Cleveland Browns players need to remember Covid-19 impact on 2020

Covid-19 was terrible in 2020, but the Cleveland Browns may not be done yet.

Cleveland Browns veterans who endured Covid-19 last season are mostly getting vaccinated, but despite the substantial toll Covid-19 took on the team, not everyone is cool with vaccines.

While the NFL and the Cleveland Browns have thus far respected the individual’s right to control what goes into his or her body, it nevertheless comes as a surprise that many are reluctant to vaccinate, given that they lost a game to the New York Jets, playing with no regular wide receivers due to Covid-19, not to mention the fact that the disease took down the toughest guy on the team.

Would players risk blowing the 2021 season due to Covid? Yes, apparently so. Some players are prepared to risk everything in order to assert their rights to avoid vaccination.

Some apparently fear side effects, and feel that these side effects are more dangerous than the disease itself.

What we know for a fact is that the toughest guy on the team is Myles Garrett, and he contracted full-blown Covid-19, and it was not fun. If he says, “It kicked my butt,” you can assume that he is telling the truth and that he is not some political dupe.

One of the ways the Browns can get beat this season is to lose due to Covid. This happened in 2020 when the Browns were forced to play without their regular wide receivers against the New York Jets. Ja’Marcus Bradley was heroic in his first NFL game, but he just was not the same as Jarvis Landry or Rashard Higgins.

The Browns were not the only team affected. The Ravens had to play a game with Robert Griffin III substituting for Lamar Jackson. The Denver Broncos had to play a game with wide receiver Kendall Hinton as the emergency quarterback when all four of their quarterbacks were deemed to be Covid risks. Denver’s situation was partially preventable because although Jeff Driskel actually tested positive, the quarterbacks did not follow mask protocols, making them all ineligible.

Also, let us not forget that, even upon his return from Covid-19,  Myles Garrett says that he was not his usual self. If he had had normal wind capacity in his lungs, he believes he would have caught quarterback Chad Henne and the Browns, not the Kansas City Chiefs, would have faced the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game.

Garrett was still a Pro Bowl-caliber player after returning from Covid, but maybe not historically great like he was before getting taken down. Earlier in the season, quarterbacks were being separated from footballs at an amazing pace because of Garrett’s speed and power.

Are we in for another round in 2021?

According to the news, the Delta variant is causing a comeback in the number of cases.