The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Browns battling injury bug
Nine players held out of practice, seven limited
Most Browns home games begin at 1 p.m. Fortunately for them, the game with the Cardinals on Oct. 17 at FirstEnergy Stadium begins at 4:05 p.m., because every minute gives them more time to heal.
Nine players did not practice Oct. 13, and seven others were limited because of various injuries.
Running back Nick Chubb (calf),
defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (elbow, knee), running back Kareem Hunt (wrist, knee), right tackle Jack Conklin (knee), defensive end Myles
Garrett (knee, ankle), tight end David Njoku (knee), linebacker Malcolm Smith (abdomen) and center JC Tretter (knee) did not practice.
Cornerback AJ Green (shoulder, knee), defensive tackle Malik Jackson (knee), defensive tackle Malik McDowell (elbow, foot, neck), cornerback Greg Newsome (calf), cornerback Denzel Ward (neck), left tackle Jedrick Wills (ankle) and cornerback Greedy Williams (shoulder) were limited.
“I’m not ruling anyone out,” Coach Kevin Stefanski said before practice.
The injury report isn’t long in an attempt to fool the Cardinals, nor are the Browns being “cautious” in holding out Chubb and Hunt, Stefanski said, adding the Browns are “being smart” by not asking the injured players to practice.
The injury report does not include Jarvis Landry. The Pro Bowl wide receiver is eligible to be activated from injured reserve, but the Browns have not made the move official yet. Landry, who has missed three games with a knee injury, ran on the side but did not practice.
The Cardinals (5-0) are the only undefeated team in the NFL. They got to their perfect record by beating the Titans, Vikings, Jaguars, Rams and 49ers. The Jaguars are the only patsies in the bunch.
“They are obviously very good, as their record indicates,” Stefanski said. “They’re scoring a bunch of points on offense. They’re not giving up many points on defense.
“The continuity on the three sides of the ball shows up in how these guys are playing. A ton of great players across the board. We really have to have a great week of preparation to get ready to face this team.”
Tretter and Garrett are the only players on the long injury list normally rested on Wednesdays. Wills hasn’t practiced on a Wednesday since before the season started. He was injured in the opener, played the next three games and then was held out of the game with the Chargers on Oct. 10. He was a participant at the start of practice Oct. 13 but was seen stopping and talking to a trainer.
“With any injury, you have to make sure you’re doing your work in the training room,” Stefanski said. “Some of it is (bad) luck, quite honestly, with him. He’s gotten rolled up there a couple of times. Hopefully, he’s feeling strong and feeling good. We’ll be excited if we can get him back out there.”
Clowney is another one to keep an eye on as kickoff draws nearer. He was prepared to play against the Chargers with his elbow injury, but his knee bothered him in pregame warmup and was a late scratch.
“Obviously, he has an injury history there, but just with any of our guys, when they work out pregame and they’re feeling something, you have to go with what they are feeling, and he didn’t feel like he could go,” Stefanski said. “I think he’s feeling better, but certainly with everybody, that’s why every player goes out there on the field pregame to make sure they are feeling OK.”
It’s not all doom and gloom on the injury front. Ward left the game with the Chargers early because of his neck injury, so seeing him practice in the drills open to the media was encouraging. The same goes for Newsome, who missed the last two games with the calf injury and Williams, who missed all last season with a shoulder injury.