BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The orange and brown are black and blue.
Running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt along with defensive ends Myles Garrett, Jadeveon Clowney and Takkarist McKinley were among nine players listed by the team not expected to practice Wednesday.
“I’m not ruling anyone out,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said prior to Wednesday’s practice.
Chubb has a calf injury and Hunt is dealing with wrist and knee injuries according to the team.
“I don’t think we’re being cautious with any of our guys, I just think we’re trying to be smart about it,” Stefanski said.
Garrett missed a pair of practices last week due to knee and ankle injuries. Clowney, who was inactive for the 47-42 loss to the Chargers, is sidelined due to elbow and knee injuries while McKinley is also dealing with ankle and knee injuries.
Clowney was prepared to play in LA before his surgically repaired knee became sore during pregame warmups prompting the team to list him as inactive.
“Obviously, he has an injury history there, but just with any of our guys, when they work out pregame and they are feeling something, you have to go with what they are feeling, and he did not feel like he could go,” Stefanski, who hopes it won’t be a week-to-week concern, said. “I think he is feeling better, but certainly with everybody, that is why every player goes out there on the field pregame to make sure they are feeling OK.”
Right tackle Jack Conklin suffered a knee injury in Los Angeles.
Tight end David Njoku, who is coming off a 7-catch, 149 yard and a touchdown performance, is also battling a knee injury.
There shouldn’t be much concern with center J.C. Tretter because he has been held out of Wednesday and Thursday practices this season to rest a knee injury.
Trio return – Cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II along with left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. returned to practice Wednesday.
Ward suffered a neck injury Sunday while Newsome has been sidelined the last two weeks due to a calf injury.
Wills has been fighting a left ankle injury since being carted to the locker room in the second quarter of the Week 1 loss to Chiefs. He was inactive last week after having to depart the previous three games early due to the injury.
“Some of it is luck quite honestly with him,” Stefanski said. “He has gotten rolled up there a couple of times. Hopefully, he is feeling strong and feeling good. We will be excited if we can get him back out there.”
Faking it – Defensive tackle Malik McDowell couldn’t bring himself to stay on the ground hurt following his first NFL sack Sunday in LA so celebrated first before going down.
“I got hurt on the actual hit,” McDowell said. “I felt it, I was like, I can’t be hurt on your first sack, you can’t be hurt.’ so I tried to celebrate it off. But the further I got closer to the sideline, the more it started hurting and I went down.”
McDowell, who was a longshot to make the team after being away from the game due to injuries and legal problems, has earned a starting job on the same line that includes Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney.
“We can be very dominant,” McDowell said. “We can be one of the most dominant teams in the league when we’re all working together to get to know each other, rush off each other and stuff like that. It’s really just the getting comfortable together factor right now. We’re actually getting better, you can see the sacks going up and everything. We’re getting it together.
“I feel like once we really jell, we ain’t got to look at each other, we ain’t gotta, that’s when we’re really jelling and we’ve got it down.”
JOK Okay – Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s trip to the hospital surprised him after his helmet got him in the throat Sunday.
“The team doctors do what's best for the players,” Owusu-Koramoah, who believes the injury occurred on the opening series, said. “It was precautionary to make sure that I didn't go up in the airplane and my lungs started to swell up or anything. It was OK.”
The 2021 second round pick out of Notre Dame wasn’t even listed on the injury report Wednesday, an even better sign that there’s nothing to worry about.
Owusu-Koramoah is seeing his role defensively expand. He played 68 of 75 defensive snaps against the Chargers.
This week the Browns welcome Kyler Murray and the 5-0 Cardinals to town and Owusu-Koramoah will be called upon to help neutralize Murray’s dynamic playmaking ability.
“Everybody's talking about it, his quickness, his agility, his ability to get from Point A to Point B,” Owusu-Koramoah said. “It will be tough to stop, but we're up to the challenge.”
Quote of the day – “I’m way past that. Way better now. Way better than that Malik, but not better than the Malik I should be. That’s what I’m working on right now.” Malik McDowell’s response when asked how far he is from his college self as a player.
Landry on the side – Receiver Jarvis Landry is eligible to return this week from injured reserve, but the team has yet to designate him for return, which is required for him to be eligible to practice.
Landry continued to work on the side Wednesday.
Injury report – DNP: RB Nick Chubb (calf), DE Jadeveon Clowney (elbow, knee), RT Jack Conklin (knee), DE Myles Garrett (knee, ankle), RB Kareem Hunt (wrist, knee), DE Takkarist McKinley (ankle, knee), TE David Njoku (knee), LB Malcolm Smith (abdomen), C J.C. Tretter (knee); LIMITED: CB A.J. Green (shoulder, knee), DE Malik Jackson (knee), Malik McDowell (elbow, foot, neck), CB Greg Newsome II (calf), CB Denzel Ward (neck), CB Greedy Williams (shoulder, knee), LT Jedrick Wills Jr. (ankle); FULL: LB Elijah Lee (hip)
Up next – Practice Thursday