DECEMBER 8: Stefanski confirmed on Monday (via Easterling) Pocic has indeed torn his Achilles. His season is over as a result, and free agency will no doubt produce little in the way of strong offers while Pocic recovers.
DECEMBER 7: It was a difficult scene in Cleveland this afternoon, where, despite a big statistical day for rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the Browns were officially eliminated from postseason contention. In addition to that loss, Cleveland’s already banged up offensive line experienced another loss as center Ethan Pocic was carted off the field early in the fourth quarter of today’s game, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. 
Cabot’s early report noted Pocic grabbing his ankle, and the team’s associate editor & staff writer Kelsey Russo called it a calf injury shortly after he left the field of play. According to Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal, though, head coach Kevin Stefanski told the media following the game that “it’s likely an Achilles injury.” The 30-year-old veteran will undergo further testing to determine the extent of the injury.
Once the first center (and fifth offensive lineman) taken in the 2017 NFL draft out of LSU, Pocic played out his rookie contract in Seattle, not earning a full-time starting role until his final year with the team, though he did start 16 games over his first three seasons as an injury replacement. The Seahawks were unwilling to commit to Pocic long-term but signed him for an additional, fifth year. He ended up losing the starting job to Kyle Fuller, who handed the job right back eight weeks into the season.
After that year, Pocic decided to test the free agent waters and landed himself in Cleveland on a veteran minimum one-year deal. Starting 13 games for the Browns that year, Pocic played the best football of his career, with Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranking him as the 3rd best center in the NFL that season. Cleveland rewarded Pocic with a three-year, $18MM commitment, and though he hasn’t quite played to the same level over the course of that deal, he’s been a mostly dependable presence on the offensive line.
In truth, Pocic has not played in every game of a season since his rookie year, be it due to injury or benching. His last three years in Cleveland have been his most consistent, seeing him only miss three games from the start of the 2023 season to today, but if this truly is an Achilles injury that sidelines him, he’ll fall five games short of a full season this year, continuing the streak of incomplete campaigns.
As a result, it will be interesting to see what the future brings for Pocic. This was a contract year for the nine-year veteran, and it looks like he’ll be limping into free agency. Cleveland will likely look to get younger across the line as they move forward, and Pocic will have a long road to recovery, if his Achilles tendon has indeed ruptured, as suspected. It will be a long time before he’s able to start working out for teams again.
When Pocic exited the game today, the Browns turned to Luke Wypler, a sixth-round pick out of Ohio State two year ago. Earlier this year, Wypler got a start against the Dolphins as a sixth offensive lineman, eventually subbing in to replace Cornelius Lucas at right tackle. Despite a fumbled snap that cost the team a two-point conversion today in their two-point loss to the Titans, Wypler will likely be the man in the middle for what’s left of the Browns’ season. If right guard Wyatt Teller and right tackle Jack Conklin, who missed today’s game with injury, are unable to play again next week, left guard Joel Bitonio will be the only Day 1 starter left standing in Cleveland.
Shedeur looked decent today, albeit not as good as the stat line would indicate. He did some pretty good things and also made a few bad decisions — his pick was a bad throw on a play that he should have just thrown away, and he’s been better at avoiding sacks but still needs to learn when to bail on a play.
He deserves the last month of the year to show why they shouldn’t draft his replacement, but regardless of how that goes, they need to replace pretty much an entire offensive line.
Dawand Jones is perpetually injured and I’m still not sure if he’s actually good or not, Bitonio will likely retire, Pocic was a pending free agent anyway, Teller is a pending free agent who somehow made his way into the doghouse, and Conklin is a perpetually injured pending free agent who hasn’t even been that good when he’s played the last few seasons anyway.
Give him his flowers. He played very well behind a horrible OL. He had the best stats of all the QB’S today and his one interception was a tight throw. ALL QB’S get intercepted…he’s made huge strides
Weather conditions weren’t the best and he looked better than Cam Ward out there
Ward – 117 yards 14-28 2 TDs, 1 int 70 rating
Sanders – 364 yards 23-42, 3 TDs, 1 int 29 yards rushing and 1 rushing TD with a 97 rating which is 11th best this week.
Had it not been snowing stat lines for both QBs probably look better. There were also some passes receivers just dropped on both sides. Think it was Bond who dropped a 40 or 50 yard pass that went right through his hands as he was falling to the ground. Happened in the first half.
Sanders had almost 400 yards of offense he accounted for.
In fact in 3 games Sanders has with reps he’s looked better than Ward has all season long.
Moreso, Sanders didn’t lose this game for them. The defense, the center, and stefanski lost it for them. Defense gave up 161 yards rushing to Pollard, the first 2 pt attempt the ball got stuck between the centers leg never got to sanders, and the second 2 pt attempt they pulled sanders and tried some weird backwards pass throw that went horribly wrong.
Going into the off season they need to fix the oline
Get another wr to go with Fanning Jr who’s looked like a first round – second round pick I projected him to be he was a steal in the 3rd round, Jeudy, Bond
I didn’t mean for it to sound like I wasn’t giving him his flowers, I was mostly just saying that he probably didn’t play as well as the box score would indicate. I saw a lot of comments on social media saying that he’s definitely the guy and that he’s already better than Cam Ward, etc. when we should probably be putting the brakes on that talk for now. He played pretty well (and a decent amount of his incompletions were throwaways, so he’s making progress there), but he’s still raw which is understandable.
Considering he’s really only had three weeks of first team reps since being drafted, I’d say he’s been pretty impressive. I hope he’s the guy, but as a Browns fan I feel like I always need to temper expectations hence the apparently overconservative wording lol
“Shedeur looked decent today, albeit not as good as the stat line would indicate”
I think the stat line actually tells the right story. 342 yards and three TDs look great, but 23-42 doesn’t and the INT was brutal. He was up and down, but showed flashes of pretty great QB play. Considering his lack of experience, you have to be happy about what you saw but have to temper it somewhat.
Cleveland’s 2025 draft strategy relative to the offensive line was head-scratching.
The Browns drafted ZERO offensive linemen, but TWO quarterbacks and TWO running backs. Maybe they should invest some draft capital in the OL next year.
Shedeur Sanders played very well today especially behind an OL that is hanging together by a mere thread. Statistically he was also the best QB today. Future looks very bright for Sanders in Cleveland
Aaaaaa too early to tell, titans horrible.