The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Just about everyone is back except for Mayfield
Just about everyone was back for the Browns at practice Nov. 9 as they returned from their bye — just about everybody but quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Running back Nick Chubb, wearing a brace on his right knee, returned after missing four games with a sprained MCL. He had 57 carries for 335 yards — a 5.9 average — and four touchdowns in 2020 before being injured in the first quarter in Dallas on Oct. 4. Tight end Austin Hooper is good as new, albeit without his appendix, and starting right guard Wyatt Teller is
back after missing three games with a strained calf. Linebacker Jacob Phillips is back from a knee injury.
“Getting your starters back on offense is always a good thing,” Hooper, who missed two games after undergoing an emergency appendectomy, said Nov. 9 on Zoom. “Wyatt is a road grader up front.
“It’s always great when you have both of your top two running backs back. Just having that one-two punch back and just allowing Kareem (Hunt) not to have to carry the load, so to speak. Having Nick back in there is going to be awesome.”
Mayfield on Nov. 8 was placed on the COVID/reserve list because he recently came in close contact with a staff member that tested positive for COVID-19.
“There’s no update (on Mayfield); I can’t really get into it,” Coach Kevin Stefanski said on Zoom after practice. “We’re just following all the protocols.
“He was on our virtual calls this morning, so he’s very much involved in what we’re doing from a meeting room spot. He’ll watch this (practice) tape, and we’ll watch it with him. You wish you had all your guys out there to get the reps. That’s just natural. But we’ll make sure we bring him up to speed as soon as he gets back in this building.”
Mayfield could be back as soon as Nov. 11 when the Browns resume preparation for their game with the Texans on Nov. 15 at FirstEnergy Stadium as long as he doesn’t test positive before then.
For Chubb, Hooper, Teller and everyone who just used the time to rest, the bye came at a perfect time. Stefanski considered the Nov. 9 session a “bonus practice.”