Browns' rag-tag wide receivers hold pregame walkthrough in frigid parking garage
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The Browns, standing in a near-freezing cold parking garage at 8:15 a.m., preparing for Week 16 — that sounds like a metaphor for most Cleveland seasons, the ones that are two weeks from a seat on the couch. In 2020, though, it's just another unexpected hurdle to leap.
Because of COVID-19 contact tracing, the Browns (10-4) are without their top four wide receivers for Week 16 against the Jets (1-13) in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Cleveland's receiving corps will be made up of Marvin Hall and practice squad promotions Ja'Marcus Bradley and Derrick Willies. And since the news only dropped Saturday that the Browns would be down four wideouts, there was barely any time to prepare.
That's what led Cleveland to a parking garage next to their hotel for a pregame walkthrough Sunday morning, hoping to put Hall, Bradley and Willies through their paces. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski told the story on his Sunday morning radio show on the Browns' official radio network.
"We've got a bunch of problem-solvers on our coaching staff,'' Stefanski said. "It's nothing new. It's 2020 and you've got to be ready to go.''
MORE: Jarvis Landry, three other Browns receivers put on COVID-19 reserve list
Cleveland's receiving corps has dealt with injuries all year, and Odell Beckham Jr. (knee) is out for the season. But the rest of the group is finally all healthy at once, led by the veteran Jarvis Landry and youngsters Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge. That quartet was all placed on the COVID-19/reserve list Saturday after being deemed high-risk close contacts, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Hall is the most established of Cleveland's receiving options, but he's new to the Browns after being picked up off waivers from Detroit on Dec. 7. He was also inactive in Week 15 due to the previous depth at the position. Bradley played his college football at Louisiana and is in his first year as an undrafted free agent. He has played a total of 15 offensive snaps in 2020. Willies, in his third year out of Texas Tech, is the only one of the trio to have caught passes for the Browns (three catches in 2018).
Together, that group will try to catch enough passes from Baker Mayfield to allow room for Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt to run wild against the Jets.
Cleveland can clinch its first playoff berth since 2002 with a win and a loss by either Baltimore or Indianapolis. The Browns are still heavy favorites to do so despite the absences, and maybe an early-morning walkthrough in a parking garage will make all the difference. After all, according to Cleveland.com, the parking garage was the same the Browns used for a walkthrough prior to beating the Giants in Week 15 on Sunday Night Football.