While the Pittsburgh Steelers are dealing with injuries of their own, they aren’t alone. Around the AFC North, the Cleveland Browns have lost a valuable piece to their defense. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, LB Jacob Phillips is out for the season with a torn pectoral.
The Browns played their second preseason game last night, losing to the Washington Commanders, 17-15. Cleveland played in the Hall of Fame game, winning that Aug. 3 contest against the New York Jets.
As Schefter notes, Phillips was limited to just seven games in 2022 due to a pectoral injury. It’s unclear if the injury is to the same pec as it was last year. A third-round pick out of LSU in 2020, Phillips will have appeared in only 20 games over his first four NFL seasons.
Last year, he started four games, notching 46 tackles and two sacks. He played 46 defensive snaps in the Browns’ Week 3 win over the Steelers, recording seven tackles and one sack, chasing QB Mitch Trubisky from behind on this play.
For his career, Phillips has recorded 88 tackles and three sacks. Cleveland has suffered several injuries to its inside linebacker room dating back to last year. In that first matchup against the Steelers, LB Anthony Walker tore his quad and missed the rest of the year. Later in the season, LB Sione Takitaki tore his ACL while talented LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was limited to just 11 games because of injuries.
Owusu-Koramoah and Walker figured to be the Browns’ starting pair this season. Other options include former fifth-round pick Tony Fields and UDFA Mohamoud Diabate.
Pittsburgh has an early-season primetime matchup against the Browns in 2023, hosting them on Monday night in Week Two. The two will play again in Week 11, a Sunday afternoon matchup. Last season, the Steelers rallied to finish ahead of the Browns in the AFC North and split the season series, losing in Week Three before beating Cleveland in convincing fashion in the regular season finale, sacking QB Deshaun Watson seven times.
