The Browns were hit by the injury bug again for the second-straight week.
The Cleveland Browns haven’t escaped the injury bug in the preseason as they’ve seen multiple offensive linemen go down. Last week, the Browns lost second-year center Luke Wypler to a fractured right ankle against the Green Bay Packers, which will require surgery.
Cleveland was traded for veteran offensive lineman Nick Harris a day after losing Wypler. But things got worse for the Browns during Saturday’s preseason against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Browns saw Hakeem Adeniji and Germain Ifedi leave in the third quarter with knee and hand injuries, respectively. Meanwhile, James Hudson III limped off the field in the first quarter with an ankle injury after starting at right tackle.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was likely hoping for some good news on Sunday about his offensive line, but that mostly ended up not being the case.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Stefanski told reporters that Hudson III won’t play this week and Adeniji will be out for a while. However, he added Ifedi should be okay and Jedrick Wills Jr. won’t practice this week.
Stefanski and offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey aren’t excited to hear that those two offensive linemen won’t play in the final preseason game as starter Deshaun Watson is expected to play next week against the Seattle Seahawks.
For the Browns to be successful this season, they need their offensive line to be 100%, along with Watson. Last season, Cleveland saw starting tackles Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills miss many games, which was a microcosm of the Browns’ woes.
That said, Cleveland hopes to have Wills Jr. and Conklin activated off the PUP list and the rest of their backups ready for the start of the 2024 season.
