Injury updates mostly good news for the Browns

The Cleveland Browns experienced another one of their terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.

The day got off to a bad start with the news that quarterback Deshaun Watson was not going to be able to play due to his sore right shoulder.

It got worse from there as center Ethan Pocic had to leave the game with a chest injury only to return and injure his knee. That injury left Pocic with a brace on his right knee and in possession of crutches when he left Cleveland Browns Stadium after the game, according to media reports.

It teetered on the brink of disaster when defensive end Myles Garrett injured his ankle while making a tackle in the third quarter. Garrett was able to finish the game, but left the stadium in a walking boot, according to media reports.

The lone bright spot from the day is that none of the injuries appear to be overly severe. And with the upcoming bye week, the Browns do not play again until October 15, which should give everyone time to heal up properly, according to head coach Kevin Stefanski (quote via a team-provided transcript):

“Ethan Pocic is dealing with a knee injury and a chest injury. He’s day-to-day. If we had a game this week, likely wouldn’t have made it, but good thing that we’re on a bye this week. And then Myles (Garrett) is dealing with a foot injury – again, day-to-day, but feel good about him.”

As for Watson, while he was medically cleared to play he did not feel like he could give 100 percent, which is how Dorian Thompson-Robinson came to make his NFL debut. But the extra time off should help the situation, according to Stefanski:

“I know Deshaun, obviously, we talked with the doctors, structurally we feel good about it. He’s going to use this week to rest and continue to get treatment. But, yeah, I feel like medically we’re all on the same page. He knows his body. He’s played through serious pain before, very, very serious injuries. It wasn’t a matter of pain tolerance or anything. He just did not feel like he had his full faculties.

“He didn’t throw all week and we had to get to the game, and that was the first time he’s going to throw to see ultimately how he felt, if he felt like he could drive a throw, those type of things. So he was confident in it. Like I told you guys, he’s disappointed, but I wouldn’t make it any more than that.”

Things could not have gone much worse for the Browns on Sunday against the Ravens, but fortunately, the upcoming bye week will give Watson, Pocic and Garrett some extra time to heal, which, if nothing, else takes a little bit of the sting out of the loss.