The Cleveland Browns are in London but defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. did not make the trip.
Hall will miss his fifth straight game to open the season as he continues recovering from a knee injury he suffered at the end of last season. Hall practiced in a limited capacity on Wednesday but is not yet ready for game action.
Browns DT Mike Hall Jr (knee) has been ruled out for the Vikings game and won’t make the trip to London,” Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot wrote on X.
The Browns had hoped Hall would be ready to roll earlier. The team did not place him on injured reserve at the start of the season, which would have resulted in him missing four games. He’s remained a member of the active roster but has yet to get on the field.
Hall played in eight games last season, missing time due to a suspension and injury. The former second-round pick out of Ohio State totalled 14 tackles, one sack, and three tackles for loss.
He’s working very hard and is getting really close,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said last week.
Browns Defense Humming Despite 1-3 Start
When Hall does return, he’ll join the NFL’s top-ranked defense in terms of yards given up per game (222.5). The defensive line, bolstered by All-Pro Myles Garrett and rookie defensive tackle Mason Graham, has been a difference maker.
“It obviously makes everybody better. It makes our coverage better. All those different things,” Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said of the benefit of a good pass rush. “It all really goes down to pass rush and even if you’re not sacking the quarterback, if you’re affecting the quarterback, making him throw before he wants to, or make him make errant throws, then it’s part of it goes.”
Schwartz called the defensive line the “engine” of the powerful Browns defense, which will face a Vikings offense that is led by Carson Wentz on Sunday.
“Usually, as our defensive line goes, we go. They’re the tempo setter for us,” Schwartz said. “They’re the people that we lean on to be our engine. And you know, if they can capitalize on some of those matchups, all the better for us.”
Browns Star Myles Garrett Practices After Injury Scare
Garrett returned to practice on Thursday after sitting out Wednesday’s practice with an ankle injury. The Browns can not afford Garrett to miss time.
He’s been by far the most impactful player on the Browns‘ roster. Garrett has recorded 4.0 sacks, eight QB hits, and a league-leading eight tackles for loss through four games.
“Every team goes into playing us and says we have to have a plan for No. 95 and like we talked about, it can be sliding to him all the time. It could be making sure there’s a tight end over there or running back,” Stefanski said earlier this season. “That, you know is their prerogative, what they want to do.
“I guess the point is he plays through all that and we use him in a variety of ways and then it does, the impact that it has on the other players. It’s why he’s the Defensive Player of the Year, just for perpetuity, in my opinion.”
Garrett and the Browns are a 3.5-point underdog in London against the Vikings.
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