Browns rule out 4 players - including 3 starters - for Monday night game

The Cleveland Browns ruled out four players - including three starters - for Monday night’s key divisional game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Out for the game are tight end David Njoku, who suffered a high-ankle sprain last week, right guard Wyatt Teller, who left the week before with a calf injury, and cornerback Denzel Ward, who will miss his third consecutive game with a concussion.

Related: Bengals vs. Browns: Q&A with Cincy Jungle

Backup offensive tackle Joe Haeg is also out after the Browns placed him on the injured reserve list. Haeg has been dealing with a concussion and has played in just one game since joining the club on September 5.

The Browns also listed four players as questionable in tight end Pharaoh Brown, who has a concussion and a neck injury which would appear to make it unlikely he will play, cornerbacks Greg Newsome II (oblique) and Greedy Williams (illness), and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (knee).

With the injuries starting to accumulate on the defensive side of the ball, head coach Kevin Stefanski said the team is in a wait-and-see situation (quote via clevelandbrowns.com):

“It’s one of those situations where you have to see who is available to you and you have to go play, and you have to go play our brand of football. If those guys can’t go, the next man has to step up.”

One the bright side, starting defensive ends Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney are not on the final injury report, but both players are still dealing with issues that might limit how much they can play against the Bengals.

Clowney was a limited participant in practice the past two days as he is working his way back from the ankle injury he suffered in Week 2 against the New York Jets. That sideline Clowney for two games before he returned for Week 5 against the Los Angeles Chargers. But he then missed the game against the New England Patriots and only played 23 defensive snaps against the Ravens.

As for Garrett, he is still feeling the impact of the shoulder and bicep injuries he sustained in a single-car accident on September 26. While he only missed one game, and had a nice game last week against the Ravens, he said on Saturday that he probably should have taken more time off (quote via The Beacon Journal):

“I’m hoping the bye will help a good amount, but I can’t really tell you. It’s hard to really put a number on it. I probably should have taken a good amount of more time off when I came back. If I’m a 10 and now I’m an eight, I’m eight amongst all these great pass rushers around the league. So my 80 percent is a little bit different from everyone else’s. There’s some situations where I get in when I’m pass rushing or I’m in a run block where I feel kinda in a compromised position, but those have been happening fewer and fewer as those weeks have gone by, days have gone by, especially going into the game, getting a little bit more recovery and not feeling as bad after the game and then bouncing back sooner.”

The Bengals have ruled out wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (hip), wide receiver Stanley Morgan (hamstring) and defensive tackle Josh Tupou (calf), while cornerback Eli Apple is doubtful with a hamstring injury.