New England Patriots vs Cleveland Browns: What are the notable injuries?

Both the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns head into their Week 8 AFC matchup relatively healthy across their respective rosters.

In a nice change of pace, both the New England Patriots and the team they face – the Cleveland Browns – head into their game this weekend with very few names listed on their respective injury reports, per the Patriots’ official team website. The Patriots have just seven names total on their report, whereas the Browns have only three.

Let’s start with the home team.

New England will once again be down two of their tight ends when they take the field for football. Matt LaCosse is still rehabbing a sprained MCL in his knee suffered during the team’s Week 6 win over the New York Giants; he was the only player on the Patriots’ active roster who was not spotted in walkthroughs on Friday during the portion of practice that was open to the media.

Though his fellow tight end Ryan Izzo was present at parts of practice on Wednesday and Thursday, it appears he still needs a bit longer to clear the league’s concussion protocol. Izzo suffered a concussion during the Thursday practice before New England’s Monday Night Football game against the New York Jets in Week 7, and he hasn’t been given the green light to return to game action since.

Thankfully though, LaCosse and Izzo are the only two Patriots players who have already been listed as “out” for Sunday afternoon’s game against the Browns. Their spots in the starting lineup are expected to be filled by Benjamin Watson and Eric Tomlinson, both of whom played against the Jets in their season debuts for the Pats.

Originally, Tomlinson was believed to have been released earlier this week, but he remains on the roster now that Josh Gordon is instead headed for injured reserve and potentially the waiver wire after the NFL trade deadline passes.

Tomlinson was one of four Patriots players who moonlighted as a fullback for the team during New England’s win over New York on Monday night. His ability to play both TE and FB makes him useful to the team, and it should be fascinating to see how head coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels continue to deploy him in formations throughout games.

Elsewhere on the Patriots roster, running back Rex Burkhead (foot), wide receiver/kick returner Gunner Olszewski (ankle/hamstring), wide receiver Julian Edelman (chest), safety Patrick Chung (chest/heel), and guard Shaq Mason (ankle) round out the names featured on Friday’s final injury report. All got in limited practice participation this week, but each of them are listed officially as “questionable” for the game against Cleveland on Sunday.

Olszewski, Edelman, and Mason all played last Monday against the Jets, while Burkhead and Chung both sat the game out due to their respective injuries.

Burkhead’s injury is particularly frustrating, as he hasn’t been active in a game since Week 4 on the road versus the Buffalo Bills. Before he went down with the foot injury, he was having himself a nice start to the season as New England’s “blend” back. The Patriots could really use him back in their offense because of the versatility he offers as both the team’s most effective rusher this season (in a small sample size) and as one of its more sure-handed receivers.

Chung is also incredibly important to this team, but his absence is mitigated significantly by the fact that this New England D is about as strong and deep as it has ever looked under Belichick. Duron Harmon and Terrence Brooks did a phenomenal job filling in for Chung against the Jets, and either one of them (or both) seems capable of doing so again versus the Browns if Chung needs a bit more time to get right.

Edelman has managed to play through his chest injury the past four weeks, so it’d be a major surprise if he wasn’t out there again on Sunday. Olszewski has also toughed out a couple injuries this season – including a broken nose – so he should be good to go against the Browns. His value primarily comes on special teams, though he has seen limited snaps as a receiver this season at times if needed.

Mason’s absence would be problematic for the Pats if his ankle caused him to sit out this contest. He’s arguably the best offensive lineman New England has healthy and active in the starting lineup, and the Patriots need him to help blast open holes in the run game for Sony Michel. If Mason can’t go, Belichick would probably insert Jermaine Eluemunor at right guard in his stead.

For the Browns, the team’s lone player marked “out” against the Patriots is starting safety Damarious Randall (hamstring). While the loss of Randall going up against Tom Brady shouldn’t be minimized, it’s at least a comfort for Clevelanders that starting cornerbacks Greedy Williams and Denzel Ward are returning to action – and just in the nick of time after missing the Browns’ previous four games before their Week 7 bye.

The only other players listed on Cleveland’s injury report are left tackle Kendall Lamm (knee) and safety Sheldrick Redwine (no injury given). While both are officially deemed “questionable” for Sunday, Redwine was a full practice participant on Friday, so it looks like he’ll be able to play if needed.

Neither player seems particularly crucial to the Browns’ chances of scoring the upset on the road though.

Redwine is currently listed as the third-string free safety behind Randall and Eric Murray, while Lamm has been part of the left tackle rotation alongside Greg Robinson and Justin McCray. It appears that Murray will start at FS and McCray will start at LT, though Cleveland head coach Freddie Kitchens has declined to discuss his exact personnel plans ahead of this weekend’s big game.

The overall crux of the matter is that both the Browns and the Patriots head into this matchup about as healthy as either team could hope to be around the midway point of the season. Injuries shouldn’t play a significant factor in determining whether it’s New England who climbs to 8-0 or Cleveland who claws their way back to 3-4.