Browns place Jarvis Landry on IR

The Cleveland Browns placed wide receiver Jarvis Landry on the injured reserve list on Tuesday.

The move was widely expected after Landry suffered a sprained MCL on the second play of Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans. Landry will now miss a minimum of three games, meaning that the earliest he can return is October 17 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Interestingly, the Browns opted to fill Landry’s roster spot by signing defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo from the practice squad rather than signing a wide receiver. That could be a signal that wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is finally ready to make his season debut after missing the first two games while finishing up his recovery from the ACL injury that ended his 2020 season.

The Browns also have the option of promoting someone from the practice squad this weekend, so today’s transactions likely have nothing to do with Beckham’s availability, just as head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday.

Even if Beckham is available for Sunday’s home game against the Chicago Bears, the Browns are going to need the group of Donovan Peoples-Jones, Anthony Schwartz, Rashard Higgins and likely Demetric Felton, who might see more action in the slot with Landry out, to step up their game in Landry’s absence. Quarterback Baker Mayfield struggles when he focuses too much on getting Beckham involved in the offense, but he also needs more consistent production from the rest of the wide receivers to help balance things out.

As for Odenigbo, the Browns signed him to the practice squad on September 6. The 6-foot-3 and 258-pound Odenigbo is entering his fifth season in the league after being selected in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.

Odenigbo did not stick with the Vikings that first season but spent time on the practice squads in Cleveland and the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. He played one game with the Cardinals that season.

He returned to the Vikings in 2019, and played in 31 games, making 15 starts last season. During his time in Minnesota, Odenigbo totaled 59 tackles, 10.5 sacks (seven of those in 2019), 10 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a pair of fumble recoveries.

He signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the New York Giants this past offseason, but was released during the final roster cutdown on August 31.