It's a good thing that the Cleveland Browns are back at home this week and will be facing an opponent that tends to struggle, because they have some key injuries that are starting to pile up.
The two biggest names to watch are running back Peyton Hillis and cornerback Joe Haden. When asked how Haden was doing, head coach Pat Shurmur said that he was making progress and would do a few more things than he did last week in practice, but he would not elaborate as to what that meant. Hillis did not practice on Wednesday with his left hamstring injury. He would not rule him out for this week's game, but why would he? He didn't rule Haden out of last week's game, and Haden later admitted that he knew he wasn't going to be able to play.
"Sure, there’s a possibility," said Shurmur, regarding the possibility of Hillis practicing with the team prior to Sunday. "We’ll see how he improves as he goes forward. I think he’s going to do some light running today just to see where he’s at, but you won’t see him out there on scrimmage downs." The Akron Beacon Journal reports that Hillis ended up not doing the light running Wednesday night.
Linebacker Scott Fujita suffered a concussion-like injury this past Sunday against the Raiders, and he was sent home Wednesday after not feeling well. Kaluka Maiava filled in for him during practice, and I imagine that he will probably get the start this week.
Safety Ray Ventrone did not practice due to a hamstring injury. Cornerback Buster Skrine ended up leaving practice with a hip injury, something that could make our secondary really thin heading into this week's game. Lastly, backup offensive lineman Artis Hicks did not practice due to a back injury.