Getty Browns wide receiver JoJo Natson.
The Cleveland Browns lost a key piece of their roster during Sunday’s game, with wide receiver and return man extraordinaire JoJo Natson tearing his ACL.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced the season-ending injury during his press conference on Monday.
“Disappointed for him,” Stefanski said. “He’ll go to IR.”
“I hate long-term injuries like that,” Stefanski added. “JoJo was doing a nice job for us on the offensive side. As an offensive staff, those guys will sit down and figure out if there’s another guy on the roster who can do those types of things. We’ve got to continue as much as we can to be difficult to defend. With JoJo’s role, we’ll work through that.”
Thanks to his versatility, Natson was one of just four wide receivers active for the Browns on Sunday. Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and KhaDarel Hodge were the others. Natson had one carry on an end-around for 3 yards. In all, Natson returned one kick for 31 yards and three punts for 25 yards. While it may seem insignificant, Natson has blazing speed and could have been a wild card for the offense once the unit settled in.
Natson signed a one-year deal with Cleveland this offseason. He previously played for the Rams, where he returned 13 kickoffs with an average of 22.2 yards. He also ran back 19 punts, with a 7.8-yard average.
Browns Looking at Options to Fill JoJo Natson’s Role
GettyWide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones of the Cleveland Browns.
Running back D’Ernest Johnson and rookie wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones are the other return-man options for the Browns. Landry and Beckham have also seen some time — albeit limited — as returners.
Stefanski said the team will look at all their options on filling the void.
“We’ll work through that. I think we have some candidates in the building,” Stefanski said. “That’s something I’ll sit down with (special teams coordinator Mike Priefer) as the week unfolds with how we want to attack this.”
Baker Mayfield: ‘We Have to Build Off This Momentum’
The Browns are above .500 for the first time since 2014, winning their last two games to move to 2-1. The latest was an impressive 34-20 victory against Washington on Sunday where the defense forced five turnovers and the offensive churned out an effective performance behind Nick Chubb.
“Like I said before the season started, it is about building that culture, bringing the right guys in and pushing this thing in the right direction, which is what we have been doing and we are trying to do,” quarterback Baker Mayfield told reporters Sunday. “We have to build on this momentum and keep going one game at a time.”
Mayfield did not throw an interception during the matchup, breaking his streak of nine games with a pick. He connected on 16-of-23 passes for 153 yards and two scores in the win, and outside of a third-quarter lull, the offense looked sharp. However, Mayfield gave all the credit to the Browns defense, who kept getting them the ball.
“Unbelievable job by the defense today taking the ball away. I thought we could have been offensively better in the first half just doing our job. When the defense plays like that and they were able to make a play to get us field position, we were able to take advantage in the second half and we played complementary football,” Mayfield told reporters. “Up front, we did great all game long, and I could have done a better job in the first half to keep the chains moving and put us in a better position to kind of run away with that game.”
The Browns will face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, a team hungry for a win after falling to 1-2.
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