CLEVELAND — With their season hanging in the balance, the Browns appear to finally have the bulk of their roster available ahead of Monday's trip to Pittsburgh.
Cleveland on Thursday activated four more players from the reserve/COVID-19 list, including three starters who missed the Christmas Day game in Green Bay. Those now expected to play on "Monday Night Football" include:
- C JC Tretter
- DT Jordan Elliot
- CB Greg Newsome II
- K Chase McLaughlin
Besides being the Browns' starting center for the past five years, Tretter is also the president of the NFL Players Association, making him one of the public faces of the league's response to the coronavirus pandemic. After testing positive, last Saturday's game was the first he had missed in his tenure with the team.
The rookie Newsome has actually been out the last three contests with a concussion as well as COVID, but is no longer listed on the injury. McLaughlin's absence also forced the Browns to bring in undrafted rookie Chris Naggar to kick last week, and he was released from the practice squad today after missing an extra point that played a role in the team's 24-22 loss.
On Monday, Cleveland activated eight additional players from the list, including defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. This seems to mostly bring to an end a stressful ordeal that saw upwards of 20 members of the active roster (including the top two quarterbacks) as well as the head coach out with COVID-19 just two weeks ago.
In line with the CDC's recently revised guidelines for asymptomatic patients, the NFL recently updated its protocols to reduce the isolation period for those who test positive to as little as five days. As of Thursday, the following players on Cleveland's active roster remain on the reserve/COVID-19 list:
- OT Alex Taylor
- LB Tony Fields II
- LB Elijah Lee
At 7-8, the Browns can still win the AFC North, but must win their final two games while the Cincinnati Bengals have to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday and the Baltimore Ravens must drop one of their final two. Should both those teams win in three days, it would make Monday's game against the Steelers meaningless.