CLEVELAND — The Browns have suddenly sprung another hole in their patchwork secondary.
Already down several key players due to positive COVID-19 tests, the Browns said Saturday night they will also be without cornerback Kevin Johnson on Sunday against Pittsburgh as they try to end their long playoff drought.
Johnson’s late addition to the reserve/COVID-19 list means the Browns (10-5), who barely got to practice this week due to contact tracing protocols, will be missing five rotational defensive players when they host the Steelers (12-3).
Earlier this week, the team ruled out top cornerback Denzel Ward, linebackers B.J. Goodson and Malcolm Smith and safety Andrew Sendejo.
An NFL spokesman said in an email that despite the flare-up in COVID cases, the status for Sunday’s game is unchanged.
With Ward and Johnson out, the Browns will be without two of their top three cornerbacks. Robert Jackson, M.J. Stewart Jr. and Tavierre Thomas will all likely get significant playing time.
Also, to help offset the loss of Johnson, the Browns elevated rookie cornerback A.J. Green from the practice squad.
Cleveland will be missing some coaches as well.
The team won’t have offensive line coach Bill Callahan or assistant line coach Scott Peters. They were added to the COVID-19 reserve list Saturday and won’t be able to help the Browns try to lock up their first post-season berth since 2002.
The losses of Callahan and Peters came after the team said wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea tested positive in advance of the dramatic regular-season finale. He’ll be replaced by chief of staff Callie Brownson, who earlier this season became the first female to handle in-game sideline coaching duties in an NFL game.
Assistant Ryan Cordell will take over for Callahan, the former Raiders and Nebraska coach in his first season with Cleveland. Callahan has been widely praised for his work with the Browns’ front, which has helped the club become one of the league’s best rushing teams.
The Browns will return to the playoffs for just their second time in their expansion era with a win over their hated rivals, who will sit quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, defensive stars T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward and other starters.
The Steelers, too, have issues with the virus as the team placed cornerback Joe Haden, tight end Eric Ebron and linebacker Cassius March on the reserve list Saturday. Haden, who was drafted in the first round by Cleveland in 2010, will have to sit at least 10 days and will miss Pittsburgh’s first-round playoff game.
Those losses should help Cleveland’s cause, but the Browns, who had just two abbreviated on-field indoor practices this week, are far from full strength.
The Browns’ thin secondary got a needed reinforcement as safety Karl Joseph was activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Unlike last week, the Browns will have their four leading receivers back. Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge were activated on Thursday. They were all ruled out against the New York Jets as high-risk after spending time around Goodson in the team’s recovery whirlpools.
Rookie tight end Harrison Bryant is also on the COVID list.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski’s plan to have a walk-through on Saturday was scrapped when the team closed its building — for the third time in four days — to conduct tracing. They held all their meetings virtually a day before their biggest game in nearly two decades.
Stefanski was forced to improvise last week in New Jersey, holding a game day walk-through in a fifth-floor parking garage at the team’s hotel.
“It was like a wind tunnel out there,” guard Joel Bitonio said with a laugh Friday. “It was the first time we were in the huddle with most of the receivers that game at that time. It was one of those things where we just want to get used to the calls and make sure everybody is on the same page.
“It was definitely different. That will be one that we talk about a few years from now.”
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
