Linebacker Sione Takitaki had his best game against the Eagles, but will sit this week after he was placed on Covid reserve. (Salt Lake Tribune)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Browns practice and interviews …
The coronavirus surge throughout the nation claimed another Browns defensive starter.
The team had to close the facility and reschedule the practice day when a positive test for a player was made known in the morning. Later in the day, linebacker Sione Takitaki was placed on Covid-19 reserve.
Takitaki joins offensive lineman Chris Hubbard, fullback Andy Janovich and defensive end Myles Garrett on Covid reserve. These apparent positive tests all have occurred in the last two weeks. Hubbard is the closest to getting back on the field.
Takitaki was one of the heroes in the 22-17 victory over the Eagles. His Pick 6 gave the Browns the all-important lead, 7-0, in the first quarter. His apparent positive test means the Browns will play the Jaguars on Sunday without three defensive starters. Garrett is still out and cornerback Denzel Ward may miss 2-4 weeks with a strained calf muscle.
Like their head coach, the Browns merely rolled with the punches on a day that once was deemed disruptive but now has become the norm.
“It’s 2020, that’s all it is,” said running back Nick Chubb. “Since the beginning, everyone’s had to be resilient. It’s just a part of us this year.”
Coach Kevin Stefanski rearranged the day and had the offense and defense practice separately in shifts inside the team’s fieldhouse.
I asked Stefanski if there is a silver lining behind having to limit practices because of the Covid protocol disruptions, such as players being fresher as the season approaches its fourth quadrant.
“It could be,” he said. “I think that is a balance between sharp and fresh. If you do not do anything, you are going to be fresh but you might not be sharp. That is why I am excited that I can get the players on the field today and move them around. Even if it is on air and even if it is just individual, I think that is so important.”
Stiff happens
Chubb’s 54-yard run in the fourth quarter, which set up the back-breaking touchdown by Kareem Hunt in the Eagles game, was sprung when Chubb stiff-armed rookie defensive end Joe Ostman to the ground four yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
Naturally, Chubb did not gloat about the play that has been replayed on national highlight shows all week.
“It just happened. I had no idea it even happened,” he said. “I did not try to do it. It just happened. I do not even realize until after the game.”
As for the reaction about the play, Chubb shrugged, “It is really nothing to me.”
A week ago, Chubb received national kudos (except from gamblers and fantasy football players) for selflessly stepping out of bounds after a 59-yard run to seal a 10-7 win over Houston.
They’ll be back
The Browns had a lengthy injury list, including 14 players who did not practice.
Eight of them, however, were kept out as a precaution while contact tracing was being finalized. Those players were: running back Dontrell Hilliard, cornerback Robert Jackson, linebacker Elijah Lee, linebacker Jacob Phillips, linebacker Malcolm Smith, receiver Taywan Taylor, cornerback Tavierre Thomas and linebacker Mack Wilson.
The six other who were kept out for injuries were: safety Jovante Moffatt (illness), defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (ankle), safety Sheldrick Redwine (knee), safety Andrew Sendejo (groin), cornerback Denzel Ward (calf) and offensive tackle Jedrick Wills (illness).
Brownie bits
Stefanski is hopeful Garrett could be back for the next game Dec. 5 in Nashville against the Titans …
The coach claimed he did not know when or how Ward suffered the calf injury in the Eagles game. He played every defensive snap and had an acrobatic interception with 2:01 to play ...
The Browns probably will move slot corner Kevin Johnson to Ward’s spot on the outside. The slot corner could be shared by a committee of M.J. Stewart, Tavierre Thomas and Robert Jackson or a safety …
Speaking of safety, Stefanski said Ronnie Harrison, who missed the second half of the Eagles game with a knee contusion, will be ready to go in Jacksonville. Harrison was drafted by the Jaguars in 2018 and was traded to the Browns in September …
In Jacksonville, the Jaguars were hit hard this week. Defensive coordinator Todd Wash is in quarantine and will not work Sunday’s game. All other defensive coaches have been conducting meetings virtually. The Jags also placed kicker Chase McLaughlin on the Covid list and replaced him with practice squadder Aldrick Rosas …
Also, Jaguars coach Doug Marrone surprised some by naming veteran quarterback Mike Glennon the starter for Sunday. Glennon has not appeared in a game after joining the Jaguars this season. “I have never been with him before in a game,” Marrone said on a Zoom call. “I am looking to see him go out there and see if he can help us offensively with the people that we have around him. Really other than that, without any preseason games or things like that to go by, it is tough to tell.”