Positive Injury News A Breath Of Fresh Air In Cleveland
Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
While the NFL doesn’t require rosters to be narrowed to 53 players until 4 PM local time today, the Cleveland Browns are among the many teams who have already started making decisions. Andrew Berry cut his roster by 16 on Monday, which leaves 21 more names that will be waived by the end of Tuesday. Who will stick with the Browns? Who will Berry try sneaking onto the practice squad? We will know soon.
Monday also saw Kevin Stefanski dropping a dose of welcome news for Cleveland (except, perhaps, if you’re on the roster bubble). Most of the Browns’ injury-riddled players — including Greg Newsome, Jack Conklin, Jedrick Wills, and Dalvin Tomlinson — passed their physicals and were activated. The lone bad news is that Nick Chubb will be moved to the physically unable to perform list, meaning that he will miss the first four games of the season, at a minimum.
Chubb moving to the PUP list was not exactly a surprise, but it does confirm that the running back position will be a question mark. On top of that, Nyheim Hines will also start the season on the PUP list, leaving Jerome Ford, Pierre Strong, and D’Onta Foreman as Cleveland’s only healthy running backs.
Even as a short-term fix, it’ll be interesting to see if Berry scours the waiver wire for tailbacks after cuts are finalized. Luckily for the Browns, their biggest position of need is usually one of the easier places to add roster depth so close to the season.
Tomlinson being healthy for Week 1 wasn’t a shock, either, but fans are still relieved that he passed his physical after missing all of camp. He will almost certainly be out of game shape, but with Maurice Hurst dinged up and news breaking Tuesday morning that Mike Hall is heading to the Commissioner’s Exempt list, it’s great to get a major piece like Tomlinson back.
But no one in Cleveland was happier on Monday than Deshaun Watson, who learned that his two starting tackles would not be stuck on the PUP list and were heading in the right direction to be ready for Week 1. Stefanski expects Conklin to start practice as early as today, with Wills more likely to return next week. With Wills’ status for the opener uncertain, we can expect Conklin to move to left tackle and Dawand Jones to get the nod on the right side until Wills is ready to go. It will feel more “real” once we see Conklin achieve full participation in practice, but the panic on the shores of Lake Erie is subsiding.
While Browns fans have a lot to feel happy about, there are still some red flags to watch out for. Yes, most of these guys are veterans who have a lot of starting experience, but missing all of camp is still a huge disadvantage. For guys like Conklin and Wills, they have yet to step on the field all year. And while Tomlinson takes good care of himself, there’s a difference between being “in shape” and being “in football shape.” It will take a few weeks to get back into “football shape,” which likely means he’ll be on a snap count in Week 1 vs. the Dallas Cowboys, which doesn’t help this defense.
One thing is certain, though: this roster is getting healthy at the right time. That’s great news, but not without qualifications. Stefanski and Jim Schwartz are going to have their hands full getting this roster ready to jump to a fast start.
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