Browns news and notes, Week 3: Deshaun Watson fined three times for incidents vs. Steelers

BEREA — Deshaun Watson was fined by the NFL for the two penalties he drew during the Monday night loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as one where there was no flag thrown on, the league announced Saturday

The Browns quarterback was fined $10,927 for the unnecessary roughness flag he drew in the third quarter when he grabbed the facemask of linebacker Kwon Alexander. He drew another $10927 fine for the personal foul facemask flag he drew in the fourth quarter.

Watson and tight end David Njoku were both fined $13,659 for unsportsmanlike conduct, although there was no flag thrown in the game. It came after Watson scored on a 2-point conversion play to give the Browns a 22-16 lead with 10:01 remaining in the third quarter.

The NFL announced on Tuesday Watson would not be suspended for making contact with an official. The incident happened after a heated exchange between the Browns quarterback and Steelers players and coaches on the sideline.

Jerome Ford also was fined $5,281 for unnecessary roughness on a play in which there was no flag thrown. It came on a 9-yard run on the first play of the Browns drive after Pittsburgh took a 26-22 lead in the fourth quarter.

Five Pittsburgh Steelers draw fines from Monday night game

Steelers running back Jaylen Warren was fined $48,833 by the league for illegal use of his helmet at the end of his 30-yard reception in the second quarter. Warren delivered a hit to safety Juan Thornhill at the end of the run, which did not draw a flag in the game.

Four other Steelers were fined: DeMarvin Leal was fined $6,549 for unnecessary roughness with 11:11 in the second quarter. Leal was not flagged for grabbing Watson's facemask on the play.

Pittsburgh's Elandon Roberts was fined $43,709 for unnecessary roughness with 10:43 left in the third quarter. Roberts was not flagged for the play, which came on a 1-yard Pierre Strong Jr. run the play after Ford's 69-yard run.

Alexander was fined $43,709 for unnecessary roughness for a tackle with 1:55 left in the second quarter for a tackle of Ford after an 8-yard completion. Damontae Kazee was fined $11,806 for unnecessary roughness on a tackle of Nick Chubb after a 20-yard run with 2:41 remaining in the first quarter.

Tackle Ty Nsekhe elevated from practice squad for Sunday

The Browns have elevated offensive tackle Ty Nsekhe from the practice squad to the gameday roster. The move is insurance at tackle with backup James Hudson III listed as questionable due to an ankle injury.

Nsekhe was signed by the Browns after Jack Conklin suffered a season-ending knee injury in the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. He is in his 10th NFL season, having last started eight games for the Los Angeles Rams.

Nsekhe has appeared in 103 regular season games with 25 starts with the Rams (2012 and 2022), Commanders (2015-18), Bills (2019-20) and Cowboys (2021).

Friday's Browns news and notes

Cornerback Greg Newsome II ruled out vs Tennessee Titans

Greg Newsome II didn't practice all week for the Browns. On Friday, he was ruled out by the team for Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans.

Newsome suffered an injury, which he believed to be an elbow hyperextension, with 8:33 remaining in the third quarter of Monday night's loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 2021 first-round pick was in and out of the lineup in the second half as trainers wrapped the elbow.

The cornerback still played 41 defensive snaps, which was tied for fourth-most on the Browns and 76% of their snaps of that side of the ball. He finished with three combined tackles.

Through two games, Newsome has eight combined tackles and one pass defensed. He's played 96 combined defensive snaps in those games.

Since Newsome can't go, second-year pro Martin Emerson Jr. moves up to the starter opposite Denzel Ward. Emerson has played 92 defensive snaps through two games, as the Browns have run a large percentage of three-corner looks with Newsome in the slot and Ward and Emerson on the edge.

"He's a 'start' player," cornerback coach Brandon Lynch said of Emerson. "For us, we like to say that we always start at start, and we like to make sure that our smarts are before our toughness. He's obviously a tough player, but he's really taking it upon himself daily with his habits in the classroom, his daily work habits on the field."

The option to be the third cornerback likely now comes down to either rookie Cameron Mitchell or sixth-year pro Mike Ford. Both players saw time during the Steelers game, with Mitchell playing 10 defensive snaps and Ford playing four.

Mitchell was taken in the fifth round of April's draft out of Northwestern, where he had been a teammate of Newsome's. Ford, who had made his name in the league for his work on special teams, was signed as a free agent in the spring after spending last season with the Atlanta Falcons.

"Resilience, it's a group that we keep using the word start, but resilience is very important to us," Lynch said. "So having very smart players that are resilient in their roles, that really want to do it at a high level is very important. I know that the other guys in our know when you look at Mike Ford, when you look at AJ Green, when you look at Cameron, when you look at Khalef (Hailassie), these are guys that have extreme versatility, and guys really want to do those things at a high level for us."

Offensive tackle James Hudson III was listed as questionable for Sunday. He did not practice Friday due to an ankle injury.

Five Titans listed as either questionable or out for Sunday

The Titans listed offensive tackle Peter Skoronski (abdomen) and receiver/return specialist Kearis Jackson (ankle) as being out for Sunday. Outside linebacker Denico Autry (foot), receiver DeAndre Hopikins (hamstring) and cornerback Anthony Kendall (hip) have all been listed questionable.

Elijah Moore believes Browns offense still adjusting

The addition of Elijah Moore was expected to add to the Browns offense. The receiver was supposed to give the passing game another weapon, as well as an option to run the ball as well.

So far, Moore is still trying to get adjusted to the offense. He's been targeted 16 times through two games with six catches for 79 yards, with another three rushing attempts for 24 net yards.

Moore admits there's still a bit of the learning curve.

“Yeah, I feel like it's like that for everybody," Moore said. "At the end of the day, we're trying to win, so however we can get that done, I think that's what we're going to focus on.”

Browns reuniting with former teammate Chris Hubbard with Titans

The Browns will see a familiar face when the Titans offensive line comes out on Sunday. At right tackle will be Chris Hubbard, who played for Cleveland from 2018-22.

"Man, bittersweet," Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said of seeing Hubbard. "You know that he was here for a while. He's great guy, great family, and always a joy to be around. But at end the day we got to get after 'em. We got to get after the whole line. It's nothing personal. We're still smile and dap them up before, during and after the game. When that play starts and between those 6.16 seconds, we out for blood."

Hubbard played in 46 games with 35 starts for the Browns. He also played for the Steelers from 2014-16.

Thursday's Browns news and notes

Browns won't criticize Minkah Fitzpatrick hit

The injury sustained by Nick Chubb will linger through the rest of the Browns season. The debate about the hit that caused Chubb's season-ending knee injury has at least lingered for the last several days.

As Chubb was being held up by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb on a 3-yard run, his left leg was planted in the turf. At the same time, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick rolled into his left knee, causing the injury.

Shortly after the play, discussion on social media began to ramp up about the hit by Fitzpatrick, who later left the game himself with a chest injury, being dirty. The talk included a back-and-forth between former NFL receiver Nate Burleson and safety Ryan Clark, the latter a former Steeler, arguing about the merits of the hit.

No Browns players brought up the hit in the locker room after the game. However, several were asked during the course of Thursday's availability about their thoughts on whether Fitzpatrick's hit was perceived as dirty or not.

Here's a sampling of what they had to say:

• Quarterback Deshaun Watson: "I mean, I was live there. I didn't want to watch it. Even when we watched the tape, we didn't even watch the play, so I can't speak on what happened, exactly. I was on the opposite side and I didn't even know Nick was hurt until I drew back over and I saw him on the ground. So, I mean, I'm not even sure about that, honestly.”

• Safety Grant Delpit: "Yeah, it's football, man. I can't say what I would've did in that moment. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm, to do any harm, to Nick or anything like that. It was just a crazy football play to be honest. So plays can go a thousand ways every play, you never know, but it's just tough playing the sport sometimes."

• Cornerback Denzel Ward: "Yeah, honestly, I didn't see the hit. I didn't see the hit. I had looked up, I seen that Chubb was down on the play, but I didn't look at the replay or look at the hit. I just seen that our guy was hurting, down and was just praying and wishing the best for Chubb."

Fitzpatrick went on the offensive on Thursday when asked about the play by reporters in Pittsburgh. The safety tried to defend calls not just about the hit, but also his own character.

“I know people think I had ill will behind the tackle," Fitzpatrick told reporters. "That's not the case whatsoever. I'm a guy that is a competitor that's going to go and play the game. I'm chippy, I'm edgy, of course, but I'm not a dirty player.”

Joel Bitonio acknowledges 'panic' early on after pick-6

Even the most veteran of players can admit a bit of a human reaction. So it was with Browns All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio on Thursday, who acknowledge the way Monday night's loss at the Steelers started staggered them a bit.

"I think last game there was just a little bit of, we panicked a little bit," Bitonio said. "You throw a pick early and you press on the gate. At one point I'm looking at the clock, I'm like, we're winning this game and it feels like we're not, you know what I mean? And so there was just a little bit of panic and I think we learned from that.

"I think everybody comes in and takes a deep breath and realize, like, Hey, our defense is playing really well right now, gives us a chance on offense to figure out what we need to figure out and do what we need to do."

The Browns fell into a 7-0 hole on the first offensive play of the game when Pittsburgh's Alex Highsmith intercepted a deflected Deshaun Watson pass and returned it for a touchdown. Later in the half, Chubb suffered the knee injury, but Jerome Ford scored on a 3-yard pass on the very next play to give the Browns an 11-7 lead.

Za'Darius Smith, Amari Cooper back at practice; Greg Newsome II still out

Two key Browns starters were back on the field as limited practice participants Thursday. Defensive end Za'Darius Smith (ankle, thigh) and receiver Amari Cooper (groin, shoulder) both practiced after having sat out Wednesday's walkthrough.

Cornerback Greg Newsome II (elbow) remained sidelined. Tight end David Njoku didn't practice due to a veteran rest day.

The biggest name for Tennessee not to practice Thursday was running back Derrick Henry. He was listed with a toe injury, but also as getting a rest day.

Receiver DeAndre Hopkins was limited in practice for the Titans due to a hamstring injury.

Bubba Ventrone calls Donovan Peoples-Jones' punt judgment 'uncharacteristic'

The Browns struggled with punts all night against the Steelers. Often, though, it was because they were getting pinned inside their own 5.

However, punt returner Donovan Peoples-Jones had his own mishap that actually help to set up the go-ahead Pittsburgh fumble return for a touchdown. He misplayed a punt that bounced at the Browns 27 and past him.

Peoples-Jones apparently believed the ball had hit him as it went by and chased after it inside the 10. He somehow managed to not touch it there either, as it was downed at the Cleveland 6.

"Yeah, I mean, I spoke on it last time I was in here about how I felt his judgment was really good. It was a little bit uncharacteristic of him in the game," Browns special teams coach Bubba Ventrone said. "I would say on the last one or the second to last one, he lost it in the lights. It kind of came down a little funky at the end and he did a good job of avoiding it and avoiding a muff.

"So obviously it was super close. That's why I think he retreated fast to get back to the ball. But, yeah, I think that he'll just continue to work and rep and get as many catches as he can. So I'm confident in him that he'll make it right."

The ensuing Browns drive ended when Alex Highsmith strip-sacked quarterback Deshaun Watson, with T.J. Watt picking up the ball and returning it 30 yard for the go-ahead touchdowns with 6:58 remaining in the game.

Wednesday's Browns news and notes

Za'Darius Smith, Greg Newsome II, Amari Cooper 'day-to-day'

The Browns didn't hold an official practice on Wednesday. Having played on Monday night in Pittsburgh, they went through a mid-afternoon walkthrough.

The team still had to put out an injury report, which showed the scars from the loss to the Steelers. Three players did not practice due to injuries: receiver Amari Cooper (groin, shoulder), cornerback Greg Newsome II (elbow) and defensive end Za'Darius Smith (ankle, thigh).

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski was asked before the walkthrough if the decisions were due to precaution or a possible foreshadowing of absences in Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans.

"Yeah, I'm not really thinking past today," Stefanski said on a Zoom call. "This is really more day to day, giving them some time off."

Cooper's was the same injury that made him questionable to play against Pittsburgh. The veteran receiver still played 63 of a possible 87 offensive snaps, while catching seven passes on 10 targets for 90 yards in the loss.

The other two, though, were definitely a result of Monday night. Smith sustained the ankle injury on the Steelers' first second-half possession, but did return to the game and played 36 of a possible 54 defensive snaps.

Newsome's elbow injury also happened in the third quarter. The cornerback also returned to the game and finished with 41 defensive snaps.

Three other players were listed as limited on the injury report: linebackers Sione Takitaki (shoulder) and Anthony Walker Jr. (pectoral), as well as offensive lineman Jedrick Wills Jr. (shoulder). Left guard Joel Bitonio and defensive end Myles Garrett both were given veteran rest days.

Titans top pick Peter Skoronski not expected to play against Browns

The Titans had four players who did not practice: linebacker Luke Gifford (quad), cornerback Anthony Kendall (hip), offensive lineman Peter Skoronski (abdomen) and defensive lineman Teair Tart (knee). Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel told reporters in Nashville on Wednesday he didn't expect Skoronski to play against the Browns.

Outside linebacker Denico Autry (foot), running back Derrick Henry (toe) and outside linebacker Harold Landry (hamstring) were limited in practice on Wednesday.

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Browns news and notes, Week 3: Daily live updates