Browns add linebacker help to the roster

The Cleveland Browns added some help at the linebacker position on Wednesday by signing Jermaine Carter Jr. to the active roster from their practice squad

The transaction was necessary after the club placed linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah on the injured reserve list on Tuesday with a foot injury, ending JOK’s second season.

Carter Jr. is in his first season with the Browns but his fifth season overall in the NFL. Originally a fifth-round selection by the Carolina Panthers in 2018 out of Maryland, Carter has appeared in 68 career games, including being a full-time starter with the Panthers in 2021, and has 180 career tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries.

The Browns originally signed Carter Jr. after losing linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. to a season-ending injury in Week 3. He has played in three games this season with the Browns, all on special teams while bouncing back and forth from the practice squad to the active roster.

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Owusu-Koramoah was just the latest Cleveland linebacker to be loss for the season as he joined Walker Jr. (torn quad tendon), Sione Takitaki (ACL) and Jacob Phillips (torn pectoral muscle) on the injured reserve list.

Cleveland also signed two players to the practice squad in linebacker Storey Jackson and wide receiver Marquez Stevenson.

The 6-foot-2 and 225-pound Jackson is a rookie out of Liberty who was originally signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent.

The 5-foot-10 and 180-pound Stevenson is in his second NFL season out of Houston after originally being selected in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. He played in five games with the Bills as a rookie, returning 14 punts for an average of 9.4 yards per return and seven kickoffs for an average of 23.6 yards per return.

He spent this season on Buffalo’s injured reserve list before being released by the Bills on December 6.