CLEVELAND, Ohio – See, you watched the Browns lose on Sunday to the Jets less than 24 hours after they lost five players, including four wide receivers, for contact tracking and a sixth for a positive COVID-19 test. Then they add Andrew Sendejo, Harrison Bryant and Karl Joseph to the reserve / COVID-19 list to start the week. Then they will have to close the facility on Wednesday, after a player and coach from the training team tested positive for COVID.
So it’s fair to be a little confused if you’re a Browns fan looking at your team about to play essentially a death or death game against the Steelers on Sunday.
Things can certainly go wrong in the next few days – it’s always day-to-day when it comes to COVID, as we learned on Saturday night. Maybe we’ll have more news on Thursday or Friday and then maybe it’s time to clench our teeth a little bit more.
But for now, it is advisable to take a deep breath because, in fact, there is more good news than bad news. Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge are on their way to return on Thursday. Wyatt Teller and Jedrick Wills were in training on Wednesday. Security Ronnie Harrison has been activated.
If you take a step back – and mix in one big blow on the closest wooden object you can find – things are trending in the right direction for the Browns as they head into their biggest game of the season. Its main position group, the offensive line, tends to remain intact. They must have their receivers back. Their defense should gain momentum with Harrison’s return.
Even Baker Mayfield was positive that the facility closed on Wednesday and players were unable to practice.
“It is not so critical (having players training) being today only Wednesday,” he said. “We were still able to get all of our mental stuff through the day and able to get some physical stuff, get some time down and we will have the movie for these guys to be able to watch and look at. It will not affect our preparation at all. Just hoping that the negative tests will continue to arrive and we can put them in the building tomorrow. “
This post may not age well until noon on Thursday, but for now, take a deep breath and see how things are going, at least for now. The Browns may be fine.
Mary Kay Cabot, Scott Patsko and I talked about the good news the Browns have in their favor when facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday’s Orange and Brown Talk Podcast. Then, they discuss what this game means to Baker Mayfield and do some over / under for the game.
Use the player below or click here to listen.
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