The Cleveland Browns suffered a rough, but expected blow to their defense.

Cleveland Browns reporter Scott Petrak of The Chronicle-Telegram, reported that second-year defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. will miss Week 1 with a knee injury.

It came on the heels of his return to practice on Thursday. It was evident that Hall likely wasn’t going to be ready for the season opener as the preseason carried on, but defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was hoping he’d be back.

Fresh off his rookie season in 2024, the former second-round pick was looking to improve upon a year that started rocky. During the 2024 training camp, Hall was arrested on domestic assault charges and was placed on the commissioner's exempt list to start the season.

After pleading no contest, he found his way back onto the field and played eight games, registering 14 tackles (eight solo), three tackles-for-loss, and six quarterback hits.

It was a positive sign for the youngster’s future in Cleveland. But as he continues to recover from offseason knee surgery, the Browns believe it was in his best interest to hold him out until he is at full strength.

Now with Hall out, it opens the door for first-round draft pick Mason Graham to attack in the interior.

Along with Hall’s return to practice, Schwartz seemed elated with how well the d-line fared on Thursday's practice, something you rarely see out of the longtime assistant.

“The biggest thing is, our defensive line is much, much improved over last year,” Schwartz claimed. “I think we’ve got back to our personality… We started seeing it back in OTAs, and showed good signs of it in training camp… even though we didn’t have all our guys on the field a lot during preseason, we saw it in the practices and the preseason games.”

He later continued saying this has the makings of one of the best d-lines in the game:

“We’ll see, but I think they have the makings of that. We’re able to play a true form of attack now. But we have improved players. I think Isaiah McGuire had a good year last year, Alex (Wright) is as good as I’ve seen him… but when it’s all said and done, we got to prove it on the field.”

Along with the Hall news, it was also reported that superstar defensive end Myles Garrett (hip) will be ready to go for Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals.