Cleveland Browns bring undermanned o-line to pivotal Thursday Night Football matchup with Pittsburgh Steelers with first place in the AFC North at stake.
The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers get a prime-time stage for the latest installment of their storied rivalry in Week 4. The winning team will, at least temporarily, hold the top spot in the AFC North.
When the ball kicks off, Cleveland will notably be missing an important piece of their offensive line as veteran center Elgton Jenkins. He popped up on the injury report this week with a concussion and could not clear the protocol in time to play on Thursday. He was ruled out well ahead of kickoff, along with guard Teven Jenkins who returned to practice this week in a limited capacity after battling a back injury, but is still not quite ready to play.
In Elgton Jenkins' absence, the Browns will start 2023 sixth-round pick Luke Wypler at center. Wypler has appeared in 25 games and started six during his NFL career. He'll look to help stabilize a Cleveland run game that has struggled to get off the ground through the first few weeks of the season. It currently ranks 29th in rushing yards per game. Rookie C Parker Brailsford, who was inactive for the first three weeks of the season, will be active for the first time in his career and serve as Wypler's backup.
Veteran wide receiver Tylan Wallace was the third player to be ruled out in advance of Thursday due to a knee injury, who has primarily served as a key special teamer for the Browns.
As far as the rest of the Browns inactives are concerned, rookie quarterback Taylen Green is once again listed as the emergency third quarterback for a fourth consecutive week, so another week without this mystery special package for him.
Here's the full list:
QB Taylen Green (Emergency 3rd QB)
C Elgton Jenkins
G Teven Jenkins
WR Tylan Wallace
LB Justin Jefferson
Initially, the Steelers had ruled out CB Joey Porter Jr., but in a stunning twist the 2023 third round pick was traded to the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday night.
The Browns and Steelers will kick things off at Huntington Bank Field around 8:15 p.m. with the game airing on Amazon Prime and locally on Channel 5. Cleveland enters the game 7-0 since 2018 on TNF. Meanwhile, the Steelers are riding an 0-9 streak in divisional road games on TNF.
