Browns receiver Dennis Northcutt has found something very valuable that he lost last season: chemistry with the starting quarterback.
Almost every day in camp, Northcutt -- who caught several nice passes Friday night at practice -- can be found catching a 40- or 50-yard pass from Charlie Frye. It's something that almost never happened last season with Trent Dilfer, who treated Northcutt as if he were invisible.
"I never built any chemistry with Trent," said Northcutt, who's entering his seventh season with the Browns. "We just didn't fit well together. I'm glad it's in the past and that we have a fresh start."
Dilfer only had eyes for Antonio Bryant, with whom he's reunited in San Francisco. Northcutt, who had led the team in receptions each of the previous two seasons with 55 and 62, finished the season with 42 catches for 441 yards and two touchdowns.
In the first 11 games when Dilfer was starting, Northcutt had only 25 catches, an average of about 2.2 per game. On third down, his domain, he was a non-factor.
"Since I got here in 2000, I've had 13 different quarterbacks," said Northcutt. "And you're not going to get lucky with all of them. But I didn't let it get me down."
