Well, the 1-1 Browns received both good news and bad in regards to the offensive line as we head into Week 3 against the New York Giants in Cleveland.
The Bad?
Tackle Jack Conklin who had been dealing with a hamstring injury was officially ruled out for the third-straight week in a row to begin the season.
The Good?
2020 first-round pick Jedrick Wills Jr. is set to make his 2024 season debut. It’s his first game since Week 9 of last season. He has been dealing with a gruesome knee injury to start the year.
The Browns did improve from Week 1 against the Cowboys where they allowed a whopping six total sacks despite the solid win. They only gave up two against the Jaguars in this previous week but it still wasn’t pretty.
The first challenge is simply the change of the roster with the ins and outs of players announced this week. The o-line works together as a cohesive unit and that’ll be altered with the news.
Additionally, and I wrote this in a previous article, but in summation… If the o-line sucks, no matter who is the quarterback, they are going to have a plethora of problems throughout the game. That is why it is so crucial for a solid performance today by the group.
Sure, the offensive line as probably the most boring part of football. It’s part of a team that doesn’t matter until the quarterback is down on the ground, the ball is loose and a game is on the line is ruined by a horrific turnover.
If the team is able to protect quarterback Deshaun Watson today, it surely should result in a win against a very mediocre 0-2 Giants team in The 216.
Hopefully, today will be a game that Wills Jr. is able to play from start to finish at a high level. Looking ahead, a quick return from Conklin will be big in the coming weeks.
It’ll be James Hudson III getting the start in place of Conklin today. He’s in his fourth season and has started 16 games in total.
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