The Cleveland Browns finally caught a break on the injury front, with speedy wide receiver Anthony Schwartz returning to practice from concussion protocol, giving him a shot to face the Raiders on Monday.
Schwartz was originally ruled out of the game, which was originally slated for Saturday. However, with the move to Monday due to COVID-19 issues within the Browns facility, Schwartz got some extra time to get active following the concussion he suffered nearly a month ago against the Patriots. Schwartz is officially listed as questionable.
WR Anthony Schwartz (concussion) now questionable for Monday. He was originally ruled out. CB Greg Newsome (concussion) still out. #Browns
Schwartz will be a welcome addition to the Browns offense, which is in need of a speedy, deep threat to complement Donovan Peoples-Jones and Jarvis Landry.
Browns Not Holding Out Hope for Players to Return
The postponement of the game bought the Brown some extra time, but they still have more than 20 players on the reserve/COVID-19. Among those are quarterbacks Baker Mayfield, Case Keenum and half of the Browns starters.
While the Browns have some added flexibility — being able to add players until just hours before the game — they are not holding out hope.
“As you can imagine, things are very fluid. We will see how it goes in terms of guys going not the list, but in terms of guys who are coming back, we do not know,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “There is uncertainty there. If guys make it back, great. If they do not, that is fine, too. We have that mentality, as you know, where it is next man up and love to see guys come back, but definitely not something that we are counting on, so to speak.”
Here is the list of players currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list:
- Quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Case Keenum
- Running back Kareem Hunt
- Offensive linemen Jedrick Wills Jr. Wyatt Teller, James Hudson III and Drew Forbes
- Wide receivers Jarvis Landry and JoJo Natson
- Tight ends Austin Hooper and Ross Travis
- Defensive linemen Jadeveon Clowney, Ifeadi Odenigbo and Malik McDowell
- Linebackers Jacob Phillips, Mack Wilson Sr. and Tony Fields II
- Cornerbacks Troy Hill and A.J. Green
- Safeties John Johnson III, Ronnie Harrison Jr., Grant Delpit and Nate Meadors
- Punter Jamie Gillan
Anthony Walker Returns for Browns
The players have been able to get a few players back following positive tests, including tight end David Njoku, defensive end Takkarist McKinley and linebacker Anthony Walker. Njoku and Walker missed last week’s game due to the positive tests.
“Obviously, the hand we were dealt, again, I do not think the guys flinched either way. If we would have had to play with [or without] the reschedule or anything like that, I think we have had a lot of mature guys handle it the right way and great coaches who have kept us engaged and locked in for whatever was handed to us,” Walker told reporters on Saturday, December 18. “I think the guys just stayed focused on the process. Obviously, the game was rescheduled. Obviously, we should be able to get a couple of guys back hopefully within the next few days.”
There’s still quite a bit of uncertainty for the Browns, but they’re in a better position than they were if the game was played on Saturday.
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Browns Receiver Makes Unexpected Return Prior to Raiders Matchup