Cleveland Browns: Training camp Week 1 injury report

The Cleveland Browns are set to kick off the 2024 preseason in less than two weeks, when they face the Green Bay Packers on August 10th. Each week of the preseason will be met with additional roster cuts. The team will finally settle at its required 53-man roster before the Browns season officially begins on September 8th at home against the Dallas Cowboys.

As each week comes and goes players will go onto, and come off of the injury report which will open or close the doors for players on the fringe of making the active roster. Let's look at the players from 2023 who missed significant playing time, or were heavily impacted by injury to determine their current status for the 2024 season. Additionally, with training camp underway we'll examine the current injuries and their tentative timelines for return.

Injuries Plagued the Cleveland Browns 2023 Season

Browns fans understand the impact injuries can have on a football season. Last year was about as bad as it can get, with nearly every critical piece of the Browns offense, defense, and special teams with season-ending or lingering injuries. The bad news is that some players who were supposed to have key roles are not returning to the Browns in 2024, most notably Marquise Goodwin, Jacob Phillips, and Jakeem Grant.

Cleveland lost some of their most valuable players to injuries in 2023 such as Nick Chubb, Deshaun Watson, Grant Delpit, Jack Conklin, Dustin Hopkins, Maurice Hurst, Dawand Jones, Rodney McLeod, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Juan Thornhill, Jedrick Wills Jr.; all of which are returning to the Browns roster this season. In addition, Myles Garrett played the entire second half of the season with a shoulder injury that he re-aggravated from his September 2022 car accident the previous season.

If you couple that with the fact that Joel Bitonio sustained a right ankle injury in the wild-card game against Houston that ended with him in a walking boot, it's easy to understand the concern when 13 Browns starters faced significant injuries going into the off-season. The good news is that only three of the previously mentioned players were placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list to begin training camp this season: Chubb, Conklin, and Wills. For the remaining ten players, their 2023 injuries won't prevent them from suiting up for week one.

The current status of key Browns Players heading into the Pre-Season

Cleveland has since placed Safety D'Anthony Bell (shin), DT Dalvin Tomlinson (knee), and CB Greg Newsome ll (hamstring) on the PUP list and newly added RB Nyheim Hines (knee) was placed on the Non-Football Injury list (NFI). All seven players on the PUP/NFI list are questionable for Week 1 and must pass a physical before practicing with the team. In addition to the PUP/NFI list; Dawand Jones (knee), Dorian Thompson-Robinson (hip), Jerry Jeudy (leg), Myles Garrett (hamstring), and newly acquired DT Quintin Jefferson (groin) are all on the injury report as of July 27th.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson appears to be poised to go head-to-head with Dak Prescott on September 8th as he is expected to suit up for 11-on-11 drills in pads. We have heard all season that he has progressed ahead of schedule, it is extremely comforting to hear he is lighting it up at practice. While his status is still technically questionable for week one, all signs point to QB1 playing.

Jack Conklin and Nick Chubb suffered season-ending knee injuries during the 2023 Season. Conklin tore his ACL during week one, and with a typical recovery timeline of nine to 12 months, it would appear as if he has a pretty good chance of being ready for week one. However, it would be no surprise if he was traded before the season opener due to the emergence of Dawand Jones.

Much of that potential scenario will likely be discussed through the preseason as Andrew Berry and company evaluate some of the younger developmental players. On the other hand, Chubb would be pushing his timeline if he returned by week one. Even so, he would most likely return in a limited role or pitch count. I would not expect to see a full workload from Chubb until closer to week ten, the bye week for Cleveland. No one can count Nick Chubb out as I am sure you have all seen the video of him squatting nearly 600 lbs only eight months into recovery.

Wills and Jones both remain sidelined through training camp. With Wills added to the PUP list, it would appear that his injury may keep him from suiting up for week one. Jones, however, is hopeful that he'll be ready to go by September 8th. The major concern for the offensive line is that the three top tackles are all injured, and two may not be available to start the season.

Greg Newsome ll (hamstring) and Dalvin Tomlinson (knee) recently had surgery to repair their injuries. While coach Kevin Stefanski remains hopeful that Newsome will return in time to play Week 1; Tomlinson's return is much less clear as the timeline for arthroscopic knee surgery varies based on the specific injury. As a generalization, it appears he'll be out for six to eight weeks which would put him back anywhere from week one to week three. Both are critical pieces to the Browns' defense and could pressure the front office to look outside the organization for depth, especially for Newsome.

Safety D'Anthony Bell (shin) and running back Nyheim Hines (knee) were two more players placed on the PUP/NFI list. Bell, a backup safety, has been a strong presence since joining the Browns as an undrafted player in 2022 and knows all too well about increased playing time due to injuries from last season. The extent of his injury is not known, however, he is expected to compete for a depth role again this year and should make the 53-man roster. Hines was acquired through free agency to help mostly on special teams. If a developmental player shows strong return capabilities during the pre-season it could push Hines out of Cleveland.

The good news is that Myles Garrett (hamstring), Jerry Jeudy (leg), Quentin Jefferson (groin), and DTR all appear to be day-to-day, with each participating in practice in limited roles. The only player whose status may be questionable for week one is DTR, and with all the off-season QB acquisitions it's difficult to determine if he'll be on the active roster anyway. The biggest issue with injuries during training camp seems to be that they either linger for the entire season and require additional rest to play on Sundays, or they reaggravate the injury at some point causing them to miss playing time.

Every year, every team deals with injuries, and every coach or player tells you it's just the next man up. For most of the season last year, that mentality worked, but with each new injury, you'd ask yourself; "How much more can this team lose?", and the Wild Card game against Houston seemed like it all hit the Browns at once. I have a feeling after the season Cleveland had in 2023, the front office will evaluate extra cautiously during the pre-season to ensure no major setbacks end the Browns' season this year.

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