The Cleveland Browns rang in the new year by practicing. With everything else that transpired over the past week, it was a major victory.
Today, they are to go for an even bigger victory.
After days of positive COVID-19 tests, disruptions and delays, the Browns found some normalcy and reopened their facility on Friday to resume getting ready to play the Pittsburgh Steelers and possibly end a post-season drought stretching back to 2002.
Photo: AP
A season like no other is either going to end today with a loss and bitter disappointment for the Browns (10-5), or continue with a victory that would launch them into the American Football Conference (AFC) playoffs for just the second time since their 1999 rebirth.
“I feel the weight of it,” wide receiver Jarvis Landry said.
It has been a heavy week for the Browns. They have had to shuffle players on and off the COVID-19 reserve list, and will be missing at least three starters, including top cornerback Denzel Ward, when they face the AFC North champion Steelers (12-3).
For the first time in three days, they did not have any positive tests and now need to get through the next hours unscathed.
Last week, their trip to play the New York Jets turned into a lost weekend after a positive test for linebacker B.J. Goodson led to four wide receivers, including Landry, being held out as close contacts.
Landry, who missed the first game of his career, and the other wideouts are back, but the group will be missing assistant coach Chad O’Shea today because he tested positive for COVID-19.
Coach Kevin Stefanski is to again call on chief of staff Callie Brownson to fill in.
She became the first woman in NFL history to handle in-game coaching duties on Nov. 29, when tight ends coach Drew Petzing did not travel to Jacksonville, as his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child.
“We will not miss a beat there,” Stefanski said.
Players have grown accustomed to virtual meetings and adjusting on the fly, so the past few days were nothing out of the ordinary — at least by 2020-2021 standards.
“We are where we need to be from a preparation standpoint,” said Stefanski, who named defensive star Myles Garrett captain for the game. “We have not missed a beat in the Zoom meetings and the mental aspect of this. We got our work done on Wednesday. We got some extra work done today. I am comfortable with where we are.”
The Browns are also catching a break with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin resting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, along with defensive Most Valuable Player candidate and league sacks leader T.J. Watt and other prominent starters.
A win would restore pride to this football-mad city and its beloved franchise.
“That would be special,” said Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio, drafted by the Browns in 2014. “You put so much into it and you get a lot out of it, but the end goal is to win Super Bowls.”
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