Whether it was a function of top tight end Austin Hooper being out with injury or the plan of attack against the Ravens defense, the Cleveland Browns offense shifted hard to a three wide receiver attack on Monday night.
The third WR, rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones, played 58 snaps, or 70 percent of the available snaps. That is the highest percentage of action for the third wideout in the Kevin Stefanski era. One week earlier in the matchup against Tennessee, Peoples-Jones played 57 percent of reps and that was the prior season-high.
Jarvis Landry played 76 of the 83 offensive snaps, with Rashard Higgins close behind at 69. The top tight end, rookie Harrison Bryant, was on the field for just 55. David Njoku closely followed with 51.
The running back split again remained a close share, with Nick Chubb getting the slight advantage over Kareem Hunt, 44 to 39.
Also of note on the offense, Chris Hubbard filled in as both the backup left tackle for the four snaps Jedrick Wills missed and all five of the reps Wyatt Teller missed at right guard. Ja’Marcus Bradley played four snaps as the No. 4 wide receiver.
Cleveland’s defense was on the field for just 60 snaps against Baltimore, and no Browns defender played all 60. Cornerbacks Kevin Johnson and Terrance Mitchell led the way at 59 apiece, followed by end Olivier Vernon at 58 and safety Andrew Sendejo at 55.
It was a linebacker-by-committee against the Ravens. B.J. Goodson topped the LBs with 50 reps, followed by Malcolm Smith (43), Sione Takitaki (28), Mack Wilson (17) and Jacob Phillips (10). Third safety Sheldrick Redwine was on the field for 13 of the 60 snaps.
Linebackers Tae Davis and Elijah Lee both saw action on 20 special teams reps but did not play on defense. Cornerback Tavierre Thomas had just one rep on defense but 27 on special teams.