Weeks after seeing Anthony Walker go down with a season-ending injury, the Browns believe one of their other linebackers will not return this year. Kevin Stefanski said Jacob Phillips is unlikely to come back in 2022 due to a pectoral injury, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes.
The Browns had turned to Phillips, a third-round pick in 2020, as a full-time player in the wake of Walker’s injury. Phillips played every Browns defensive snap from Weeks 4-6, but this marks another major injury for the former LSU Tiger. He missed much of last season because of a biceps tear.
Cleveland will turn to another LSU alum now. The team’s recent trade for Deion Jones was designed at giving the former Falcon a key role once he sufficiently acclimated himself in Joe Woods‘ defense. After spending the first six weeks of the season on IR and playing 52% of Cleveland’s defensive snaps in Week 7, Jones will be needed as a full-timer alongside Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Jones, 28 next week, fell out of favor in Atlanta but has 83 career starts on his resume. The Browns’ Monday-night game against the Bengals will likely be No. 84.
Phillips, 23, who debuted at LSU in 2017, did not overlap at the SEC school with Jones — a 2016 second-round pick. Phillips started Sunday’s game in Baltimore and made seven solo tackles, giving him 46 for the season. He added two sacks — against the Steelers and Chargers — during his run replacing Walker as well. Phillips’ rookie contract runs through 2023.
Additionally, the Browns are set to be without David Njoku for a stretch. The sixth-year tight end sustained a high ankle sprain, Cabot adds. The recently extended pass catcher is set for a two- to five-week recovery timetable. Njoku, 26, left M&T Bank Stadium on crutches Sunday. This will interrupt the former first-rounder’s career-best pace. Njoku, who caught seven passes for 71 yards against the Ravens, had totaled 418 yards this season. His career-high (639) came back in 2018.
The Browns extended Njoku on a five-year, $54.75MM deal weeks after franchise-tagging him. While the 2017 draftee had not offered much consistency in Cleveland, the team is banking on him making a mid-career leap during Deshaun Watson‘s run at quarterback. Njoku was rewarding the team’s faith thus far; his 34 receptions tie Amari Cooper for most on the team. By the time Njoku returns, Watson may be at the helm.