CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings completed their short-term arranged marriage Saturday with a preseason game for backups and bottom of the roster players. The Vikings won, 27-12.
The teams held competitive joint practice sessions at the Browns’ training facility Wednesday and Thursday, and Browns coach Kevin Stefanski considers those the two most important days of training camp for competitive evaluation.
So, some real work was done in the week that just ended. A bunch of real work still must be done, and the Browns likely are going to have to do some searching of their various free-agent and trade-target lists to find help at offensive tackle. Let’s check the temperature and some pressing Browns’ news items…
Total emergency?
The Browns already had a major offensive tackle issue, which was evident in the way the Vikings’ pass rush dominated stretches of the joint practices. Now, the Browns might have a full-blown crisis at the position.
No listed or expected starters played in Saturday’s game, but all three offensive tackles who took reps with the first and second offensive line groups suffered injuries. James Hudson, the No. 1 left tackle throughout training camp because of the pre-existing shortage, left late in the first half with an ankle injury. Then, both of the team’s offseason veteran insurance additions appeared to get hurt during a 90-yard interception return by Vikings rookie Dwight McGlothern.
The team announced that Germain Ifedi had a hand injury and Hakeem Adeniji had a knee injury. Both were taken to the locker room within minutes, and Adeniji was announced as out for the remainder of the game. Hudson was in a protective boot after the game, Adeniji was on crutches, and Stefanski said both would need MRIs Sunday morning.
The Browns’ longtime left tackle, Jedrick Wills Jr., remains on the physically unable to perform list. Wills had what the team called arthroscopic knee surgery last December but is yet to return to practice. Longtime right tackle Jack Conklin is recovering from a torn ACL and also remains on the PUP list. Dawand Jones, who replaced Conklin in the starting lineup when Jones was a rookie last season, has been playing right tackle.
Asked if he expected Wills back to practice soon, Stefanski said “we’ll see.” He’s not obligated to share any more information than that during the preseason, but the lack of any real answer on Wills’ status as the Browns head to the end of training camp is concerning.
The Browns made a trade for an offensive lineman last Sunday and they might be forced to again. Stefanski won’t give any real updates after the game, but unless Wills is coming back this week this tackle situation is well into the emergency stage. And even then it might be.
— Zac Jackson (@AkronJackson) August 17, 2024
Hudson has been taking the No. 1 snaps at left tackle in practice. Hudson started Saturday’s game at right tackle and Ifedi started on the left. Ifedi has been taking some No. 1 snaps in practice. The Browns were already so deep into their contingency plans that Ifedi went from playing guard in the spring to moving to left tackle. The Browns added Adeiniji early in free agency and then added Ifedi in April around the start of their offseason program, both on one-year deals with no guarantees.
The Browns finished Saturday’s game with undrafted rookie Lorenzo Thompson at left tackle and Roy Mbaeteka on the right. Mbaeteka is the team’s international pathway player and 91st player on the 90-man offseason roster.
Last Sunday, an emergency on the interior of the offensive line forced the Browns to make a trade and re-acquire backup center Nick Harris from Seattle. Depending on the severity of the new injuries and Wills’ potential availability, the Browns might have to add multiple offensive tackles before they return to practice Tuesday. Veteran backup guard Michael Dunn has mostly played left guard with the Browns, but he has at least some experience at all five spots from his college career and his prior experience on the Browns’ practice squad.
‘Tis the season for roster scrambling and patching, though obviously the Browns would prefer not to have an emergency situation at any situation — especially given the number of injuries they’ve had across their defense in recent weeks. Teams must trim their rosters to the regular-season size of 53 by Tuesday, Aug. 27. The Browns practice three times ahead of next Saturday’s preseason finale in Seattle.
Maybe deeper than deep?
Browns Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio was a college left tackle. That was a long time ago — Bitonio is entering his 11th NFL season — and Bitonio said last week that he’d heard no mention of a potential move to left tackle this summer.
Bitonio has only done that once in his pro career. Late in the 2021 season, the team developed a COVID-related emergency across the offensive line, and Bitonio started a game vs. the Las Vegas Raiders at left tackle after just one practice. He ended up making two starts at left tackle before moving back inside.
In the wake of Hall of Famer Joe Thomas’s retirement in 2018, Bitonio was moved out to left tackle during training camp for a short period, but he never took regular-season snaps. When that temporary move happened, then-Browns offensive line coach Bob Wylie referred to the move as “plan Z.” That was referenced in an interview with Bitonio last week.
“I think it’s plan double-Z,” Bitonio said. “But you never know.”
As Saturday proved, you really never know.
Stefanski has said “the plan” is to play Watson in next week’s preseason finale, but if the Browns really have an offensive tackle emergency on any level, that plan could be revisited given that Watson is coming off shoulder surgery and hasn’t been hit since his last live action last November. Really, given the overall number of injuries across the roster, any plan is open to rethinking.
“The plan is for Deshaun to play (next week),” Stefanski said Saturday. “We’ll take in all the information, but that’s the plan.”
Judging the quarterbacks
The Browns haven’t hidden that they intend to keep either Tyler Huntley or Dorian Thompson-Robinson as their No. 3 quarterback behind Deshaun Watson and Jameis Winston. Watson and Winston took all the reps in the joint practices, and Winston started last week’s preseason opener.
Thompson-Robinson started and played the first half Sunday. Huntley played the second half and spent most of it scrambling, largely thanks to the tackle situation. Thompson-Robinson has been impressive throughout camp, but his final throw Saturday was tipped and intercepted as the Browns tried to mount a drive late in the first half. He’d previously led a touchdown drive highlighted by Thompson-Robinson showing off improved arm strength in helping tight end Giovanni Ricci draw a pass interference flag that gave the Browns a first and goal at the 1-yard line.
Thompson-Robinson finished 13-of-17 for 126 yards and the interception.
Huntley was 13-of-120 for 145 yards and two interceptions, the second as he tried to evade trouble on the final drive. The Browns like Huntley’s mobility and ability to extend plays, but he was running too much Saturday in a difficult situation.
Ricci left the game late in the first half with a knee injury and was immediately ruled out. Ricci projects as a special teams player and the Browns’ No. 3 tight end, but he lined up as a fullback with the starters during both joint practices. Zaire Mitchell-Paden, the No. 4 tight end, caught a 30-yard pass from Huntley in the third quarter but limped off late in the game. Stefanski said he expects Mitchell-Paden to be OK but provided no update on Ricci.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (17) throws the ball during the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday. (Scott Galvin / USA Today)
Making a push?
The Browns’ lone touchdown drive was sparked by Thompson-Robinson hitting fifth-round rookie wide receiver Jamari Thrash on a fourth down. Thrash caught the pass between two defenders and ended up finishing with three catches for 25 yards. Thrash also had three catches in the preseason opener.
The next step for Thrash in a push to make the roster would be taking reps with the No. 1 offense, which could come in practice next week. Third-year wide receiver David Bell is expected to remain out with a quad injury, and no other wide receiver had a standout performance during the joint practices.
“(Thrash) has been impressive with the way he’s worked,” Stefanski said.
Assuming health, we know Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman and Elijah Moore will be on the team and presumably will make up the top of the wide receiver rotation. The last one or two wide receiver spots will come down to special teams and how much the coaching staff trusts Bell if he’s needed.
Odds and ends
– Cade York again handled the kicking duties. Stefanski said veteran Dustin Hopkins is dealing with a minor injury but will be ready for the season opener. The Browns are trying to showcase York this summer for a potential trade suitor, but York was instructed to kick the ball into the end zone for touchbacks in Saturday’s game. Stefanski felt the kickoff return and kickoff cover teams got enough work in the joint practices.
– Fifteen days after suffering a neck injury during a practice at the Greenbrier Resort that required him to be helicoptered to a Roanoke (Va.) hospital, D’Onta Foreman scored the Browns’ only touchdown of their second preseason game. Foreman said he dealt with pain in his back and neck in the days that followed the injury, but he credited doctors and trainers for helping him believe he could make a swift return. Foreman returned to full practice earlier in the week, but Saturday’s game was his first with full contact. With Nick Chubb likely to start the season on PUP, Foreman not only is on track to make the roster but could have a role in the Browns’ offense early in the season.
– Stefanski also offered no update on Cooper, David Njoku or Denzel Ward. Cooper and Njoku left Thursday’s joint practice with unknown injuries. Ward remains in the concussion protocol.
– Even before the in-game injuries, the Browns had 39 of their 91 players inactive for the game. Two of the 53 active were just signed the day before the game, safety Tyler Coyle and temporary long snapper Rex Sunahara. The Browns also signed Sunahara to snap in last week’s preseason game because their regular long snapper, Charley Hughlett, is dealing with what the team has said is a minor injury.
(Top photo: Scott Galvin / USA Today)
