After the game against the Denver Broncos, Myles Garrett, in a sling, said he felt a pop in his left shoulder.
Monday, head coach Kevin Stefanski described the injury as a sore shoulder, calling Garrett “day to day.” Wide receiver Amari Cooper (rib) and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott (ankle) were also called to day-to-day while quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is in concussion protocol.
Day-to-day is vague and could mean missed games, but it’s far better than what many expected to hear particularly when Garrett described the injury to the media after the game.
Cooper’s x-rays were negative, suggesting that the rib wasn’t broken. No real detail has been provided on Elliott’s ankle injury to this point.
Cooper and Elliott were ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Broncos. DTR was also ruled out and was confirmed to have suffered a concussion.
That immediately raises questions as to who will play quarterback Sunday when the Browns face the Los Angeles Rams.
The team is spending the week at UCLA’s campus this week in preparation for the game. Even if DTR is somehow able to clear the protocol, which isn’t likely, he will have missed some critical practices.
Stefanski was only willing to say that the team would work through the quarterback position based on DTR’s health, and his progression through concussion protocol.
The speculation now turns to Joe Flacco, who was signed to the Browns practice squad last week.
He was not promoted to the roster for Sunday’s game and watched in street clothes. The Browns could go back to P.J. Walker, who has appeared in a handful of games this year, even leading a pair of game-winning drives. However, it’s more likely that if Flacco can get up to speed, they will use him.
If Elliott and Garrett are unavailable to play against the Rams, the Browns may be pressed into playing rookies Siaki Ika and Isaiah McGuire. Ika has yet to be active this season.
The third-round pick out of Baylor offers size and a hard charge at the point of attack, but it remains to be seen if he’s ready for Sunday action. McGuire, a fourth-round pick, has played this season, getting game reps against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Browns have utilized rookie offensive tackle Dawand Jones virtually the entire season. Corner Cameron Mitchell has seen time and is currently on injured reserve.
Ika and McGuire should see plenty of practice reps this week and might get an opportunity to make an impact against the Rams.
The Browns, 7-4, face the Rams before traveling back to Cleveland to host the Jacksonville Jaguars.
OBR Film Room: Browns Defense Has a Zone Read Issue
The Cleveland Browns defense remains stellar but they have a flaw that keeps showing up against mobile quarterbacks.
Look, we might not have enjoyed the collective performance of the Cleveland Browns defense yesterday, but they once again did enough to give their team a chance to win.
Once again they held their opponents to less than 300 total yards, and once again they had to defend short fields coming off untimely turnovers.
While they were far from perfect, they did enough to win if they had a competent offense working alongside them in Denver. As we know, once the scoreboard hit 17-12, the offense lost Dorian Thompson-Robinson and went into a funk. From there, a miraculous catch from Adam Trautman in the right corner of the endzone sealed the fate following a fumbled reverse.
While the defense played well enough overall, they struggled with the Broncos run game, and, in particular, their Achilles heel against mobile quarterbacks rendered itself again in some key moments.
Leading up to the game in Denver, Sione Takitaki was one of the defensive leaders who spoke to the media and talked about how the defense would be challenged by Russell Wilson.
“They do a lot of similar things to a lot of teams that we played, you know what I mean? I wouldn’t say they’re just so kind of like one team.
You can nip pick some stuff that other teams that we played earlier in the week, earlier in the year, but not one specific team.”
Myles Garrett was asked during the week about how they prepare for Wilson’s mobility and if they will treat him similarly to Lamar Jackson from a rusher perspective. “No, he doesn’t move like Lamar, he moves like Russell and there’s no shame in that. He’s been great at doing that.”
It felt like during the week, the Browns dismissed the prospect of the Broncos using Wilson’s legs for designed runs given his age and their general approach this year.
The Broncos clearly felt from their film study they could use the Browns’ approach to defending zone read to get some perimeter opportunities and they hit some key plays.
Let’s dig into how and why it came together as it did.
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NFL ‘Noles Week 12 Results (so far…): Burns with a sack, Sweat impactful, Nnadi gets after the Raiders
NFL Week 12 results for former Florida State Seminoles
Thanksgiving Day
There were a trio of Thanksgiving Day games:
The Green Bay Packers defeated the Detroit Lions, 29-22, and the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Washington Commanders, 45-10. Neither of those games involved any former Seminoles.
The final game of Thanksgiving Day saw the San Francisco 49ers defeat the Seattle Seahawks, 31-13. For the Seahawks, defensive line Mario Edwards Jr. played. He recorded a pair of tackles.
Black Friday Game
The Miami Dolphins defeated the New York Jets, 34-13, in a Black Friday game.
For the Dolphins, cornerback Jalen Ramsey started. He had three solo tackles.
For the Jets, defensive end Jermaine Johnson II started. He recorded four tackles, including a solo tackle. Running back Dalvin Cook had a 2-yard rush and a pair of receptions for 19 yards, including a long of 12 yards, on three targets.
Sunday action
Atlanta Falcons 24, New Orleans Saints 15
For the Saints, quarterback Jameis Winston was available, but did not play. Offensive tackle Cameron Erving is on their practice squad.
New York Giants 10, New England Patriots 7
For the Giants, running back Jashaun Corbin was inactive. Kicker Graham Gano is on injured reserve.
Tennessee Titans 17, Carolina Panthers 10
For the Panthers, defensive end Brian Burns started. He had four tackles, including two solo tackles. He had a sack for a yard.
He had a pair of tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries, and a pass defended. Safety Jammie Robinson had a solo tackle. He also recorded a tackle on special teams.
Los Angeles Rams 37, Arizona Cardinals 14
For the Chargers, outside linebacker Keir Thomas played. He did not record any stats, but saw work on defense and special teams.
Denver Broncos 29, Cleveland Browns 12
For the Browns, kicker Dustin Hopkins was 2-of-2 on field goal attempts hitting from 24 and 36 yards out.
Kansas City Chiefs 31, Las Vegas Raiders 17
For the Chiefs, defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi started. He had a pair of tackles, including a solo tackle.
For the Raiders, defensive end Janarius Robinson was elevated from the practice squad and played. He had a solo tackle.
Philadelphia Eagles 37, Buffalo Bills 34
For the Eagles, defensive end Josh Sweat started. He had a pair of solos tackles and a quarterback hurry. Offensive tackle Roderick Johnson is on injured reserve.
Other Sunday Games not involving former Seminoles
Indianapolis Colts 27, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20
Jacksonville Jaguars 24, Houston Texans 21
Pittsburgh Steelers 16, Cincinnati Bengals 10
Sunday Night Football
The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, 20-10, on Sunday Night Football.
For the Ravens, cornerback Ronald Darby started. He had a pair of solo tackles.
For the Chargers, cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. started. He had four tackles, including three solo tackles. He also had a pass defended. Safety Derwin James started. He had six tackles, including four solo tackles.
Monday Night Football
Week 12 will conclude with Monday Night Football between the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings at 8:15 p.m. (ESPN/ABC).
The Bears have former FSU defensive end DeMarcus Walker on their roster.
Running back Cam Akers is with the Vikings, but is on injured reserve due to an achilles injury.
