Browns could be ready to turn to Greg Robinson

It may not be official just yet, but the Cleveland Browns seem poised to make a switch at left tackle.

Head coach Gregg Williams remained non-committal on Friday, but it would come off as a minor surprise if Greg Robinson did not line up as the starter at left tackle on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

Robinson started last week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs in place of Desmond Harrison, who was inactive with an illness. Robinson did well as he recorded the team’s second-best pass-blocking grade (80.5) from Pro Football Focus. (Although he was involved in a visible miscommunication with tight end David Njoku that resulted in a sack.)

That may have given the Browns a reason to turn to Robinson, a former No. 2 overall draft pick who has struggled in his NFL career, but it may have been inevitable anyway as Harrison’s play has declined as the season went along.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield was pleased with what he saw from the man tasked with protecting his blindside, according to clevelandbrowns.com:

“He is physical. I think he did not hesitate whatsoever. I think he is a guy that has been there before. I think for Greg, he needs people to support him. I think it comes down to it, we believe in Greg. We trust he is more than capable of playing at this level and doing it at a very high level. And so, we saw that on Sunday. We saw him be physical. We saw him do his job, we saw him communicate and that is the most important thing. We have to be able to do that. We trust he does that.”

The game against the Falcons looks like a good opportunity for Robinson to build up his confidence. Atlanta comes into the game ranked 29th in passing yards allowed per game (304.2), tied for 27th in sacks (17), and 28th in passer rating (102.5).