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The Cleveland Browns see the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 and the status of quarterback Joe Burrow has become a significant question for the matchup after he went down with a calf strain early on in training camp.
Burrow was carted off the field during practice and is expected to miss several weeks, per head coach Zac Taylor, which could put his availability in question for the start of the season. A Browns player who feels Burrow’s pain is Wyatt Teller, who dealt with a similar injury in 2020 and again last season.
“I’m praying for Joey. It’s tough. Depending on the position, calf strains are never fun,” Teller told reporters on July 28. “It’s one of those things that even when it happened in 2020, it was a different muscle, gastroc and soleus. Depending on which one it is, I mean, you’re pounding the ground, all that different stuff. It’s hard to put pressure on, it’s hard to stop on the bull rush – so much of being an offensive lineman. Usually, if you’re like a DB – I know some DBs and some skill guys – they can come back and (do) kind of repetitive sets and it’s not too bad. They’re not pounding the ground kind or thing, but it’s tough.”
Browns Have Had Upper Hand Against Joe Burrow
Burrow has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league since arriving in 2020 as the No. 1 overall pick. However, he’s had trouble with the Browns, going 1-4 in games against Cleveland. He’s tossed 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in those games, averaging 295 yards.
That being said, the Bengals and Burrow have had more success as a team, making it to the Super Bowl two seasons ago and advancing to the AFC Championship last season before being upended by the Kansas City Chiefs in a thriller.
The Bengals are the favorite to win the AFC North, which is expected to be one of the more competitive divisions in football. The Browns were initially a 2.5-point underdog for the opener against the Bengals but the line has shifted in Cleveland’s favor since the news came out on Burrow’s injury.
Browns Face AFC North Rivals Out of the Gate
The Browns have an interesting schedule, seeing the Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 2) and Baltimore Ravens (Week 4) over the first four weeks of the season. The Browns are integrating some new personnel but Teller is hopeful they can leave any growing pains in the preseason.
“Playing those really good teams really early, it’s going to be tough. But at the same time, they’re dealing with new players and new wide receivers and all that stuff,” Teller said. “There are a lot of growing pains every team has to go through. Hopefully, we get those wrinkles out in preseason, but you never know. If it does happen early in the season, we can still turn around and win some games. We just have to put them back to back. And I feel like that’s something that we haven’t done since 2020 – is really going on a roll and win two, three, four games at a time. But the way you do that is to win one at a time. So we just have to focus on the first.”
The Browns have been able to string together consecutive wins just twice over the last two seasons.
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