Head coach Hue Jackson, who said Monday that Ogbah “would miss some time” with an ankle injury, declined to rule Ogbah out against the Saints.
“Not going to rule him out, but we will see how he progresses during the week,” Jackson said following Wednesday's practice.
Ogbah was in a walking boot on Monday and was the only active player that did not practice Wednesday.
Ogbah sprained his left ankle on the final play of the first quarter but returned to the game and played a total of 27 defensive snaps.
Jackson, who said that Ogbah didn’t suffer the dreaded high ankle sprain that typically sidelines players up to 6 weeks, is keeping hope alive that the 2016 second-round pick will be available this weekend.
“Absolutely, yes,” Jackson said. “Let’s just see where it is as we go, and we will kind of go from there.”
If Ogbah can’t go, Chris Smith and Anthony Zettel are expected to step in and fill the void.
Smith was signed to a 3-year, $12 million deal with $4.5 million guaranteed this offseason while Zettel was claimed off waivers from Detroit on Sept. 6.
“When they brought me in I knew I’d be a rotational guy and stuff like that, but I’m not worried about all that,” Smith said Wednesday. “I always mess with [the other defensive ends] and say they get a lot of flash and stuff like that, but I get out the mud. That’s what I do. I just put my head down and work and whatever happens, happens.”
“It sounds like a juicy question. There was a bunch of softballs and all of a sudden here it comes,” Payton joked on a conference call Wednesday.
Williams was suspended by the NFL in 2012 for his role in the Saints bounty scandal in which money was paid to players for targeting and causing injuries to opponents, but the fallout between Williams and Payton began before the scandal became public.
“My relationship with Gregg is great,” Payton said. “He was part of a championship we won one year.”
Payton then went on to praise the work Williams has done with the Browns, including in the Week 1 tie against the Steelers that saw Cleveland give up 472 yards but create 6 turnovers.
“He has done a great job in Cleveland,” Payton said. “You can see his defense made six takeaways last week. You see that on tape. You see the way they are playing with confidence. I think this game is more about the Saints and the Browns and finding a way to win regardless of how many points it takes. They are a team we do not get to see often obviously being in the AFC, and we are going to focus on all of the things that can come up in a game, but there is a lot you have to prepare for. Gregg has done a great job with creating different pressure looks. Also, they are very disciplined in their zone looks so that is what I would say.”
“I think he's a special player,” linebacker Joe Schobert, who broke up a pass and recovered 2 fumbles against the Steelers, said. “I think we've got a lot of athletic guys on our defense who can do a good job of staying with him and hopefully limiting him, but I think the biggest key is to know when they're trying to target him and how they're trying to target him and once you know those kinds of situations, being able to take it away and making Drew Brees go elsewhere.”
Kamara carried just 8 times for 26 yards in the Saints’ Week 1 48-40 loss to Tampa Bay, but he scored 2 touchdowns. The Saints' back also caught 9 passes for 112 yards and another touchdown from Brees.
As a rookie Kamara ran for 728 yards and 8 touchdowns while adding 81 catches for 826 yards and 5 TDs in 2017.
The duel-threat has the Browns concerned.
“I think what really makes him special is catching the ball out of the backfield,” Smith said. “He’s not a good receiver for a running back, he is a receiver in a way so that’s one thing about it, we just gotta contain him and I think that’s going to be one of the keys to victory is taking 41 away from what he does.”