Zimmer targets week off for Vikes
NFC North champs would earn bye with 2 more wins.
There haven’t been BEREA — many bright spots for the historically bad Browns during this 0-14 season, but Joel Bitonio’s ability to rebound from the Lisfranc injury he suffered last year qualifies as one.
Bitonio has started all 14 games at left guard and was named a second alternate for the Pro Bowl on Tuesday night.
“To come back and so far have a healthy season and get recognized is a pretty cool honor,” Bitonio said as the Browns prepared for Sunday’s road game against the Chicago Bears (4-10). “Obviously, I would trade it for some wins right now, but it was cool to see. At this time last year, I don’t think I was even walking yet. To come back and to do that, I was pretty pumped about it. Now I just want to get a win.”
After two ankle injuries forced Bitonio to miss six games in 2015, he was side- lined for the final 11 games last season after suffering the Lisfranc injury on Oct. 9, 2016, against the New England Patriots and undergoing surgery eight days later. The Lisfranc joint is the point at which the metatarsal bones (long bones that lead up to the toes) and the tarsal bones (bones in the arch) connect.
Bitonio has played every offensive snap this season. He is the sixth-ranked guard in the NFL, according to ProFootballFocus.com’s grades. The Browns signed him to a five-year, $51 million contract extension in March.
Significant shuffle: With Derrick Kindred landing on injured reserve after hurting his wrist in Sunday’s 27-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, coach Hue Jackson revealed rookie Jabrill Peppers will be among the players who fill in at strong safety.
“We are going to use a combination of guys,” Jack- son said. “(Undrafted rookie) Kai (Nacua) will probably go down there, but also we will have Jabrill down there. We will play in different pack- ages with people, and we will move Jabrill a little bit closer to the ball, so he will have an opportunity to be down there. But Kai will, too, as we go through this.”
Peppers recei v ing an opportunity to moonlight at strong safety is notable because it’s the position the Browns envisioned him play- ing when they drafted him in the first round (No. 25 overall) this past April. They moved him to free safety out of necessity during training camp and kept him there for the first 14 games.
Extra points
■The Browns claimed line- backer Jeremy Cash off waivers from the New York Giants and waived linebacker Deon King. Cash entered the NFL last season as an undrafted rookie with the Carolina Panthers. He appeared in eight games with them last season and one this year. Cash spent five weeks on the practice squad of the New York Jets and the past three weeks on the Giants’ active roster but did not appear in a game.
■ Starting cornerback Jamar Taylor (foot) sat out Wednesday’s practice, and nickelback Briean Boddy-Cal- houn (knee) returned to practice on a limited basis after missing the past two games.
“We held Jamar Taylor out with a sore foot,” Jack- son said. “We hope that that gets better and makes progress throughout the week.”
As his players formed a circle around him Sunday afternoon, clad in NFC North championship gear after a 34-7 win over the Cin- cinnati Bengals cemented the Vikings’ division title, coach Mike Zimmer started to nudge their focus toward what’s next.
“Congratulations on win- ning the NFC North,” Zim- mer said in the video clip of his postgame speech posted on the team’s website. “That stuff ’s hard to do, now. OK? It’s hard to do. But that’s only the first goal as we start getting going. Now we won the division. Now we know we’re in the playoffs. Now, we start playing for seeding.”
The Vikings at 11-3 hold the NFC’s second-best record and are a game behind the Philadelphia Eagles.
They can only claim the top spot in the conference if they win their final two games while Philadelphia loses its last two, but a win Saturday night in Green Bay would put the Vikings on the doorstep of a first-round bye for the first time since 2009.
The Packers were elim- inated from t he playo ff picture when Atlanta beat Tampa Bay on Monday night.
Minnesota can assure itself of a weekend off in the play- offs with another victory and a Carolina Panthers loss. The Vikings would also win three-way tiebreakers with the Los Angeles Rams and either of the teams competing for the NFC South title (the Panthers and New Orleans Saints).
In addition to a weekend off to rest players, a bye would mean the Vikings need just two wins to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in 41 years.
And after a handful of teams made ch a mpionship runs from the wild-card round from 2007-12, the top seeds in both conferences capitalized on their prime playoff positioning the past four seasons.
Home teams in the division round of the playoffs — the two teams in each conference that receive a bye — are 13-3 since 2013.
No team from either conference has reached the Super Bowl without a first-round bye since 2012, when the Baltimore Ravens won a home game and two road games on their way to a championship, and seven of the past eight conference championships have been claimed by No. 1 overall seeds in either the NFC or AFC.
“Our guys are pretty smart, focused guys, and I think they understand what’s at stake,” Zimmer said.
“If possible, we would like to play every game at U.S. Bank Stadium. I mean, I know we’re going to get one, but we’re kind of greedy.”