The News Herald (Willoughby, 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.” Not surprisingly, he did not overwork the players returning from injury.
“I think all of these guys, as they come off of this, we’re going to be smart, we’re going to work them in and then really the big thing is see how they respond,” Stefanski said. “It was great to see having those guys out there.
“We have to see how (Teller) comes out of it right now. Sleep on it for 24 hours and come back and see how he’s feeling. To get this bye right in the middle and to
be able to have guys that are coming back potentially off of this, I think, can be a big boost to our guys.”
The Browns (5-3) are coming off an ugly 16-6 loss Nov. 1 to the Raiders. The Raiders, Dolphins and Colts are also 5-3. The four teams with half the season remaining are vying for two playoff spots behind the four division leaders and Ravens, who currently own the fifth seed at 6-2.
The rest of the Browns’ November schedule, on paper, looks soft. The Texans are 2-6. The Browns host Philadelphia (3-4-1) on Nov. 22 and then play the 1-7 Jaguars in Jacksonville on Nov. 29. Stefanski, of course, says he isn’t thinking about the playoff picture.
“We would be doing ourselves a disservice if we con
cern ourselves with anything other than the Houston Texans,” Stefanski said. “I don’t think it helps us to set our gaze anywhere but where we are right now, and that’s a big game this Sunday in our building versus, I think, a really good football team.”
Defensive end Myles Garrett, knocked out of the game with the Raiders because of a knee injury, practiced Nov. 9.
Two starting offensive linemen missed practice Nov. 9, but Stefanski is not concerned.
Right tackle Jack Conklin was excused for personal reasons. Left guard Joel Bitonio has a sore elbow and was on the exercise bike, but Stefanski fully expects Bitonio to be ready for the Texans.