Tuesday.
"I'm taking it the same way," he said. "I had an opportunity from the beginning of camp, and my opportunity was to compete for the second tackle on both sides. So I'm just competing. Not more than ever. It's just competition every day, every day."
Strief would seem a strong favorite. His experience and versatility -- he started two games last season in a two-tight-end set and has gained notoriety for so often being an eligible receiver in formations -- would seem to establish him atop the depth chart at right tackle.
In an answer to a question about the tackle void left by Stinchcomb, Coach Sean Payton acknowledged Strief most likely would be No. 1 but insisted the competition is wide open.
What's more, Payton made it clear Stinchcomb's departure has had a sort of reverse-domino effect on the unit, giving players down the depth chart, such as newly signed free agent Jordan Black, higher standing.
"He's played and started games at left tackle; he's played at right tackle,"
Payton said of Strief. "He's a smart player, so he's one of those who pretty much knows everyone's assignment. He's strong at the point of attack, and he's durable. So you're going to see him sharing reps with Charles Brown over on the right side, and we're going to spend three good weeks evaluating that competition. I would say if we were putting a depth chart together, it might look where, initially, Zach is at right tackle and Charles would be at backup left. But the days where Charles gets snaps with the first unit, we can move Zach to the second unit at left, knowing that Jordan Black's working with the second unit at the right, so we've got some flexibility there, and (Charles and Zach) are dual-learning, if you will."
Neither Strief nor Brown were about to second guess that view. And while both of them have described Stinchcomb as an invaluable mentor, Strief, 6-feet-7, 320, noted he doesn't assume he has now assumed that role for Brown.
"Right now, I feel like someone (who) is competing with Charles Brown for a job,"
Strief said. "I know what that feels like. I've been competing for this job for several years now, but clearly I'm going to give Charles any bit of knowledge I can, I'm going to help him in any way I can, because ultimately, that is how teams stay good -- and our room has always been like that. We're behind you. Hopefully, I don't help him too much."
Brown came out of Southern California in 2010 as a possible first-round draft pick who fell to New Orleans with the last pick of the second round. His rookie season was a decidedly mixed affair, one that saw him on the field for special teams play in the first two games and was then inactive the next 13. He played as a backup in the regular-season finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then went back on the inactive list for the Saints' playoff loss at Seattle.
Still, the front office stayed positive, and after offseason back surgery, Brown said he was training hard in Los Angeles and ready to engage in the sort of furious competition New Orleans encourages at training camp.
When Brown, 6 feet 5, arrived, his weight was listed at a svelte 297. The Saints' media information put Brown's weight at that figure in 2010, and he actually was playing closer to 315, Brown said. Earlier this summer, he put his weight at 305, which he said was close to ideal.
Brown failed his physical when the 2011 training camp began, and he missed seven practices before returning on Aug. 6. That turned out to be less of an issue than it might have in previous years, Brown said Tuesday, because the lockout meant free agents -- of whom Strief was one -- also could not take the field until after a new collective bargaining agreement was signed.
So after missing just one full-squad practice, Brown said he threw himself into the camp mix with renewed incentives. Although he spent his last two seasons at USC as the left tackle, he began his Trojans career at right tackle, so the position is not unfamiliar to him.
His production thus far has been spotty -- against the San Francisco 49ers in the preseason opener Friday night at the Superdome, he missed some assignments -- but he had no penalties, whereas Strief was flagged for holding twice. In practice, Brown also has renewed an old Pac-10 rivalry, going against the Saints' top pick in this year's draft, California defensive end Cameron Jordan.
"That's why that guy looks so familiar,"
Jordan said this week.
Brown agreed that a line of communication remains open between him and Strief, although he rather sheepishly conceded most of the traffic on it is one-way.
"Me and Strief, we play in the same position, so we have the same rules we go by,"
he said. "So if he knows something, he tells me; if I know something, which is rarely the case, I try to tell him."
