Cleveland Browns designate Anthony Walker Jr. for return from injured reserve

BEREA — The red-hot Browns defense is about to receive an in-house boost.

The Browns designated starting middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. for return from injured reserve Wednesday. The move gives Walker a chance to play Sunday when the Browns (3-1) visit the Los Angeles Chargers (3-1).

Walker practiced Wednesday. Coach Kevin Stefanski said the Browns would evaluate how Walker practices this week and make a decision on whether he's ready to play.

"It would be a tremendous boost," Browns rookie linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah said before practice. "He’s a great baller, has a lot of tackles in his career and has a lot of insight as a veteran."

The Browns also announced they re-signed linebacker Elijah Lee to their practice squad after cutting him from the active roster Tuesday.

Walker suffered a hamstring injury in practice Sept. 16 and landed on IR the next day. By rule, players who wind up on IR must miss at least three games before playing again. A March free-agent acquisition, Walker has missed the past three games.

Walker entered the season as the defense's signal-caller and the linebacker the Browns planned to play the most. He logged 62 snaps, or 95% of the defensive plays, and compiled a game-high nine tackles in a 33-29 season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Since then, Malcolm Smith has handled Walker's middle linebacker and signal-caller duties while the Browns have gone on a three-game winning streak.

The Browns defense has turned the corner in the past two games, a 26-6 win over the Chicago Bears on Sept. 26 and a 14-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. It's the first time since 1995 the Browns have held opponents to single-digit points in back-to-back games.

The defense coordinated by Joe Woods will head to Los Angeles later this week ranked second in the NFL in fewest yards allowed per game (250.3) and fourth in fewest points surrendered a game (16.8).

Although Walker hasn't played during the defense's turnaround, he has played an important role behind the scenes.

"He’s really good at watching film, so we’re harping on Anthony to be able go in there and sit and watch film with him and learn a lot from him," Owusu-Koramoah said.

Going back to his days with the Indianapolis Colts, Walker has distributed notes from his film study to his teammates.

"Oh, yeah," Owusu-Koramoah said. "Got a lot of cheats there."

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.