Injuries strike defense; Delpit heads to IR, Okoronkwo also out

BEREA — The injury bug continues to takes bites out of the Browns.

Safety Grant Delpit was placed on injured reserve Wednesday with the groin injury suffered in the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The move assures Delpit, who had surgery on the injury, will miss the remainder of the regular season, although there is a chance he could return if they qualify for the playoffs.

However, it looks like defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo may miss the remainder of the season due to a pectoral injury suffered against the Jaguars.

Coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday he didn’t have “final confirmation” on Okoronkwo’s status. He did not practice Wednesday.

Delpit was injured in the fourth quarter while trying to blitz Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He appeared to pull it right before he went in toward Lawrence, leading him to fall down and actually collide with teammate Myles Garrett’s knee on the way to the ground.

The Browns have their Week 1 starters at quarterback (Deshaun Watson), running back (Nick Chubb), left tackle ( Jedrick Wills Jr.), right tackle (Jack Conklin) and safety (Delpit) all on injured reserve. Joining them are key rotation pieces at right tackle (Dawand Jones), safety (Rodney McLeod) and defensive tackle (Maurice Hurst II).

Okoronkwo left the game initially with just over 6:30 remaining in the first quarter with a groin injury. He returned, then was injured again on the final play of the third quarter, but did play in the fourth quarter.

Delpit had a team-high 77 total tackles this season, his fourth in the league. The Browns signed the 2020 second-round pick (No. 44 overall) to a three-year, $36 million — $23 million guaranteed — contract extension