CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Browns cornerback Denzel Ward appears ready to return this week against the Giants after missing the last three games due to calf strain.
“I feel great,” Ward said Thursday following practice.
Ward has been limited the last two days during practice, but it sounds like he will play Sunday night in New York.
“I feel like I am ready. I feel like I am healthy,” Ward said. “I got out there to practice today. I was running full speed and was able to cut and do all of the movements I feel I needed to do. I am looking forward to it. Looking forward to getting back out there.”
Ward suffered the injury Nov. 22 against the Eagles.
“It was very tough to be out of those games and not be out there with my guys,” Ward said. “I felt it towards the end of the fourth quarter, but I was just trying to keep my leg loose, kind of just go through it and still be there to finish the game. Afterwards, it was just a little difficult to walk and everything. I thought it was just natural soreness and just being hurt from the game, but once it was like too difficult to walk and then had an MRI, they said I strained it.
“It was tough, but that is how life goes sometimes. Just fighting hard to hurry up, get healthy and get back out there to play with my team.”
Despite missing three games, Ward is tied with Bears corner Jaylon Johnson for the second-most pass breakups this season with 15.
“I definitely pay attention to it,” Ward said. “It is definitely a goal of mine to lead the league and to do what I can to help my team. I know making plays and getting PBUs, interceptions or whatever it might be helps my team win so that is definitely a goal of mine to kind of get back on top and help my team.”
Giants Top CB Out – Giants cornerback James Bradberry was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday after being deemed to be a high-risk close contact of an individual who tested positive.
“The contact did not occur at the Giants facility and the individual is not a member of the organization. Bradberry will remain isolated from the team and continue to participate in meetings remotely,” the team said. “Given the timing of the close contact, Bradberry will miss Sunday night’s game against Cleveland. If he continues to test negatively and has no symptoms, he would come off the reserve list on Monday.”
Bradberry is tied with Xavien Howard of the Dolphins and Carlton Davis of the Buccaneers for the league lead with 17 pass breakups this season.
“He is a talented player, a good player and their cornerback for their team,” Ward said. “He has made a lot of plays. I am not sure how much PBUs he has had, I feel like it is up there. I know a lot of us compete and a lot of DBs compete with one another. I hate to hear that he is not playing. Hope he gets back out there soon.”
Honest Answer – Former Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens will call plays for the Giants Sunday with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett sidelined following a positive COVID-19 test.
Receiver Jarvis Landry was asked about the disappointing 6-10 finish in 2019 under Kitchens, who served just one season as head coach following a promotion to offensive coordinator in 2018.
“It definitely was a frustrating season for a lot of people,” Landry said. “That is just kind of how NFL is. It is kind of how it works. Each game you go into, it is any given Sunday, anybody can beat you and you have to play your A game. I do not want to go back too much into to last year, but I just did not think that the season ended the way that anybody wanted it to.”
Kitchens was fired following an embarrassing 33-23 loss to the Bengals in the season finale allowing Cincinnati to finish 2-14.
“I was not opposed to it,” Landry said of the change. “I can only do my job and trust that the staff and the organization are going to be able to put somebody in place, whether that continued to be Freddie or coach Kevin as it is now obviously, to make sure that we can get on the right track and be a winning football team.”
Friendly Bounce – Donovan Peoples-Jones made a heads-up catch on a two-point conversion early in the fourth quarter that pulled the Browns within 34-28 of the Ravens after the pass from Baker Mayfield went off Kareem Hunt’s hands right into his own.
“I saw it come out of Bake’s hand and I saw Kareem go up for it. By the track of the ball, it just looked weird,” Peoples-Jones said. “It looked weird so I kind of settled my feet and I saw it like pop right off of his shoulders right into my hands. I do not know. It was weird, but it landed right into my hands.”
The sixth-round pick out of Michigan, who has gotten approximately 26% of the offensive snaps in the 10 games he’s appeared in this season, has made his mark when opportunity presents itself. Peoples-Jones has caught 10 of 14 targets for 238 yards with a pair of touchdowns, including a 75-yarder against the Titans.
“With football, you can’t predict everything. Some things happen unpredictably,” Peoples-Jones said. “There are four receivers or three receivers out there at a time. Any one of those guys can get the ball at any given time so I kind of feel like you just have to always be ready.”
Injury Report – DNP: S Andrew Sendejo (concussion), RG Wyatt Teller (ankle); LIMITED: RT Jack Conklin (knee), KhaDarel Hodge (hamstring), TE Austin Hooper (neck), CB Kevin Johnson (groin), DT Larry Ogunjobi (toe), CB M.J. Stewart (shoulder), CB Denzel Ward (calf), C JC Tretter (knee); FULL: DE Myles Garrett (elbow), WR Jarvis Landry (hip),