Browns Suffer Another Season-Ending Injury On Offense
Add another name to the list of Browns players who are out for the season due to injury.
On Monday, during his weekly press conference head coach Kevin Stefanski revealed that rookie left tackle Dawand Jones' season was headed to the IR for a season-ending knee injury that will require surgery. Jones suffered the ailment late last week at practice as he popped up on the injury report Friday afternoon and was listed as questionable.
He was ultimately ruled out on the team's inactives, 90 minutes before kickoff with the Jaguars.
Jones has been a pleasant surprise for the Browns this season after being thrust into action in Week 2 after Jack Conklin went down with his own season-ending knee injury. In Conklin's absence though, the Ohio State product barely missed a beat, bringing a steady consistency to the right side of the offensive line.
According to PFF, Jones has a 73.0 pass blocking grade, which ranks him 37th among his tackle contemporaries across the NFL. Some of his more notable performances came in the Browns two matchups with Pittsburgh where he was tasked with helping slow down former Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt. In their second matchup back in Week 11, Watt had a notably quiet game except for one sack which came when Jones was actually out the game.
During contest, Jones was actually rotating with veteran tackle James Hudson III due to injuries to knee and shoulder injuries. His first bout with injuries had him inactive for Cleveland's Week 10 rematch with Baltimore, which it won.
With Jones heading to the IR, Hudson III will be considered the next man up for the Browns. Hudson III is a three-year vet who has spent each of his first three campaigns in the NFL in Cleveland.
Jones, meanwhile, joins an ever growing list of Browns plays lost to season ending injuries. That list now includes: Conklin, Nick Chubb, Deshaun Watson and Rodney McLeod, among others.
Starting left tackle Jedrick Wills is also currently on the IR with an MCL injury but is expected back at some point during this home stretch of the season. This past week marked four weeks since Wills was placed on the IR so he is now able to return to practice as soon as he's able.
