Cleveland Browns injury report: Joel Bitonio still hobbled

Aug 13, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio (75) in a preseason NFL football game at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Browns may be without three players on offense when they take on the Baltimore Ravens Monday night at FirstEnery Stadium.

The Cleveland Browns released their latest injury report for Monday night’s game against the Baltimore Ravens and it looks like the offense will once again be without three players.

Guard Joel Bitonio was limited in practice on Friday, while wide receivers Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel did not practice as they are both still dealing with concussions.

The Browns are still determining if Bitonio can go against the Ravens, according to head coach Mike Pettine.

“If it’s a situation where (Joel’s) functional but maybe not 100 percent, you would maybe consider having him up and available in case you needed him,” Pettine said on Friday. “Those are all decisions we’ll just wait and see where he is with it, but that’s something that’s a decision we’ll have to make between now and game time.”

If Bitonio can’t go, the Browns will once again turn to rookie Cameron Erving, who made his first start of the season two weeks ago against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While Erving struggled against the Steelers, offensive coordinator John DeFilippo still liked what he saw – especially when Erving got physical.

“I was glad to see when they tried to push Cam around, he fought back,” DeFilippo said on Friday. “He had a couple mental mistakes, but from a physicality standpoint, we can fix that, but you can’t fix a guy that wants to go out there and be physical and try to knock people off the football. I pulled Cam aside this week and told him, ‘Hey, Cam, we will get your right. Just keep working. Keep playing with that excitement and physicality that you are playing with.’”

Having Erving ready to step up in case Bitonio can’t go may be a bit comforting, but you can’t say the same if Hawkins and Gabriel don’t suit up for the game.

Without them, the Browns are left with just Travis Benjamin and Brian Hartline, meaning the home fans may get a chance to actually see Dwayne Bowe on the field. (And won’t that be a treat?)

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“What (Hawkins and Gabriel) do doesn’t show up on the stat sheet a lot in terms of the blocking part of it, in terms of even when they don’t get the football, they are in the right position,” DeFilippo said. “To lose guys who have played a lot of football for you, it is difficult.

“At the same time, we are confident that the guys we have that are going to play on Monday that are going to be out there and do the right thing and be in the right spot. If the game dictates that Dwayne is going to be needed, Dwayne has had a good week of practice.”

The injury report for the Browns shows that Joel Bitonio (ankle) was limited in practice, while the following players did not practice: Taylor Gabriel (concussion), Joe Haden (concussion), Andrew Hawkins (concussion) and Randy Starks (knee).

For the Ravens, Shareece Wright (back) was limited, while the following players did not practice: Marlon Brown (back), Eugene Monroe (shoulder) and Kelechi Osemele (knee).