Last week, the Cleveland Browns moved their left guard to left tackle and their center to left guard. They then had to put a hampered right tackle back in the game because both the left tackle and backup right tackle were injured. Also, Pro Bowl guard Wyatt Teller suffered an MCL sprain while blocking during a field goal attempt. On Wednesday, the Browns placed Teller on injured reserve.
What shuffling will this week bring? Minus Teller, how close to being at full strength might the Browns’ offensive line be? Is improved health the key to improved performance after quarterback Deshaun Watson was sacked eight times in Sunday’s loss?
Three days from this Sunday’s game in Las Vegas, we don’t have many clear answers. For strategy reasons, the Browns won’t share their thinking if their tackle options get to Saturday feeling healthy. For practical reasons, the Browns have to come up with multiple plans after left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. aggravated his knee last week and Jack Conklin was a late scratch due to a hamstring injury. Both Wills and Conklin missed the entire offseason and the first two games while trying to recover from knee injuries.
“I think we have to get through today,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said ahead of Wednesday’s practice. “With any injury and particularly with big men, you want to make sure those guys practice when they do practice, see how they feel, those type of things. So, it’s hard to say just yet.”
Wills said a New York Giants defender fell into his knee on Sunday but called it “just a little tweak” and believes he will be OK despite missing Wednesday’s practice. Right tackle Dawand Jones was forced out of last week’s game due to a knee injury, then was forced back in due to the team’s line shortage. Jones was a limited practice participant Wednesday, a sign he’s trending toward playing this weekend. Backup tackle James Hudson III left last week’s game with a shoulder injury that required an MRI, but he was back in practice Wednesday.
“I think a lot of (Jones’ struggling last week) was him not feeling totally 100 percent,” Stefanski said. “Now, there were times where he looked like himself, but he’s got to work through it, see if he’s able to go this week. But he’s also had some good moments for us this season when healthy. So, we’ll try to get him as healthy as we can.”
What are the team’s backup plans? Let’s explore the entire state of the offensive line, from primary positions to potentially complicated decisions in the coming weeks.
Each player is listed at his usual position, though any potential move is noted in the outlook. Contract details are from Over the Cap.
Jedrick Wills Jr., LT
Age, experience, contract: Wills, 25, is only under contract through this season. But the Browns have re-worked his deal in each of the last two years, so Wills currently is set to count more than $11 million on next year’s cap and almost $9 million in 2026. That backs up the thought that the Browns hope Wills can stay healthy and play well enough to sign a new deal to make this regime’s first draft pick the long-term answer at the all-important left tackle spot.
Outlook: Wills was wearing a wrap on his right knee in the locker room Wednesday. As noted above, he believes he can play this week — and he’d almost certainly be the starting left tackle if so. Wills missed the entire offseason and the first two games after his knee didn’t heal properly, so there’s uncertainty about his status and level of play.
Joel Bitonio, LG
Age, experience, contract: Bitonio, who turns 33 next month, is the longest-tenured Brown. He’s signed through 2025 on a backloaded contract that includes multiple void years to stretch out his salary-cap hits. His cap number is $12.1 million this season and $14.3 million next season.
Outlook: Bitonio moved out to left tackle last week. That’s an emergency-only plan, though he played tackle in college and also during a line emergency in 2021. He remains one of the league’s best guards and someday will be a candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’s been durable and dependable throughout his career, and Cleveland needs him to remain steady through this period of uncertainty. Bitonio has only missed one game due to injury since 2016.
Ethan Pocic, C
Age, experience, contract: Pocic, 29, signed a new deal ahead of the 2023 season that runs through 2025, though almost all of the guarantees expire this year.
Outlook: The Browns got Pocic for almost nothing during the second wave of free agency in 2022, and Pocic played well after becoming the starting center later that summer. He moved to left guard last week to accommodate the team’s emergency line situation, and though his versatility is a plus, Pocic is a powerful player who should be the center again next season, too.
Wyatt Teller, RG
Age, experience, contract: Teller turns 30 in November. He’s under contract through 2025 on a backloaded deal that currently calls for him to count $19.6 million on the cap in 2026. Assuming Teller can get healthy again and continue to play well, the Browns will likely re-work that deal at some point.
Outlook: Teller is rugged, physical and has been reliable. There’s no good time for the Browns to lose Teller for at least a month, and this seems like an especially bad time to lose a three-time Pro Bowler. It’s not as easy as trading Teller after the season if Zinter plays well. The Browns are still on the hook for a lot of money after they re-did Teller’s deal ahead of the 2023 season.
Jack Conklin, RT
Age, experience, contract: Conklin, 30, is signed through 2026 but his guarantees expire after this season. Because he’s due to carry cap numbers of $19.5 million in 2025 and 2026, Conklin will almost certainly either be released after the season or have to re-work his deal if he plays his way into the team’s plans.
Outlook: Uncertain, now and going forward. Conklin seemed ready to make his 2024 debut last week before suffering a hamstring injury in practice. Conklin has worked hard to return after he tore his ACL, MCL, PCL and meniscus in September 2023. It remains possible that he could play left tackle — his college position — at some point this season. But the Browns need to see Conklin on the field before they can get a true read on his status. Stefanski said Conklin’s been “close” to being cleared to play in each of the last two weeks.
Dawand Jones, RT
Age, experience, contract: Jones, 23, is in the second year of his standard four-year rookie contract. He’s one of the biggest players in franchise history as the team lists him at 6-foot-8, 374 pounds. Jones took over at right tackle for Conklin early last season and held the job until he suffered a season-ending knee injury in December. He was cleared for a full return at the start of training camp in July, but he’s again dealing with a knee issue.
Outlook: Jones proved ready for the big stage last season, and he was especially good as a pass blocker. He’s struggled this season and is yet to play a complete game. Stefanski said Jones was replaced last week due to his knee issue, but Jones was able to practice Wednesday. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Jones and Conklin play at right tackle this week if both are healthy.
James Hudson, RT
Age, experience, contract: Hudson, 25, is in the final year of his rookie contract. He’s never been a full-time starter and always was considered a developmental prospect, but Hudson has made starts for Cleveland in each of his four NFL seasons and has also been used as an extra blocker in the team’s jumbo packages.
Outlook: Hudson started the season’s first two games at left tackle. Though he’d taken left tackle snaps over his first three seasons, his previous starts came on the right side. Hudson only played one college season at left tackle after starting his career at Michigan as a defensive lineman. His future with the Browns is uncertain; so, too, is his present. He could be starting this week, or he could be out of the rotation altogether.
Nick Harris, C
Age, experience, contract: Harris turns 26 next month. He was the Browns’ backup center for three seasons before signing a one-year deal with Seattle in March, but the Seahawks traded him back to the Browns in August after Cleveland lost Luke Wypler to a season-ending injury.
Outlook: Harris finished the game at center last week. Over the last two seasons, he’s also played at fullback and as an extra tackle in jumbo formations. He likely will maintain his usual role as the backup center going forward, and his use at other spots will come down to the Browns’ personnel preferences and the availability of the team’s injured tackles. He’s the only NFL player listed as fullback/center on his team’s official roster.
Zak Zinter, G
Age, experience, contract: Zinter, 23, was a third-round pick in April after he played five years at Michigan. Though Zinter has both college and pro practice experience at other spots, he’s mostly been a right guard — and now he’s the starting right guard for the Browns with Teller on injured reserve.
Outlook: Clearly, he’s in the team’s plans. Zinter (6-foot-4, 310 pounds) was the first player the Browns used as an extra tackle/tight end this season, though that likely was because multiple tackles were injured. Zinter replaced Teller last week and now gets at least a month to learn, develop and potentially affect the franchise’s long-term thinking with its guards.
Germain Ifedi, T
Age, experience, contract: Ifedi, 30, is a 2016 first-round pick who has extensive experience at both right tackle and guard, though he hasn’t been a starter in the NFL since 2021. The Browns signed him to the active roster off their practice squad Wednesday.
Outlook: The Browns erred in not calling up Ifedi for last week’s game. His signing Wednesday indicates that he’ll use the practice week to get ready to potentially play multiple spots, then his exact role will be determined once the Browns know if Wills and Conklin can play this week. The Browns signed Ifedi in April in large part because of their tackle shortage for the offseason program, but he played guard for most of the spring. He finished the summer as the top backup at left tackle.
Javion Cohen, G
Age, experience, contract: Cohen, 22, made the roster as an undrafted rookie on a minimum contract. He’s yet to appear in a game.
Outlook: The Browns obviously like Cohen and didn’t want to risk losing him to another team via waivers in late August. He’s listed at 6-foot-4, 322 pounds, which fits the team’s preferred mold for powerful guards. His future fit is uncertain, but he’s an interesting prospect.
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Also …
Veteran guard Michael Dunn is on the non-football illness list and is eligible to return to practice as early as next week. Dunn, 30, is on a one-year deal. Though he’s practiced at all five line spots at various points over his five seasons in Cleveland’s program, his most extensive playing time has come at left guard.
The Browns now have four offensive tackles on their practice squad after Ifedi’s promotion Wednesday and two practice squad additions. Undrafted rookie Lorenzo Thompson is probably first in the elevation line, at least for now, but the Browns have added tackles Sebastian Gutierrez and Ricky Lee to the practice squad.
Thompson finished the summer playing left tackle for the No. 2 and No. 3 offensive groups, then was signed to the practice squad after being waived during the end-of-summer roster cutdown. Gutierrez has spent time on three other practice squads and has made one regular-season game appearance, while Lee made six appearances for Carolina last season. The fourth tackle on the practice squad is Roy Mbaeteka, an international pathway player.
(Photo: Jeff Lange / USA Today)
