CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Browns rookie left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. was downgraded Sunday to out due to an illness.
Wills’ absence leaves the Browns without two of their starting offensive linemen.
Kendall Lamm will start in his place.
“Kendall’s done a great job for us all year,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said in an interview with Jim Donovan on the University Hospitals Cleveland Browns radio network. “He got all those reps this week. He got all the walk-through reps so I feel a ton of confidence in Kendall.”
Nick Harris will start at right guard for Wyatt Teller, who is sidelined with an ankle injury.
“He’s a very quick player, great lateral movement and then he is a little bigger and stronger than you think,” Stefanski told Donovan. “He does come off the ball. He wins with quickness. He wins with tenacity, very smart player, so again, somebody that we’re counting on and he got a ton of reps this week to prepare himself.”
Stefanski and the Browns held a walk-through in a parking garage across from the hotel at 8:15 Sunday morning before traveling to MetLife Stadium.
Wills was cleared to return and activated from the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday. He landed on the list earlier in the week after being deemed a high-risk close contact with someone who tested positive.
On Saturday, the Browns placed six players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, including linebacker B.J. Goodson who tested positive for the virus.
Receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, KhaDarel Hodge and Donovan Peoples-Jones along with linebacker Jacob Phillips were all deemed to be high-risk close contacts upon completion of contact tracing and subsequently placed on the list.
“We have guys that were at practice, went through the walk-throughs – maybe didn’t get the reps – but they have a pretty good understanding of what we’re doing,” Stefanski said. “It’s nothing new. Its 2020 and you gotta be ready to go.”
NFL Network reported that the five players spent time in the therapy pool area with Goodson this week.
D'Ernest Johnson will handle punt and kickoff return duties according to Stefanski and Tae Davis will get more playing time at MIKE linebacker against the Jets.