The Cleveland Browns’ regular season has been dominated by injuries. The club and supporters are expecting that health will be the narrative of the postseason, beginning with the absence of important players in Week 18. While a few players sustained injuries in that game, the team was able to rest most of its important players, including starters.
Tuesday was Cleveland’s first practice of the postseason.
The Browns have been cautious all season long with key players sidelined, but there is worry that seven players missed practice on the first day of the playoffs because of injuries:
Tillman and Strong were hurt during Week 18 while Hunt played despite battling injuries all year long.
Cooper, Hopkins, Newsome and Thornhill missed Week 18 due to their injuries and hoping to get them healthy for the playoffs.
We will have the full injury report after practice later this afternoon.
For many NFL teams, the season was decided by major injuries. The Cleveland Browns refused to let their season be determined by all the serious injuries they had to cope with. Rather, the Browns continued to win despite losing key players, and they don’t need to be concerned about the outcomes of Week 18. They finished 11-6.
Like every other team, the Houston Texans experienced a fair amount of injuries en route to winning the AFC South.
While both clubs hope that injuries do not define the Wild Card game, a number of players were absent from Tuesday’s first practice of the week.
Unlike the regular season where only the last day mattered, this week the second day of practice has a little more weight. Many of the above players who did not practice today also did not practice much or at all last week and would benefit from two days of practice in advance of the most important game of the season.
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