Dec 27, 2020
When a team loses seven players in the course of 24 hours, they don t have to keep many inactive, which is the case for the Cleveland Browns as they take on the New York Jets
Linebackers B.J. Goodson and Jacob Phillips as well as wide receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, KhaDarel Hodge and Donovan Peoples-Jones were all placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Left tackle Jedrick Wills is in active with an illness and Wyatt Teller was ruled out on Friday with an ankle injury.
Those were the known issues at least as of a couple hours ago.
Safety Tedric Thompson is inactive, which may be the last time he s on the Browns with Ronnie Harrison likely back for the Browns against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Cleveland Browns fumble away game in New York
Baker Mayfieldâs 3 fumbles, defensive issues lead to 23-16 Jets win. Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt (27) recovers a fumble by quarterback Baker Mayfield during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in East Rutherford, N.J. The ruling on the field resulted in a turnover on downs ending the drive. (AP Photo/Corey Sipkin) (Source: Corey Sipkin) By Mark Schwab | December 27, 2020 at 11:36 AM EST - Updated December 27 at 5:15 PM
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Despite being gouged by COVID, many felt the Browns could still beat the Jets if they played their game- run the ball and do enough on defense. They did not do either.
Copied!
Several Browns players were in the team s recovery pool area recently with linebacker B.J. Goodson, who learned Saturday he tested positive for COVID-19, and the NFL had video showing at least one of those players wasn t wearing a mask correctly during another interaction, per sources.
Those encounters led the NFL to label all those players including four of the five receivers on Cleveland s active roster as high-risk close contacts, forcing the Browns to place them on the reserve/COVID-19 list and sidelining them for Sunday s game against the Jets.
Sharing the recovery pool which includes a hot and cold tub isn t itself a violation of COVID protocols. But the NFL s medical experts look at cumulative time, distance, mask use and ventilation in the area where exposure occurred to any positive individual, and if the threshold is exceeded in two or more of those four categories, it s labeled a high-risk close contact.
It was Mayfield s third fumble of the day.
Cleveland could have clinched its first playoff berth since 2002 with a win after the Pittsburgh Steelers came back from a 17-point deficit to knock off the Indianapolis Colts.
Instead, the Browns will likely have to defeat the Steelers in the season finale to make the playoffs. They could lose if the Colts lose to the 1-14 Jacksonville Jaguars, but they re almost in a must-win situation next week.
After a player tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, Cleveland had to delay its flight to New Jersey for more than four hours to conduct contact tracing.
Jones inactive, McCoy to start at QB for Giants vs. Browns
December 21, 2020 GMT
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is officially inactive and Colt McCoy will start in his place for New York on Sunday night against the Cleveland Browns.
Jones is dealing with ankle and hamstring issues, and was listed as questionable for the game.
McCoy, who started 21 games for the Browns from 2010-13, will start against his former team.
Rookie cornerback Darnay Holmes, New York’s nickelback, is out for the second straight game.
Wide receiver Dante Pettis, guard Kyle Murphy, tackle Jackson Barton, defensive end R.J. McIntosh and linebacker T.J. Brunson are also out for the Giants.