Cleveland Browns forced to shut facility down again

The Cleveland Browns have shut down their facilities, again

If it feels like we have been here before, it’s because we have. The Cleveland Browns once again find themselves needing to shut down their facility and conduct contact tracing after a player and staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

This comes just days after the Browns had to shut their facility down as they prepared for their Week 17 game against the New York Jets. That contact tracing led to them being without the majority of their wide receiving corps.

Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, KhaDarel Hodge, and Donovan Peoples-Jones all missed the game as did linebackers B.J. Goodson and Jacob Phillips.

Cleveland was at a huge disadvantage with all the players being out as Baker Mayfield was forced to target Ja’Marcus Bradley as his top wide receiver. The Browns did have Austin Hooper, Harrison Bryant, and David Njoku but they weren’t much of a threat outside which helped the Jets shock Cleveland in a 23-16 game.

Now, the Browns are facing a must-win as they could be in danger of missing the playoffs if they lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17.

On Tuesday, it seemed that game became much easier for the Browns as Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin announced they would be resting some of their starters, including Ben Roethlisberger — who will be replaced by Mason Rudolph.

That advantage could be up in the air now as the team is conducting their contact tracing to see who might need to be placed on the COVID-19/reserve list.

In other news, safety Andrew Sendejo and tight end Harrison Bryant were already placed on the reserve list.