Suffice to say, the lead up to the Cleveland Browns' Week 16 matchup against the New York Jets has been anything but normal.
That much was evident when Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski revealed to 3News' Jim Donovan that the team held a walk-through in a garage next to the team hotel in freezing temperatures on Sunday morning.
"It’s nothing new," Stefanski told Donovan, the Voice of the Browns, on the Browns Radio Network's official pregame show. "It's 2020 and you gotta be ready to go."
The Browns' makeshift walk-through came less than a day after the team delayed its flight to New Jersey after a player tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). After placing starting middle linebacker B.J. Goodson on the NFL's reserve/COVID-19 list, Cleveland conducted contact tracing and later announced that wide receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones, KhaDarel Hodge and linebacker Jacob Phillips will miss the game after being placed on the NFL's reserve/COVID-19 list, which was created for players who have either tested positive for or have been exposed to the coronavirus.
With Landry, Higgins, Peoples-Jones and Hodge all out, Marvin Hall -- who the Browns claimed off waivers earlier this month and has yet to make his Cleveland debut -- will be the only wide receiver from the team's traditional active roster to suit up on Sunday. Additionally, the Browns have elevated wide receivers Ja’Marcus Bradley and Derrick Willies and linebacker Montrel Meander from the practice squad, with all three players eligible to play against the Jets.
Laying claim to a 10-4 record, Cleveland can end the NFL's longest active postseason drought (17 years) with any of the following outcomes on Sunday:
- Browns beat Jets, Colts lose to Pittsburgh Steelers
- Browns beat Jets, Ravens lose or tie to New York Giants
- Browns tie Jets, Ravens lose to Giants