BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The mini bye comes at a good time for the banged-up Browns.
A weekend of rest could also pave the way for two more players to return next week – running back Nick Chubb and right tackle jack Conklin.
“I will wait until next week to give you a better feel, but I am hopeful,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said Friday.
Both Conklin and Chubb have been sidelined since the fourth quarter October 10 against the Chargers.
Conklin suffered a knee injury while Chubb strained his calf in the 47-42 loss causing both players to mis the last two games.
Off night – Odell Beckham Jr., who suffered a sprained shoulder Sunday in the second quarter of a 37-14 loss to the Cardinals, was able to play Thursday night following a lengthy pregame workout.
The first half was rough and uncharacteristic for Beckham. He dropped a pass, was called for an illegal formation, landed on his shoulder and slipped while trying to make a cut on a third-and-13 route.
Stefanski believes the pain Beckham was dealing with might have been a factor.
“Yeah, I think so. I do not see him drop very many balls in practice or games,” Stefanski said. “He fought very, very hard to make it to that game. He went through pregame warmup. Felt comfortable putting him out there. He made some plays for us. He made some plays for us in the second half. He is hard on himself. He does not ever expect to have a ball on the ground.”
Beckham bounced back in the second half with a pair of catches for 23 yards to open a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive but with a long weekend the hope is Beckham will start to feel better.
“It affected him negatively because it hurt, but he fought through it and made some plays for us so I do anticipate that he will come out of this thing,” Stefanski said.
Step in right direction – Left tackle Jedrick Wills played all 71 snaps Thursday night, marking the first time this season Wills has been able to play a full game.
“It was good to see him back out there really,” Stefanski said. “He has not practiced very much, and really in a short week, no one practices so it was not perfect and it was not clean, but again, to have him back out there, he is a factor in the run game and he did a nice job in the pass game. The nice part now is he gets back to practice, he is starting to feel healthy and we can start to continue to improve.”
Wills missed the previous two games after reinjuring his left ankle that forced him to leave three consecutive games in a row early, an injury he originally suffered Week 1 at Kansas City.
Blind for Myles – The NFL isn’t missing drug tests for Myles Garrett, who posted on social media that he has to take another test for a third time in four weeks, but they are missing a ton of holding penalties.
Thursday night Garrett was manhandled with just one holding flag thrown, which ironically came on a sack to give him 9 1/2 this season and vault him into second place on the franchise all-time sack list in front of Michael Dean Perry and 10 behind Clay Matthews Jr.
“Myles is going to get a ton of attention,” Stefanski said. “I promise you, every Monday the opposing coaches are talking about how to stop him. They are going to chip him. They are going to slide to him. In the course of the game, I understand how it is going to go. We will deal with those things internally. Myles is going to get attention.”
Garrett playfully expressed his frustrations with the officiating following the game Thursday night.
“Refs to take off their glasses or get some new ones. It is tough,” Garrett said when asked what it would take for him to start getting calls. “I have a lot of respect for their offensive line and [Broncos left tackle Garett] Bolles. I do not have a problem with what he is doing because if they are not going to call it, then there is no reason for him to change his game. He can keep doing what he is doing to stop pass rushers like myself.
“If you go by the book, it is holding. The refs are kind of giving me the Shaq treatment right now so hopefully, I can get around that.”
Injury report – Cornerback Denzel Ward suffered a hamstring injury Thursday night and receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones a groin injury during warmups.
Up next – Browns have the weekend off, practice Monday