Team news: Cleveland Browns | Page 1

Browns’ QB Joe Flacco will start Sunday vs. the Rams.

Related Players: P.J. Walker

We last saw Flacco in New York when he started four games for the Jets last season. He threw five touchdowns (four coming in one game), three interceptions and completed 57.6% of his pass attempts for 5.5 yards per attempt.
There should be a better option on your waiver wire, but he's not taking off with the ball, which adds a little bit of a fantasy floor for David Njoku and Amari Cooper.

Still no Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward or DTR at today’s practice but Amari Cooper back after sitting out Wednesday with a rib injury.

Related Players: Elijah Moore, Cedric Tillman

All signs point towards Joe Flacco starting at quarterback, which can't necessarily be taken as a positive for Cooper. Flacco consistently fed his running backs while keeping the ball around the line of scrimmage in his five game with the Jets last season. Cooper shouldn't be considered more than a WR3.

With Browns’ QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson now in concussion protocol, Joe Flacco has been taking snaps as Cleveland’s QB1 in practice and could start Sunday vs. the Rams.

Related Players: P.J. Walker

What a world. We last saw Flacco in New York when he started four games for the Jets last season. He threw five touchdowns (four coming in one game), three interceptions and completed 57.6% of his pass attempts for 5.5 yards per attempt.
There should be a better option on your waiver wire, but he's not taking off with the ball, which adds a little bit of a fantasy floor for David Njoku and Amari Cooper.

Rookie wide receiver Cedric Tillman had his best game in Denver, catching four passes for 55 yards.

Tillman and Dorian Thompson-Robinson were high school teammates, and the two got plenty of chances to build on their previous chemistry during training camp and the preseason, the story said. Tillman’s ascent is perhaps the most important development the receiving corps has seen in weeks, the story added. With DTR in doubt for this week because of a concussion, the story wondered if Tillman can continue his upswing with a new QB possibly playing this week. Tillman's five targets were a season high as well as the four catches and 55 yards. He's likely on your wire in typical leagues and may be worth a look if you're aiming to add to the position for the stretch run. However, quarterback play will likely be a big issue with Tillman and all the Brown WRs going forward.

The Browns (7-4) are fighting for a playoff spot and trying to find any real answer for their reeling offense. So, yes — full Allen Iverson voice — we’re talking about practice and specifically about the importance of maximizing their chances to build a strong game plan inside their temporary West Coast headquarters this week.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson had shown growth and an improved comfort level in Denver before suffering the concussion, but the Browns weren’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard. P.J. Walker did little in relief except turn it over and take a safety. And, frankly, the game was pretty much over by the time he could get loose. Nothing Stefanski has done or said indicates he wants to go back to Walker, but he might have to.

Related players: Joe Flacco

Flacco is the wild card. If DTR can't clear protocol, it's possible Flacco could get the start. But the bigger question is can the team get Flacco ready in time and can he quickly develop chemistry with the receivers. Flacco isn’t mobile, but he’s always had a big arm. The story said he was not in a training camp and had been at home in New Jersey awaiting the kind of call he received from the Browns. The story added Walker hasn’t been afraid to throw downfield, but he’s completing only 48.6 percent of his passes and has thrown five interceptions and just one touchdown. No matter who starts at this point, they aren't necessarily a great fantasy option in typical leagues. However in deeper, two QB or superflex leagues, there is always a need for a starting QB who may be on the waiver wire.

Saints coach Dennis Allen told reporters that QB Derek Carr was a full participant in practice, a sign he's progressing through the NFL's concussion protocol.

Related Players: Jameis Winston

Winston is certainly far more fun to watch, but Carr is likely better for more of the Saints' fantasy pieces (i.e. Alvin Kamara). If Carr doesn't get cleared, Winston makes for a great QB streamer.

Hearing the Browns will start Dorian Thompson-Robinson vs. Steelers. I asked him before Seahawks game how it'd be different: "Night and day. It'll be a clear difference. I finally got my feet wet. I know what to do. I know what to study when I go out there."

Related Players: P.J. Walker

It was all but a certainty that P.J. Walker would get his third start of the season, but it doesn't seem that's the case. Thompson-Robinson is an exciting option for fantasy, but not necessarily for his pass-catchers. In his one start back in Week 4, he completed 52.8% of his passes for three interceptions, but did rush for 24 yards. The Browns will continue to lean on their defense in this post-Deshaun Watson world, but that's not going to matter if the offense only scores three points, as they did in DTR's first start.

Browns QB Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the first quarter against the Ravens and is heading to Injured Reserve. It’s a displaced fracture in his right glenoid in his shoulder, and he’ll have surgery to repair it. Full recovery is expected.

Related Players: P.J. Walker

This is a hit to all of the Browns fantasy pieces, and Walker himself doesn't provide much value, either. The team will have to lean even harder on their great defense.

Cleveland Browns All-Pro running back Nick Chubb underwent a second scheduled surgery Tuesday to repair ligament damage in his left knee.

The Browns announced that the surgery performed by head team physician James Voos successfully repaired damage to Chubb's ACL.

Chubb underwent a first surgery repairing his medial capsule, meniscus and MCL in late September. As the story said, and despite the second surgery to the ACL, the Browns reiterated that Chubb should be able to return to the team sometime during the 2024 season. Chubb suffered the knee injury in Week 2.

Brown QB Deshaun Watson is dealing with an ankle injury.

Related players: P.J. Walker

Watson left the game right before halftime but did return in the second half after getting his ankle taped up. He left the game with a walking boot, according to the post. Watson did say he would be fine, but we can't trust that. Watson will get an MRI Monday so the hope is we'll know more sooner than later.