Cleveland Browns stress flexibility due to linebacker injuries
The Browns have spent a large percentage of the season seemingly plugging holes in their linebacking corps.
They started the season feeling good about what they called their “starting four.” The Browns had their base three in Anthony Walker Jr. in the middle, with Sione Takitaki and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah alongside him, as well as Jacob Phillips as the fourth to fill in.
Now, as the Browns head into the season’s 13th game on Sunday at Cincinnati, that four has been whittled down to just one. Owusu-Koramoah is the last one standing.
The latest of the season-ending injuries to befall the position was the loss of Takitaki to a torn ACL during last Sunday’s win at Houston. That’s left Owusu-Koramoah − who’s also missed two games due to injury this season − to shoulder the load, as much in terms of lifting the linebacking corps’ psyche as anything he does on the field.
“There’s a time and a place for everything,” Owusu-Koramoah said Monday. “(Sunday) night I’m sure some of the guys celebrated but also some of the guys mourned a little bit, just because we lost another essential piece to our puzzle. It’s compartmentalization, able to understand the time and the place and the energy that needs to be given. When we talk to Tak, we may give him high energy, we may console with him. When we talk to the rest of the guys it may be the same thing. So it’s just about understanding our balance and really understanding how we can apply the necessary move, the necessary motion, the necessary energy to that time and place.”
The Browns announced on Wednesday morning they placed Takitaki on injured reserve. They signed seven-year pro Reggie Ragland to the active roster and to help with the linebacking depth.
Owusu-Koramoah’s natural position in the Browns’ base package has been on the weak side. Takitaki had shifted from the strong-side position into the middle after the bye week due to the season-ending torn pectoral Phillips sustained in the Week 7 loss at Baltimore.
With Takitaki now out, the only true middle linebackers the Browns have on their active roster are Deion Jones and Jordan Kunaszyk. They acquired Jones in an Oct. 9 trade with the Atlanta Falcons, while Kunaszyk started the season on the practice squad before being signed to the active roster on Sept. 21, just before Walker sustained his season-ending torn quad tendon in Week 3 against Pittsburgh.
It would stand to reason Jones may be option one to replace Takitaki, having been a Pro Bowler at the position while with the Falcons. However, Owusu-Koramoah said flexibility is critical in order to navigate through the latest blow to the linebacking depth.
“Personnel wise, we are in the NFL,” Owusu-Koramoah said. “Our job is to fill in and do what the coaches require of us to do. Personnel wise, we will make changes, we will adjust and we will see what comes out of it.”