Injuries pile up ahead of Browns-Ravens AFC North showdown

BrownsInjuries cloud Browns-Ravens showdown for AFC North lead in ClevelandBy Orange and Brown Talk Podcast, cleveland.comCLEVELAND, Ohio — 38 players. Two injury reports. Zero certainty about who will actually suit up Sunday when the Browns host the Ravens at Huntington Bank Field with first place in the AFC North on the line.That’s the impossible situation both teams — and anyone trying to analyze this game — find themselves in heading into one of the biggest divisional matchups of the young NFL season.Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot laid out the scope of the problem plainly. Browns vs. Ravens storylines, scouting report and picks: Preview podcastWhy the pass game was already the Browns’ best chance versus the RavensThis Browns DT waited 6 years for his first NFL sack — now Cleveland may need him again“The Ravens have 21 on their injury report today on Thursday, and the Browns have 17,” she said. “The Ravens had two more added today, including Zay Flowers, who was limited with a toe injury. We still don’t even know if Lamar Jackson is playing in this game and we certainly know that there are plenty of Browns that are still idle, still ailing and not sure they’re going to play.”The Browns’ injury list includes defensive cornerstones Carson Schwesinger, Mason Graham and Mike Hall — none of whom had practiced through Thursday. For a defense that’s been Cleveland’s identity all season, those aren’t small absences.Orange and Brown Talk host Dan Labbe offered a tangible illustration of just how absurd the lists have gotten: the injury report was so long this week that he accidentally missed a Ravens player when he sent it out to newsletter subscribers — because his email cut off before the full list loaded.Browns beat reporter Ashley Bastock zeroed in on what the late-week practice absences actually mean in practical terms. “It’s always a little concerning when you get to Thursday and they haven’t been on the practice field at all because that does become a really tight turnaround,” she said. “And I think ultimately it’s why we’re going into picking this game, really just having no clue what to do or what’s going to decide it, because it’s really hard to know those things when you don’t know who’s actually going to be on the field.”Still, there’s reason to think at least some of those names could return by Sunday. Schwesinger finished last week’s Jets game. Labbe noted that Schwesinger and Graham are “two guys that wouldn’t shock me if we walked out there (Friday) morning and they’re both in the stretch lines getting ready to go.”The Browns have shown real depth this season. Backup defenders Adin Huntington and Sam Kamara performed well against the Jets even without a full complement of starters. But there’s a ceiling to how much depth can compensate. As Labbe put it: “Your starters and your stars are starters and stars for a reason. And eventually, if you don’t have those guys, that can catch up to you.”The Ravens face their own uncertainty — a reshuffled offensive line, Flowers’ toe injury and a quarterback who hasn’t practiced all week. Friday’s practice will be the key for both rosters. Whatever happens, Sunday’s game may ultimately be decided less by scheme than by which injury report clears up first.This article was produced with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by Cleveland.com staff.