It seems that a lot of things have gone on with the Cleveland Browns since last we talked about them. As we talked about recently, their troubled wide receiver Josh Gordon has been conditionally reinstated and is hoping to make his way back to the field. I believe he is eligible to practice next week, and play the week after.
That certainly doesn’t guarantee that he is going to be anything close to the player that he was back in…what was it, 2013 already? But the Browns need all the help they can get for DeShone Kizer, their rookie quarterback who actually was having his best game on Sunday before getting injured.
He is getting some help back though, for real, as the team just activated wide receiver Corey Coleman off of injured reserve. Their first-round draft pick from a year ago, he has spent more than half of his career to date sidelined or on injured reserve with two different hand injuries.
Last season, he played in 10 games as a rookie, recording 33 receptions for 413 yards and three touchdowns. He has so far played in just two games this year, catching six passes for 62 yards and a touchdown. He had five catches for 53 yards and a touchdown in the opener against the Steelers.
While that is one bit of positivity for the offensive side of the ball, however, they also suffered a blow on defense that we have not yet talked about on this site. Their top inside linebacker, Jamie Collins, has been lost for the season. In his first full season with the Browns, the Pro Bowler suffered a torn MCL in the team’s last game.
Playing in six games this year, Collins recorded 31 tackles and a sack to go along with a forced fumble, three passes defensed, and an interception. It was on the return of that interception that he suffered the knee injury.
The Browns acquired him via a midseason trade in 2016 with the Patriots. In eight games in Cleveland, he recorded 69 tackles, a forced fumble, and two sacks. He had 43 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, three passes defensed, and two interceptions in seven games with the Patriots prior to the trade.
Collins is actually the second starting linebacker the Browns have lost. Tank Carder was supposed to be the middle linebacker, but suffered an injury in the preseason, which moved second-year man Joe Schobert into that role. Now first-year former undrafted free agent James Burgess will be filling the shoes of Collins.
The Browns, quite frankly, would really just like to get a win at this point. They are currently 0-9, the only team without a single victory this season. They have won just one game in their past 25. I think I may have pulled a groin muscle just contemplating that sort of futility. Perhaps that’s what happened to Joe Thomas’ triceps as well.
