Browns’ tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. plays through back pain to make start
BEREA − The back injury that kept Jedrick Wills Jr. out of two practices this week for the Browns didn’t just emerge this week.
“No, I was playing with it in the game,” the Browns left tackle said Friday. “It was hurting like hell.”
Wills, who returned to practice on Friday, said he had a disc bulge above his sacroiliac joint in his lower back. The injury was something he said he woke up with prior to the Christmas Eve loss to New Orleans Saints, a game that was the second-coldest Browns home game in history.
It won’t be nearly that cold on Sunday when the Browns travel to play the Washington Commanders. When they do, they’re going to have Wills in the lineup, as he was not listed on the team’s game-status report on Friday.
“It was pretty stiff, pretty sore,” Wills said of the back. “I know I didn’t do anything earlier this week. It felt fine today.”
Wills being in the lineup means he’ll likely be the primary Browns lineman responsible for taking on fellow 2020 top-10 draft pick Chase Young. The No. 2 overall pick in that draft, Young played for the first time since tearing his ACL and rupturing his patellar tendon on Nov. 14, 2021, in the Commanders’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Christmas Eve.
Young played 30 snaps against the 49ers, 20 of those lined up on the right side of the defensive line, or across from the left tackle. That means he’ll see the No. 10 overall pick from the 2020 draft, Wills, quite a bit.
“Still explosive,” Wills said of Young. “Still big, athletic, pops out on film. Gotta make sure that we get a body on him. Do good against him.”
The Browns played Washington in both players’ rookie season. However, two things prevented the two from being matched up.
One was the fact Young was lined up on the opposite end of the defensive line. The other was that he only played 13 snaps due to an injury.
“Yeah, he’s playing both so I’m sure I’ll see him eventually,” Wills said.
Jadeveon Clowney questionable for Browns while still in protocol
The lone Browns player who was listed on the game-status report was defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney was listed as questionable due to the fact he is still has to be cleared from concussion protocol, which he’s been in since leaving the Dec. 17 win over the Baltimore Ravens.