While safety T.J. Ward and running back Peyton Hillis have already been ruled out for this week's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Browns could be getting several players back from injury. The most notable name would be running back Montario Hardesty, who Shurmur would not yet rule out when asked about his status for Sunday's game.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports that Hardesty worked outside with a trainer on Wednesday while the rest of the team was indoors. Wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi and cornerback Dimitri Patterson were also practicing again in some capacity, an indication that both of them could play against the Jaguars.
More notes from Pat Shurmur's Wednesday morning press conference are after the jump. [Read full press conference transcript here]
(Part of Opening Statement) - "...Montario Hardesty will be out of practice although he’s doing some running. I’m not ruling him out for the weekend, there’s a chance he could be there..."
(On if Hardesty would be the feature back if he returns this week)- "I think what we’ve got to find out is how he does this week in practice. I’m not going to make any predictions. The two guys I know that are out are Hillis and Ward. We’ll just see how Montario handles this week of practice when he does get in there and see what and how much he can do."
(On what it would mean to his play calling to have Massaquoi and Hardesty back on Sunday)- "I think if you have more of what you started out the season as your front line players, I think it helps. That doesn’t mean that the guys are in there aren’t charged with being productive. I want all of our players to be healthy. I like to be able to say we have seven healthy scratches each week. I think that’s what you want. I don’t think any team is there right now, but that’s what we’re fighting for."
(On how he would chart the progress of the offensive line specifically the guards)- "I think last week we played better, the offensive line as a unit. There’s been improvement there. I think it helps when they can all play together all week long and that hasn’t been the case every week and I think they’re improving."
(On if the Browns made any effort to bring back Matt Roth)- "We’ll keep all those discussion behind the scenes."
(On what he’s seen from of Roth this year)- "He’s done a good job for them. He’s a very explosive guy, gets off on the snap, plays extremely hard and he’s doing a good job for them."
(On if Roth fits in a 4-3 defense)- "He’s playing a defensive end, he fits for them. He’s doing a good job."
(On if through nine games he thinks the current roster needs overhauled or if they would just need to add to it a bit going forward)- "I think it’s fair to say that we’ll have some roster changes in the offseason. When you relate that to the rookies that are playing, we’re going to try to keep them around. I think the guys that we have in their playing, we feel very good about and we want to see them improve through the end of this year, help us win games. We will have an offseason next year where they can continue to improve and then hopefully be more suited to play there year two. Again, we feel like it’s very important to build this thing through the draft. That’s why it’s important I think once you hit on good rookie players to then develop them and keep them here. That’s what our thoughts are. Now if all of them will stick, I can’t say that. There are a lot of uncontrollable variables that each player runs into, could be injury or what have you. Our idea is to draft good players, play them, develop them and then keep them around. That’s what we’re trying to do."
(On how he can prevent that fact that the team hasn’t scored a home field touchdown in a while from messing with the team’s confidence)- "Score touchdowns."
Last answer truncated for comedic purposes.