Browns make multiple roster moves Saturday

Walker is officially off injured reserve, Jackson is back to the practice squad and elevated for Week 5 along with Moffatt, giving the team options given all their defensive injury concerns:

Due to injuries and Andrew Berry’s desire to make the team the best he can, the Cleveland Browns have been full of roster moves throughout the early part of the season. With five brought in for workouts on Friday, we can expect more moves to come next week as well.

Saturday, the Browns made multiple moves that impact their roster for Week 5:

  • LB Anthony Walker was officially activated from the injured reserve after being designated for return earlier in the week.
  • DE Joe Jackson, who was waived earlier in the week, was added to the team’s practice squad.
  • Jackson and S Jovante Moffatt were elevated from the team’s practice squad to the active roster for Week 5.

Neither Jackson or Moffatt are certain to be active for this week’s game but the moves give the team options depending on how their multiple questionable designated players react in warmups.

Jackson and Moffatt will revert back to the team’s practice squad following the conclusion of Week 5.

Walker’s return should bump Malcolm Smith to a reserve role and give the team more speed at the linebacker spot. With Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah producing well early as a rookie, Cleveland hopes pairing the rookie with Walker will give them the best defense possible against the run and pass.

Browns release DE Joe Jackson

The Browns move on from a backup defensive end but don’t make a corresponding roster move on Thursday:

The Cleveland Browns continue to adjust their roster as the season turns the corner to the second quarter. With Myles Garrett, Jadeveon Clowney and Takk McKinley getting the majority of the snaps ahead of him, the team released defensive end Joe Jackson today.

Jackson has played in all four games so far for the Browns but his snap count has dropped each week. In the first week, Jackson played in 10 snaps on defense but that dropped to five by Week 4. He did play in eight special teams snaps last week, his most of the season

His 2021 season was highlighted by his Week 1 sack of Patrick Mahomes.

The Browns also have Ifeadi Odenigbo on their active roster but he hasn’t played a snap this season after being cut by the New York Giants during final cuts.

The team did not announce a corresponding move to fill Jackson’s roster spot giving them the flexibility to sign a player off another team’s practice squad or to make a trade.

If needed, the Browns do have Porter Gustin and Curtis Weaver on their practice squad that they could either sign to their active roster or elevate for Week 5’s matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Browns add DE Joe Jackson, place LB Jacob Phillips on IR

DE Joe Jackson isn’t shoeless and he isn’t jobless as he returns to the roster in place of the injured linebacker.

As expected, the Cleveland Browns have continued to make moves the day after the initial 53-man roster was due. The NFL rules regarding injured reserve require that a player be on the initial roster before being placed on IR if the team wants that player to be able to play that season.

If the player’s injury will cause him to miss the rest of the season, the team can place him on injured reserve prior to the initial 53-man roster. The Browns did that with Greg Senat and Drew Forbes.

Today comes the expected move of linebacker Jacob Phillips going on IR. Phillips has a biceps injury, reportedly torn, but could make a return this season.

In his place, Cleveland brought back defensive end Joe Jackson to give themselves a fourth defensive end to go along with Myles Garrett, Jadeveon Clowney and Takk McKinley. The 6’5″ Jackson was waived by the team yesterday and could have been claimed by any other team in the NFL.

Going into his third season, Jackson has only played in eight games including just three with the Browns in 2020. His nine total tackles and one quarterback hit are his lone NFL statistics.

Earlier in the day, Cleveland added defensive ends Porter Gustin and Curtis Weaver to their practice squad. Due to similar rules from 2020, the team could call either or both players up to the active roster for game day in 2021.

For now, the Browns will rely heavily on their top three defensive ends and hope Jackson, Gustin or Weaver can help if needed.

Phillips can return after three games but his injury is expected to keep him out for over half the year. If Cleveland brings him back off injured reserve they would have to release/waive another player.

Browns activate Sione Takitaki and Joe Jackson from reserve/COVID-19 list

Takitaki and Jackson can play on Sunday against Tennessee

Two more players are off the reserve/COVID-19 list for the Cleveland Browns. On Friday, the Browns activated linebacker Sione Takitaki and defensive end Joe Jackson from the list.

Both Takitaki and Jackson are now available to play for the Browns on Sunday in Nashville in the AFC showdown with the Tennessee Titans. They each missed the Week 12 win in Jacksonville after testing positive for the coronavirus earlier that week.

They join defensive end Myles Garrett and fullback Andy Janovich as Browns activated this week from the reserve/COVID-19 list. Only defensive end Porter Gustin remains on the list. Gustin was the last Browns player to test positive prior to Week 12.

 


 

Depth at defensive end will be tested for the Browns

Myles Garrett, Porter Gustin and Joe Jackson are all on the reserve/COVID-19 list

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One of the deeper positions on the Cleveland Browns roster has suddenly become a problem. Thanks to three COVID-19 positive tests, the Browns are going to be very shorthanded when they travel to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars in Week 12.

Porter Gustin joined fellow DEs Myles Garrett and Joe Jackson on Cleveland’s reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday. Gustin started in place of Garrett in the team’s Week 11 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, but he will not be available this Sunday.

With the trio out, the Browns are down to Olivier Vernon and Adrian Clayborn currently on the active roster. That is it for now, though there is some wiggle room.

Cameron Malveaux is on the practice squad and is a strong candidate to move up. Another practice squad player, Joey Ivie, can play on the outside and did so at Florida in college.

Sheldon Richardson also has the ability to play end, something he did earlier in his career. The Browns do have some depth at DT, so expect to see Richardson line up on the edge at least some of the time in Jacksonville. Rookie Jordan Elliott and Vincent Taylor, who played well in the Week 11 win, could fill in Richardson’s DT role next to Larry Ogunjobi.

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Browns place DE Joe Jackson on the reserve/COVID-19 list

Jackson is the 4th player on the Browns’ list

There is another addition to the reserve/COVID-19 list for the Cleveland Browns. On Tuesday, the Browns added defensive end Joe Jackson to the list.

Jackson joins fellow DE Myles Garrett, OL Chris Hubbard and FB Andy Janovich on the reserve list. The other three have all tested positive for the coronavirus, but there is no indication Jackson tested positive. Players can be added if they were in direct contact with someone who has tested positive.

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Jackson has not played since Week 4. The reserve DE from Miami is in his first season in Cleveland after being claimed from the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. He was a fifth-round pick in 2019 by Dallas. Jackson has five total tackles and a fumble recovery in three games in 2020.

 

Browns waive TE Pharaoh Brown and DT Eli Ankou

Browns waive TE Pharaoh Brown and DT Eli Ankou to make room for Joe Jackson and Vincent Taylor

With the additions of Joe Jackson and Vincent Taylor, the Cleveland Browns had to clear out two roster spots to accommodate them on the 53-man roster. As a result, the jubilation of making the Browns comes crashing down for TE Pharaoh Brown and DT Eli Ankou.

The Browns waived Brown and Ankou on Sunday to create space for the waiver claims acquired from other team’s cutdowns.

Waiving Brown takes the team back down to four tight ends: Austin Hooper, David Njoku, Harrison Bryant and Stephen Carlson. Brown played in nine games, starting six, for the Browns in 2019. He caught two passes for 27 yards as more of a blocking specialist.

Ankou was one of the pleasant stories of training camp, playing his way onto the initial 53-man roster and even getting some first-team reps. In nine games with the team in 2019, Ankou notched seven tackles.

Both remain practice squad eligible if they clear the next round of waivers.

Browns claim two defensive linemen off waivers

The corresponding roster moves are not yet known

The Cleveland Browns have two new additions to the 53-man roster. One day after the cutdown deadline, the Browns were awarded two players off waivers.

New to Cleveland are DE Joe Jackson and DT Vincent Taylor. The Browns successfully claimed the two off waivers with the 10th spot on the NFL’s waiver wire.

Jackson comes from Dallas, where he was a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Miami. He played sparingly as a rookie, recording five tackles in five games. He lost his roster spot to more seasoned additions by Dallas along the defensive front this year.

Taylor has 24 games of NFL experience in his three seasons. Initially a sixth-round pick out of Oklahoma State in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, Taylor spent last year in Buffalo. The Bills waived him on Saturday.

Taylor confirmed the news via Twitter,

The Browns have yet to reveal the corresponding roster moves.