For a second straight week, the Cleveland Browns will be without standout second-year defensive tackle Mason Graham.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, the Browns announced that Graham, due to a lower-body injury, was questionable for Sunday's Week 6 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. The 23-year-old suffered his injury in the Browns' Thursday Night Football showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers just a few weeks ago.
Along with Graham's absence, the Browns will be without defensive linemen Mike Hall Jr. and Kalia Davis.
Each has been slowly but surely recovering, but to be safe, the front office has made a few moves to fill their voids.
Practice Squad Elevations
In the wake of Graham's "questionable" diagnosis and Hall Jr. and Davis being ruled out, the front office has elevated defensive tackles Chris Williams and Sam Kamara to the active roster.
This isn't the first time the Browns have had to use either, though.
Kamara waltzed out in front of a packed MetLife Stadium last weekend, recording three tackles and the first sack of his NFL career. Williams, on the other hand, didn't get in the stat sheet, but will continue to help the Browns' depth at the position.
While both weren't able to do enough to guide the Browns to a victory over the Jets last weekend, they did receive praise from head coach Todd Monken.
The first-year leader shared that they both provided the team with valuable time on the field.
“Those guys that got elevated really gave us some valuable minutes,” Monken said following the 27-20 loss.
The defensive line is now expected to see the likes of Williams, Kamara, Maliek Collins and Adin Huntington. On the outside, Jared Verse, Sam Williams and Isaiah McGuire will eat up a majority of the snaps.
The line is certainly banged up, more than it has been in quite a while in Cleveland, but that shouldn't stop the young, hungry group that is available from putting together a strong showing against the Ravens.
Baltimore Isn't Healthy Either
It is never good to see a player injured, especially one as talented as Lamar Jackson, but with the Browns' recent injury spell, being able to face a Ravens squad that will not have him available is a big break.
Jackson is recovering from an ankle injury he suffered against the Tennessee Titans back in Week 4. Since then, he hasn't practiced.
In his place, the Ravens will turn to Tyler Huntley to be the man under center, someone Cleveland is relatively familiar with. While he doesn't have the speed that Jackson does, he is pretty mobile, and the Browns' defensive line will have to be ready to track him down if he starts to roll towards the hashes.
With how Kamara stepped up last week, and the opportunity available in front of Williams, there should be little concern for how the Browns will look defensively.
As long as the rest of the squad does its job, they should be good to go.
The Browns and Ravens will clash from Huntington Bank Field on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 1:00 p.m. EST.
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