Browns’ injuries, offensive concerns mount ahead of joint practice with Bills

BEREA, Ohio — We explore some areas of concern and of note, and how both relate to the Cleveland Browns’ itinerary for the rest of this week — the final true week of training camp under first-year head coach Todd Monken.

Offensive line injuries

Last week, Monken said the team had zeroed in on its starting offensive line. But center Elgton Jenkins wasn’t on the field Tuesday, and neither of the players who’ve been with the No. 1 offense at right guard finished practice.

Teven Jenkins had pretty much claimed the right guard spot, but he sat out the last two drills of Tuesday’s practice with an undisclosed injury. KT Leveston, who played guard when Teven Jenkins missed a week early in camp with a back injury, left the field late in Tuesday’s practice with a member of the medical staff. Leveston had played right tackle the last two days as the team gave rookie Austin Barber his first snaps at right guard.

Now, Barber might have to play guard with the starters in Thursday’s joint practice with the Buffalo Bills or in Saturday’s preseason game if Teven Jenkins or Leveston has to miss time. Monken told reporters before Tuesday’s practice that Leveston looked better in his tackle reps Monday than he previously had at guard.

Barber had played only tackle before Monday. The Browns waived guard Jack Conley on Tuesday for the second time this month, but he might need to return. Monken has said the team feels none of its current injuries are long term and said Elgton Jenkins just has some “nagging” issues, but the plan was always to play Elgton Jenkins or rookie Parker Brailsford at center. Brailsford hasn’t practiced since the first week of camp due to what’s believed to be a thumb injury on his right (snapping) hand.

Luke Wypler has been at center with the No. 1 offense this week. Dawand Jones was the No. 1 right tackle Tuesday as Tytus Howard wasn’t practicing. It’s believed that Howard was just taking a maintenance day, but the Browns could end up being short at all three line spots for the rest of the week. What Monken basically called an experiment with Barber moving inside could end up becoming a part of a plan that’s obviously fluid right now.

Something to note

Practice was cut short Tuesday. Monken screamed at defensive tackle Adin Huntington after he put a big hit on running back Quinshon Judkins. It appeared Monken was yelling at the defensive coaching staff after he sent Huntington to the sideline.

Shortly after, Monken ended practice and called the team to a group huddle. There were still more than 10 minutes left on the scoreboard clock in the ongoing full-team drill, and a situational period for the No. 1 offense was still scheduled to end practice. But Monken ended things early, and certainly didn’t appear happy about it.

Maybe Monken didn’t want to risk further injury given that defensive end Isaiah McGuire and fullback Carsen Ryan left the field with the medical staff at various points of practice. Maybe Monken was enraged by Huntington’s hit and an accidental collision between defensive end Benton Whitley and quarterback Shedeur Sanders a little earlier. Sanders was not hurt, but defensive players are instructed not to get near the quarterbacks.

Maybe Monken had simply seen enough mediocre play from the quarterbacks and the offense, which was generally dominated by the defense. Monken only addresses the media before practice, so we don’t know for sure.

In the fourth week of full camp, players are tired, the defense seems to know what’s coming from the offense and everybody’s a little restless. So what happened isn’t a big deal as long as the extracurriculars don’t result in injury, but the team’s overall injury situation is a concern. So is the shorthanded defensive line basically camping out in the offensive backfield during competitive drills.

For most of the spring and summer, the prevailing thought was that the upcoming joint practice would be the most important evaluation day of camp for a completely remade offensive line — and perhaps the last major chapter in the ongoing quarterback competition.

But the view from here is that Deshaun Watson has a lead on Sanders, even though neither has been remarkable. The team’s overall lack of depth has made the rest of the week just as much about survival as about really learning where things stand.

Monken has said the plan is for the Browns’ available starters to practice on Thursday against Buffalo’s starters, then for both teams to play mostly backups in Saturday’s game. There could be exceptions, but it looks like Sanders will play the first half Saturday behind a makeshift offensive line. Rookie wide receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston continue to have outstanding camps and have solidified starting jobs, so they likely won’t play much — if at all — on Saturday.

All through camp, Monken has smartly managed and limited reps for Judkins and tight end Harold Fannin Jr.

The Browns have a large group of young players competing for roles, and many of them will have a runway to make a real impression over two days versus the Bills. But it also appears that what might have been the Browns’ best chance to evaluate their top offensive group versus another team’s starters this summer could be limited.

Monken has said Watson and Sanders will split No. 1 reps during that joint practice.

Something else to note

Though Monken has long sort of slated the day (or days) after this preseason game against Buffalo for making his quarterback decision, he’s not fully committing to that. The Browns only practice twice next week before closing the preseason on Aug. 27 versus New England, and Monken hopes to use that game as a dress rehearsal for whoever is named the starter and the first offensive line.

But depending on what happens the rest of this week at quarterback and what personnel changes need to be made along the line, there could be another detour.

Starting defensive end Alex Wright has missed the last two practices, so McGuire’s early departure Tuesday left the group thinner there. Defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. was back to practice for the first time in two weeks Tuesday. But the Browns remain thin at cornerback, with four undrafted rookies logging heavy practice snaps, and at tight end.

Ryan, who’s played both fullback and tight end, has mostly been playing fullback because veteran Michael Burton has been out for two weeks with an injury. The tight end group took another hit in the preseason opener when blocking tight end Brenden Bates suffered an injury and was waived-injured on Monday.

One of the bright spots amid the shuffle at cornerback has been undrafted rookie Michael Coats Jr., who had an interception in the preseason opener and followed that with a strong practice Monday despite leaving the game Saturday with an ankle injury. In three weeks, Coats has gone from the bottom of the depth chart to being in the mix for a roster spot when Cleveland has to cut to the regular-season size of 53 on Aug. 30.

“Coats, that guy just shows up every day and makes plays,” Monken said. “That’s probably the one that stood out with the other guys beat up at corner.”