Cleveland Browns injury report: secondary still hurting
By Thomas Moore
Sep 27, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden (23) during the third quarter against the Oakland Raiders at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Browns released Thursday’s injury report for their game against the St. Louis Rams and the news is still not good for the secondary.
Cornerback Joe Haden missed practice as he remains in the NFL’s concussion protocol, while safety Tashaun Gipson was also out as he still is recovering from an ankle injury.
While cornerback Pierre Desir earned praise from head coach Mike Pettine for the work the second-year cornerback has done while filling in for Haden, the coach also conceded that the injuries are having an impact on the defense.
“It has an effect. There have been times – that’s not the exclusive plan with Joe, but it’s the way you would prefer it to be,” Pettine said. “It goes back to the old saying, ‘You can’t win with players that aren’t out there.’ We are full speed ahead with the guys we have, formulate the best plan that we have and put those guys into position, but we weren’t just going to bump a guy up and say, ‘OK, you’re in the Joe Haden spot.’
“Joe had that skillset, that ability. He’s demonstrated that time and time again to take a receiver out, and we’ve had to do some different things coverage-wise to compensate for it.”
Defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil echoed Pettine’s comments, but also said that cornerback Justin Gilbert may be close to working his way back into the cornerback mix.
“He’s got a chance to compete every week. Pierre Desir has done a pretty good job establishing himself as our third outside corner but that doesn’t mean that that’s set in stone,” O’Neil said. “Justin right now out in practice has looked as good as he’s been since he’s been a part of this organization. He’s definitely going in the right direction.”
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Rookie cornerback Charles Gaines may also soon be in the mix as he returned to practice this week after spending the first six weeks of the season in short-term injured reserve. The Browns now have three weeks to decide if they want to activate Gaines this season or not.
The full injury report for the Browns shows the following players as limited: Tank Carder (shoulder), John Hughes (knee), Marlon Moore (hamstring), Craig Robertson (ankle) and Danny Shelton (knee). In addition to Gipson and Haden, Rob Housler (hamstring) did not practice.
For the Rams, limited in practice was Janoris Jenkins (concussion), while the following players did not practice: Tre Mason (ankle), Tavon Austin (thigh), Robert Quinn (knee), Alec Ogletree (ankle), Chris Long (knee) and Lance Kendricks (hand).
Full Participation = 100 percent of player’s normal reps; Limited = less than 100 percent of player’s normal reps; Did Not Participate in Practice = did not take part.