Cleveland Browns: Denzel Ward, Donovan Peoples-Jones out for Week 8

The Cleveland Browns will have Baker Mayfield back in Week 8 but unfortunately, they will be without Denzel Ward and Donovan Peoples-Jones

Friday brought some good news as well as some bad news for the Cleveland Browns on the injury front. First, it was announced they would have quarterback Baker Mayfield back after he missed their Week 7 contest against the Denver Broncos.

However, they then received some bad news as both Denzel Ward and Donovan Peoples-Jones were ruled out for their Week 8 contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ward, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, has yet to play a full season in the NFL. This will be the first contest he missed in 2021, but for his career, it will be the 12th game he doesn’t play. He’s also had some games this season where he missed a lot of time including a Week 5 game where he had just nine snaps before being hurt.

As for Peoples-Jones, he will miss his second game in a row as he battles a groin injury. There’s no such thing as good timing for an injury but DPJ went down right after he took a huge step forward.

The second-year player had five receptions for 70 yards in Week 5 and followed that up with 101 yards on four catches with two touchdowns. Peoples-Jones has a great blend of size and speed and after a slow start, really started to give us a glimpse of the player we saw in the preseason.

Cleveland will play host to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8 in what will be their first AFC North game of the season. At 4-3, they find themselves looking up at Baltimore and Cincinnati in the standings.

A win on Halloween would help them stay in the race. If they’re going to pull that off, they will need some of their reserves to step up and replace the production of these key contributors.