As the Browns attempt to land a new left tackle via trade, they will use a different starter against the Patriots. Greg Robinson will be a backup Sunday, he confirmed (via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal, on Twitter). This was in the cards for a bit now, but the Browns have followed through with the change.
Former UDFA Justin McCray is expected to take over. The Browns, who started UDFA Desmond Harrison last season before pivoting to Robinson, acquired McCray via trade with the Packers just before the season. However, they have been linked to both Trent Williams (for a while now) and Nate Solder via trade. John Dorsey plans to add a tackle before Tuesday afternoon’s trade deadline.
The Browns’ Robinson experiment has not gone especially well. The team managed to release its left tackle starter in a procedural move before the season and re-sign him soon after, appearing confident another team would not swoop in. While the former No. 2 overall pick has only allowed one sack and two quarterback hits, he has yielded 10 pressures and been flagged five times for holding. Despite these numbers, Pro Football Focus has Robinson graded as its No. 27 overall tackle.
McCray has spent time at guard as well during his career. The 27-year-old Central Florida alum has made 14 career starts for the Packers and Browns. Should he get the call Sunday, it would certainly be a difficult assignment — against a Patriots defense on a historic pace.
The asking price just went up on “available” left tackles
The browns will pick up Williams, because the same guy who reported Beckham to the browns did the same about Williams going to the browns a couple of weeks ago