The Cleveland Browns have lost 25-year old linebacker Titus Brown for the rest of the season as he has been placed on the Injured Reserve List due to a knee injury.  Brown played in 10 games for the Browns this year and he had 5 tackles and 1 sack.  He has now played in 27 games in his first three years with the Browns and he has 17 tackles and 1 sack.  This is a bad break for Brown, as he was in line to see more action at LB the last couple of weeks of the 2012 season.

The Browns have placed 29-year old TE Alex Smith on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a shoulder injury.  Smith played in 14 games for the Browns this year and he caught 14 passes for 131 yards (9.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 17 games in his first two years with the Browns and he has caught 15 passes for 137 yards (9.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  This is just another blow to the Browns’ passing game.

The Browns have placed 30-year old TE Ben Watson on the Injured Reserve List due to a concussion.  Watson played in 13 games (11 starts) for the Browns this year and he caught 37 passes for 410 yards (11.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He has played in 29 games (27 starts) in his two years with the Browns and he has caught 105 passes for 1,173 yards (11.2 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  TE will now fall to 26-year old Evan Moore and 29-year old Alex Smith for the Browns.  Evan Moore has an outstanding set of hands and he gets open a lot, so I expect him to play well for the Browns the last three weeks of the year.  Moore has played in 13 games (2 starts) for the Browns so far this year and he has caught 25 passes for 250 yards (10.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He has now played in 30 games (6 starts) in his first three years with the Browns and he has caught 53 passes for 730 yards (13.8 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  I look for Moore to be a big part of the Browns’ passing attack the rest of this year.  Alex Smith will also see a bump in P.T. for the Browns the rest of the year.  Smith has played in 12 games (3 starts) for the Browns this year and he has caught 13 passes for 122 yards (9.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 15 games (4 starts) in his first two years with the Browns and he has caught 14 passes for 128 yards (9.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Smith is also a decent receiver, so he is likely going to help the Browns a lot the last three weeks.

The Cleveland Browns put 25-year old QB Colt McCoy in harm’s way by not giving him a concussion test after the vicious and very cheap shot hit that Steelers’ OLB James Harrison put on him last Thursday.  They put him back into the game just two plays later.  He played terrible, as expected, as the Browns really took a chance with his health.  On Friday, he was diagnosed with a concussion and he has not practiced since.  It’s possible that last Thursday was the last time McCoy will play this year.  He has played in 13 games for the Browns so far this year and he has completed 265 of 463 passes (57.2%) for 2,733 yards with 14 TD passes and 11 INTs (74.6 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 61 times for 212 yards (3.5 ypc) so far this year.  It’s still up in the air to me as far as McCoy being the starting QB of the Browns in the future.  I think it’s really hard to evaluate him due to the injuries on the offensive line and a group of WRs and TEs that drop a lot of passes and have problems getting open.  McCoy has now played in 21 games in his first two years with the Browns and he has completed 400 of 685 passes (58.4%) for 4,309 yards with 20 TD passes and 20 INTs (74.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 89 times for 348 yards (3.9 ypc) with 1 TD run for the Browns.

The Browns have lost DE Emmanuel Stephens for a while due to a strained pectoral muscle.  This is a bad break for Stephens who was just recently inserted into the starting lineup for the Browns.  He has played in 11 games and he has 17 tackles for the Browns.  The Browns will turn back to 27-year old DE Jayme Mitchell in the starting lineup.  Mitchell has played in 9 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 24 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 2 passes defensed.  The Browns need Mitchell to step up.

UPDATE:  The Browns have placed Emmanuel Stephens on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season.

The Browns will likely be without starting OLB Scott Fujita for a little while as he has a hand that’s broke in two places.  He has played in 10 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 51 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception.  Fujita has now played in 19 games in his first two years with the Browns and he has 102 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss, 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and 4 passes defensed.  The Browns are going to miss Fujita.

UPDATE:  (11/29/2011) – The Browns have placed Scott Fujita on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season.

The Cleveland Browns have lost 24-year old safety T.J. Ward for the next 4-6 weeks due to a foot injury.  Ward has played in 8 games for the Browns this year and he has 39 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumbles, 2 tackles for a loss and 3 passes defensed.  26-year old Usama Young will take over as the starting strong safety until Ward is ready to return to action.  Young has played in 8 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 26 tackles, 1 interception and 1 pass defensed.  This is going to be a dropoff for the Browns, especially against run as Ward’s specialty is coming up fast and hard on run support.

UPDATE:  (12/22/2011) – The Browns have placed T.J. Ward on I.R., ending his season.

25-year old RB Peyton Hillis has re-injured his left hamstring in practice today, and that is going to cause him to miss the next few weeks.  Hillis has played in 4 games (all starts) for the Browns so far this year and he has carried the ball 60 times for 211 yards (3.5 ypc) with 2 TD carries.  He has also caught 15 passes for 76 yards (5.1 avg) so far in 2011.  Hillis has been whining about getting a new contract with the Browns and this latest injury certainly isn’t going to help his cause.  Hillis has now played in 20 games (18 starts) in his first two years with the Browns and he has carried the ball 330 times for 1,388 yards (4.2 ypc) with 13 TD runs.  He has also caught 76 passes for 553 yards (7.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs for the Browns.  Hillis’ absence for most of this year has really hurt the Browns’ running game as they are only averaging 87.6 yards rushing per game and 3.2 yards per carry so far in 2011.

The Browns will be without RB Montario Hardesty for at least the next two weeks with a torn calf.  Hardesty played in all 7 games for the Browns this year and he has carried the ball 75 times for 244 yards (3.3 ypc).  He has also caught 12 passes for 113 yards (9.4 avg) so far this year.  The Browns are hoping that Peyton Hillis can return to action this weekend.  He has played in 4 games for the Browns so far this year and he has carried the ball 60 times for 211 yards (3.5 ypc) with 2 TD run.  Hillis has also caught 15 passes for 76 yards (5.1 avg) so far this year.  If Hillis can’t go, Chris Ogbonnaya will step into this starting lineup.  Ogbonnaya has played in 2 games for the Browns so far this year and he has carried the ball 14 times for 52 yards (3.7 ypc).  He also has caught 10 passes for 67 yards (6.7 avg) so far this year.

The Browns will likely be without 32-year old starting outside linebacker Scott Fujita due to a nasty concussion.  He has played in 5 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 32 tackles.  24-year old Kaluka Maiava will replace Fujita in the starting lineup.  Maiava has played in 5 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 3 tackles.  He has now played in 23 games in his first 3 years with the Browns and he has 49 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 passes defensed.  The Browns hope that Maiava steps up this weekend.