Nick Chubb, Myles Garrett to play against Saints; Jadeveon Clowney out

BEREA − The Browns got three of their four injured starters back on the practice field on Thursday, a good sign all three will be able to play in Saturday's home game against the New Orleans Saints.

Running back Nick Chubb (foot) and defensive end Myles Garrett (illness), both recently named Pro Bowlers, as well as safety John Johnson III (thigh) all practiced for the first time this week. Johnson was officially listed as questionable by the team on Thursday, but Chubb and Garrett were given no game status, meaning they will play.

“Looked normal," coach Kevin Stefanski said after practice Thursday. "Nick looked good. Myles is feeling better. They look normal.”

However, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney remained in concussion protocol after sustaining it late in the first half of last Saturday's win over the Baltimore Ravens. He was officially ruled out by the Browns.

With Clowney out, rookie Alex Wright will start at the defensive end spot opposite Garrett. It'll be the fourth start for the third-round pick out of UAB, all as an injury fill-in for Clowney.

"I mean I have before, so I mean, this is nothing new," Wright said "It's always just next-man-up mentality. So just going out there just to execute our game plans and the rest will sort stuff out."

Chubb sustained the foot injury late in last Saturday's win. Despite the injury, he rushed for 99 yards on 21 carries against the Ravens' second-ranked rush defense.

Johnson initially suffered the thigh injury early in the Baltimore game, but remained in the game. However, he re-aggravated it in the third quarter when he both forced and recovered a fumble off of Ravens receiver Demarcus Robinson and did not play the remainder of the game.

In the locker room after practice on Friday, Johnson sounded confident about playing when asked by the Beacon Journal.

"Oh, I'm good," Johnson said. "I feel good."

Garrett had been sidelined with an illness for the first part of the week. He didn't sound too concerned about lingering effects sapping his strength.

"It'll come back," Garrett said "Hopefully the sun comes out and I can get some rays on me. I'll be good."

Receiver Amari Cooper, who has been battling a core muscle injury since prior to the Dec. 11 game in Cincinnati, also practiced for the first time this week on Thursday. However, Cooper was given rest days on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ethan Pocic to be activated from injured reserve to face Saints

There was more good news on the injury front Friday as the Browns officially activated center Ethan Pocic (knee) from the injured reserve list. He had been designated to return from the list on Tuesday, which allowed him to participate in practice this week.

To make room for Pocic on the active roster, the Browns waived center Greg Mancz, who they had signed when Pocic was initially placed on injured reserve. The Browns also announced they were elevating linebacker Tae Davis from the practice squad to the gameday roster.

Pocic went on the injured reserve list on Nov. 22, two days after he sustained the injury on the first play of the Browns' loss to Buffalo. He played one more snap after suffering the injury before taking himself out of the game.

"It was an MCL," Pocic said Thursday. "It was off the bone, so it was lower. It wasn’t completely off the bone, so it was all healable. Not a complete tear. Could be worse, could be better, but I can’t really complain."

Pocic had played all 628 snaps to the point of leaving the Bills game with the injury. That forced Hjalte Froholdt into the starting center role, something he had never done in a regular-season game in his NFL career.

At the time of the injury, Pocic was playing as well as any center in the NFL. Pro Football Focus graded him at a 83 out of 100 overall, which was No. 2 among all qualified centers in the league, as well as a league-best 84.3 run-block grade.

"It’s kinda like out of my control," Pocic said. "It’s all part of God’s plan. You can do all the prehab and rehab and stuff, but this is football, it’s a violent game and stuff happens. I guess you could say, yeah, it was frustrating, but I just trust in God and just trust in whatever his plan for me is."

No Chris Olave, Jarvis Landry or Pete Werner for Saints on Saturday

There will be no Ohio homecoming for several New Orleans Saints players who have ties to the Buckeye State. At least, there will be no on-field homecoming for them.

The Saints announced Thursday afternoon that receiver Chris Olave (hamstring) and linebacker Pete Werner (hamstring), both former Ohio State Buckeyes, and former Browns receiver Jarvis Landry (ankle) would be out due to injuries. They were three of four players New Orleans ruled out for the game, along with running back Dwayne Washington (illness).

Landry, who played for the Browns from 2018 until being released in the spring, is being placed on injured reserve. Much of the talk among Browns players this week was about his impact on the locker room while he was in Cleveland.

"That's my guy, for sure," tight end David Njoku said on Tuesday. "I think he had a huge impact. I think he was one of the main reasons we got this thing turned around along with obviously a few other players, but I gotta give credit to him for the majority of it because he had the mentality, the mindset of winning, of pushing through adversity and I feel like that rubbed on a bunch of players at the time when he was here with other players that were here that aren't here anymore. I think that rubbed off on everybody and we were just focused on pushing our limits."

Safety Marshon Lattimore, another former Ohio State Buckeye and Cleveland native, is listed as questionable on the Saints' injury report. Lattimore last played in Week 5 against Seattle before sustaining an abdominal injury.

Charley Hughlett ready to adjust special-teams snaps to weather

Several Browns coaches, from Stefanski through the coordinators and on down to even assistants, have spoken this week about adjusting to the weather on Saturday. They've talked about the impact it could have on throwing the ball or kicking, especially with wind gusts forecasted to go as high as 50 mph.

Long-snapper Charley Hughlett is one who may be impacted as much as anyone. The wrong gust at the wrong time could send a snap of his on either a punt or a kick the wrong way.

"It definitely has a big effect, especially when you're talking about some of these gusts being 50-, 60 miles-per-hour," Hughlett said. "Ultimately, if you hit a pure ball, it can kind of cut right through it. I was actually just talking to the guys, and it's like, it can be frustrating. Sometimes you'll take your line, or even for me, I'll take my line for a punt snap or something and sometimes the ball will cut right through it, and then the snap's over here or the kick's over there where you drew it up and other times, the wind will take it."

Hughlett's one of the longest-tenured Browns on the roster. He's played 110 games now since signing with the team in 2015,

That means Hughlett's dealt with all kind of conditions. More importantly, he's dealt with all kind of conditions in the Browns' lakefront stadium.

"I think the more important thing is kind of learning how to adjust in those moments," Hughlett said. "Especially in our stadium, it's one thing you just have to get out there in pregame and figure it out. Wind's never the same in that stadium."

Browns coaches not worried about David Njoku's pregame 'wardrobe'

Njoku proudly spends the early portion of every pregame warmup shirtless. It's part of his routine, no different than running routes or catching passes.

Despite temperatures expected to rise no higher than 10 degrees, and a wind chill that's expected to dip below minus-20, Njoku said Tuesday he planned on continuing that on Saturday. Of course, there is the legitimate question about frostbite, something his position coach acknowledged Thursday.

“That was spoken of today," tight ends coach T.C. McCartney said. "He is not overly concerned. I think he will be OK.”

Stefanski, who spent his entire NFL assistant coaching career in Minnesota prior to becoming the Browns coach in 2020, has dealt with the frigid temperatures. He coached in a NFC wild card game on Jan. 10, 2016 in TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis when the wind chill was minus-25.

Knowing what the conditions are like first hand, Stefanski deferred to the players on how they prepare for the cold.

“We have educated everybody when you get into these type of games," Stefanski said, "whatever it is or whatever the unique part of the game is you make sure you are educating your players, and we will do that. Ultimately, these guys know their bodies.”

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Nick Chubb, Myles Garrett to play vs. Saints; Jadeveon Clowney out