Browns get two players back, but still waiting on Baker Mayfield and others

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is an analyst on the Cleveland Browns for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.

Takeaways from Browns interviews … 

The Browns had another day of positive gains on their roster from the recent COVID-19 outbreak.

On Wednesday:

* Coach Kevin Stefanski tested out of COVID protocol and returned to his workplace and rejoined the team in an outdoor walk-through for the first time in seven days. Stefanski’s original positive test was Dec. 15 -- the same as quarterback Baker Mayfield, defensive tackle Malik McDowell, cornerback Troy Hill and defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo. Those players did not test out, however, and would be eligible to return without a negative test when their 10-day windows open on Dec. 25.

* Tight end Austin Hooper and linebacker Jacob Phillips tested out and also rejoined the team. Hooper tested positive on Dec. 14 and Phillips on Dec. 17. So you can see the randomness of when the virus leaves each individual’s system.

* Cornerback Greg Newsome tested positive and was put on COVID/reserve. Newsome also remains in concussion protocol and was not expected to be available for the game in Green Bay on Saturday.

* Punter Jamie Gillan cleared COVID protocol and was waived. The writing was on the wall for Gillan’s departure when veteran punter/holder Dustin Colquitt was released by the Falcons on Dec. 6 and signed by the Browns four days later. A source said Gillan fell into disfavor with the club beyond his performance on the field.

“I am disappointed for Jamie – I spoke to Jamie – but that is part of this business, so he understands that,” Stefanski said.

Colquitt, 39, will finish the season with the Browns but is not expected to come back in 2022. Thus, the Browns could be in the market for a new punter and a new kicker.

Place-kicker Chase McLaughlin survived another week after extending his slump to six misses in his last 11 field-goal tries. But unlike the situation at punter, there was no veteran kicker available for the Browns and they were unconfident in promoting untested Chris Naggar from their practice squad.

“Chase is our kicker,” Stefanski said. “He has high expectations for himself, we expect him when he is out there to make his kicks and we are counting on him, and I think he knows that.”

That’s good that he knows he has to make his kicks.

S.O.S, pass rush

The Browns are forced to prepare for MVP-candidate Aaron Rodgers without their top three defensive ends. It’s very possible none would be available on Saturday, as Myles Garrett’s status remains uncertain, at best.

Takk McKinley (Achilles surgery) and Jadeveon Clowney (COVID) are definitely out. Garrett suffered a groin injury in the Raiders game, but returned for the final excruciating defensive series in obvious pain. Stefanski would not comment on results of the MRI Garrett received on Tuesday.

“We are just going to have to work through it. He has an injury there,” Stefanski said. “We will see if it prevents him from playing. We will see if it prevents him from practicing. I think we are not there yet. We just have to see how he does today and the next day.”

Tretter defends efforts as NFLPA president 

Center JC Tretter was criticized on social media by some Raiders and players from other teams for his role in negotiating a rescheduling of games involving the three teams hit by a COVID outbreak last week. On Wednesday, Tretter disclosed that the union saved the Raiders, Browns, Rams, Seahawks, Washington Football Team and Eagles game checks by negotiating reschedulings of their games.

Raiders linebacker K.J. Wright and cornerback Casey Hayward accused the NFL of showing favoritism toward the Browns because of Tretter’s role in granting other concessions to the league.

"I do not think everybody was fully aware of just how close those games were to being cancelled," Tretter said on a Zoom call. "I do not think everybody was fully aware that if cancelled, they were not going to get paid -- both teams were not going to get paid.

“I reached out to a couple of guys on the Raiders. I think the thing that people did not understand was that I was fighting for the same thing for the Browns players as I was for the Raiders players, and that was to get paid. That is my job as president."

If the NFL would have canceled the games, the question remains whether they would have been regarded as forfeits – automatic losses -- by the Browns, Rams and WFT.

Tretter refused to say if that would have been the case, deferring the matter to the NFL.

“That is not a decision or an answer for us,” Tretter said. “That would be for the league on how they were going to handle it. In the end, we did not want either way – if the game is not played, cancelled, forfeited or whatever word you want to use for it – the guys were not going to get paid, and that is what we were concerned about.

“I do not worry about standings, I do not worry about record and I do not worry about those things as president. I worry about making sure our guys are paid, and that was my concern.”

An email to Brian McCarthy, NFL VP of communications, asking for clarification on whether the games would have gone as forfeits was not returned.

As it turned out, the Browns blew a 14-13 lead in the final two minutes and lost, anyway.

Brownie bits

Tretter termed the past week “tiring … exhausting … difficult” on everybody. “It was definitely a very long week – probably the longest week of my tenure [as NFLPA president],” he said …

Stefanski ruled out running back Kareem Hunt (ankle) and Hill (knee) for the Green Bay game …

Left tackle Jedrick Wills should be eligible to return from COVID/reserve on Friday, if asymptomatic. If so, the Browns would return Joel Bitonio to left guard and move Blake Hance to right tackle. The Browns will hold their only practice of the week on Thursday. I asked Stefanski if he would return to Bitonio and Hance to their probable positions knowing that Wills should be available for the game, even if he doesn’t practice. “We will just make decisions as we go,” he hedged. “Part of the reason for that and how fluid it is, we do not know what is going to happen tomorrow in terms of guys maybe testing out.”