'It sucks': Cleveland Browns rookie tackle Dawand Jones ruled out against Baltimore Ravens

BEREA — The Browns have a tackle shortage as they prepare for Sunday's AFC North showdown at the Baltimore Ravens. No one understands that more than the individual whose injury situation has created the issue.

Rookie right tackle Dawand Jones missed a full week of practice as he battled injuries to both his right shoulder and his right knee. The injuries proved to be too much of a hurdle to overcome, as the Browns ruled him out for the game on Friday.

"It sucks," Jones said Friday. "It's part of game. We move on [to] the next week."

Jones didn't want to give any timeline on when he felt he would be back on the field. The Browns (5-3) are starting a critical two-game AFC North stretch with Sunday's game.

They are back at home Nov. 19 to play the Pittsburgh Steelers. All Jones would say about playing against the Steelers was that he was "just taking it day to day."

"It's a little roadblock," Jones said. "I'm just trying to move past it, take it day to day and just get better still."

The problem for the Browns, though, is this week. Specifically, it's this Sunday against a Ravens team that has been one of the hottest in the league over the last month.

Baltimore boasts one of the best defenses in the NFL. The Ravens are top two in per-game net yards, passing yards, points and red-zone defense, while accumulating 35 sacks this season.

"I just think that's our job as coaches to get guys ready to play," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. "Sometimes you're getting rookies ready to play. As a professional you come in and you get up to speed as quickly as you can."

Jones is the third starting tackle to miss a game for the Browns this season. Jack Conklin, who Jones replaced at right tackle, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener and left tackle Jedrck Wills Jr. went on injured reserve this week with a knee injury he suffered during last Sunday's win over Arizona.

It's the fact all three of those starting tackles are out simultaneously that has created the issue. Third-year pro James Hudson III is likely to be one of the starters Sunday, but after that it's a crapshoot.

The Browns signed sixth-year pro Geron Christian to the active roster last week after adding him to the practice squad the previous week. He started one game for the Houston Texans earlier in the season, and has played in 49 games with 16 starts over his career.

"He's a pro, with Leroy (Watson) as well," Stefanski said. "Different stages of their career, but you add guys to your program. I think about (receiver James) Proche — guys come into the program late, you get to know them, you get them up to speed and then sometimes you throw them out there and they're ready to roll because they work very hard at it.

"So that happens oftentimes in the NFL — guys are playing sometimes in a game where they just showed up that week, sometimes two weeks, whatever it may be."

Watson, a first-year pro out of Texas-San Antonio, is the only other tackle on the active roster. There are two tackles — former first-round pick Alex Leatherwood and recently signed Justin Murray — on the practice squad.

The option that could be employed is moving All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio to left tackle. Bitonio has started two games in his NFL career at the position, both coming while Wills was out with COVID in Weeks 15 and 16 in 2021.

"Yeah, we looked at every option, as you can imagine," Stefanski said. "And we talked through all those things and then we felt good about the plan and feel good about how we practice, and then you move forward."

Watson was an addition to the active roster during the week leading up to Arizona game. At the time, both Jones and Wills were battling through injuries that had kept them out of a practice, but both managed to practice at some point that week and be in the starting lineup.

Wills initially left Sunday's game with a left knee injury near the end of the first half, but was back on the field to start the third quarter. He then was carted off the field with an air cast on his leg with 11:08 remaining in the third when teammate Kareem Hunt fell into his knee as he was going to the ground at the end of a 1-yard run.

That injury came a series after Jones left with his knee injury for one play, the only play the rookie missed due to the injury. He did miss 36 offensive snaps during a loss at the Seattle Seahawks with the shoulder injury.

"I just had to carry on for the rest of the game," Jones said, referencing the Arizona game. "We really didn't have nobody else to hold on to. But you got to fight those injuries just to get to the finish line."

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: Dawand Jones ruled out vs. Ravens, creating tackle issue for Browns