It's been a long road back for Cleveland Browns veteran tackle Jack Conklin . Now it'll be a little a longer.
After initially being listed as questionable on the Browns Week 3 injury report, the 30-year-old has been downgraded to out due to a hamstring injury that popped up about 24 hours prior to kickoff with the New York Giants.
Conklin appeared to be trending in the right direction toward playing this weekend after practicing fully at all three days of practice for the first time since Week 1 of last year. In previous weeks Conklin had been limited at practice and been designated as questionable. His upgraded availability at practices seemed like a good sign he'd be ready to make his 2024 debut.
With offensive numbers trending down, have the standards for what makes an elite QB in the NFL changed? #Browns QB Deshaun Watson chimed in earlier in the week: https://t.co/kZcV85aAmh
— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) September 20, 2024
The eight-year veteran hasn't played in a game since the 2023 season opener against he Cincinnati Bengals. Conklin left that contest on the medical cart with what wound up being a season-ending knee injury. He's been rehabbing the ailment ever since.
Conklin has been present with his Browns teammates since spring workouts and OTAs, but began training camp on the team's physically unable to perform list. He was converted to the active roster on roster cutdown day back in late August and has been slowly ramping up over the first three weeks of the season, including doing some work at left tackle, which he hasn't played since college.
Along with Conklin, usual starting left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. is also working his way back from a season-ending knee injury. Wills is also listed as questionable for Sunday's matchup with the Giants but was limited for all three days of practice during the week. If he also ends up being unable to play, Cleveland would likely start James Hudson III for a third consecutive game.
