Browns Digest

Browns Odell Beckham Out Against Texans

Wednesday, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski ruled out wide receiver Odell Beckham for their game against the Houston Texans as he is still recovering from his knee surgery.

Pete Smith

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Wednesday that wide receiver Odell Beckham would be out for their game against the Houston Texans as he continues to rehab his knee coming off surgery.

Browns coaches had referred to Beckham as iffy for a few weeks before he was ultimately unable to contribute enough to be active for their game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Beckham will continue to practice on a limited basis, but the team is taking a long term approach to his knee recovery. He was able to recover in an incredibly short time frame, which set up certain expectations. The goal was to make it by week one.

Unfortunately, it's not quite there yet and Stefanski and the team are more concerned about the long term than the immediate payoff. That also comes with a level of disappointment because he's not out there.

It's the opposite approach the Browns took with Beckham when he suffered a groin injury in the summer before the 2019 season. Rather than having him get the surgery and delay the gratification, the team and Beckham opted to have him play the whole season and then get the surgery.

The results were poor and it was easy to say the team should have gotten the surgery done earlier and let him come back healthy late in the year.

This organization is looking at the marathon of the NFL season and see no reason to rush him.

Perhaps arrogantly, the Browns also are facing the Houston Texans this week. And although they did win their first game of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars team, they are regarded as one of the worst teams in the league.

It certainly feels like the Browns are factoring that into the equation, believing they shouldn't need Beckham in order to defeat the Texans, hoping to have him come back healthier, whether that's for the Chicago Bears in week three or later.

Against the Chiefs, rookie Anthony Schwartz stepped in and contributed. The Browns may take a similar approach this week.

READ MORE: 5 Players Out for Wednesday's Practice

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Pete Smith
PETE SMITH

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