Virus still barring Browns from practice
Cleveland players prepare for playoffs with at-home workouts
Baker Mayfield hasn’t thrown a football in four days. The Browns haven’t practiced this week.
Cleveland’s return to the NFL playoffs feels cursed.
For the second straight day, the team’s headquarters and training facility stayed closed due to a COVID -19 flare-up that has knocked coach Kevin Stefanski out of Sunday night’s game in Pittsburgh and wreaked havoc on the Browns’ preparations.
There seemed to be a possibility the wild-card game could be moved back after Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s chief medical officer, told NFL Network “there was some spread from one individual to another” among the Browns.
However, a league spokesman said Thursday there “is no change to the status of the game” at Heinz Field.
As his first postseason appearance draws near, Mayfield said he’s been doing all he can at home to get ready.
“A lot of band and bodyweight stuff,” the quarterback said. “Doing a lot of walkthrough of my footwork and trying to tie those in together. Just getting up, moving around like we potentially could. Everybody ’s setup is different, and that is how it was in the offseason, so you have to find a way to get the most out of it and do it safely.”
The Browns and their diehard fans waited almost 20 years to feel playoff excitement again, and it’s been doused by forces beyond their control.
Still, Mayfield said he and his teammates will do all they can to represent themselves well in the wild-card game — their second matchup with the rival Steelers in eight days.
“There are no excuses, but luckily, we just played them last week so it is not like we are practicing against a whole new defense,” Mayfield said.
Bills: The playing status of the Bills’ two top receivers, Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley, is uncertain for Buffalo’s wild-card playoff game against the
Indianapolis Colts on Saturday. Both were listed as questionable after practicing on a limited basis on Thursday. For Beasley, who has missed one game, it marked the first time he’s practiced since hurting his knee in the fourth quarter of a 38-9 win at New England on Dec. 28. Diggs returned after not practicing Wednesday because of an injury to his oblique muscle. Coach Sean Mcdermott provided no definitive update on whether either will be able to play when he spoke before practice.
Jets: The New York Jets interviewed former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis on Thursday for their head coaching vacancy. Lewis is currently on former Jets coach Herman Edwards’ staff at Arizona State as the Sun Devils’ co-defensive coordinator. The 62-year-old Lewis is the second known candidate with whom the Jets have completed a video interview. The team also spoke to Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on Wednesday.
49ers: Offensive assistant Katie Sowers, the first female coach to make it to the Super Bowl, will not be returning to San Francisco in 2021. A person familiar with the situation said Thursday that the 34-year-old Sowers will be leaving coach Kyle Shanahan’s staff, where she worked closely with receivers coach Wes Welker. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team hadn’t made an announcement.
Falcons: Atlanta resumed its search for a new coach by interviewing Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady. The Falcons said Thursday they conducted a virtual interview with Brady on Wednesday.
Panthers: The Panthers have interviewed five more candidates for their vacant general manager position in the past two days, bringing the total number of front office executives interviewed to 11. As of this point, there doesn’t appear to be a leading candidate. Carolina on Thursday interviewed Kansas City director of football administration Brandt Tilis and Bears assistant director of player personnel Champ Kelly. That came after the team interviewed Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds, 49ers vice president of player personnel Adam Peters and Chiefs assistant director of player personnel Ryan Poles on Wednesday.
Texans: Nick Caserio has been hired as the general manager of Houston. Caserio, a longtime executive with the New England Patriots, replaces Bill O’brien, who was the team’s coach and general manager before he was fired after this season’s 0-4 start.