The next man up mentality continues for the Cleveland Browns as they head into a Week 15 matchup with the Chicago Bears.
The team ruled out four players – three of whom are starters – as the week of practice wrapped in Berea, as center Ethan Pocic, safety Juan Thornhill, linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk and defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo all will not play.
Pocic and Thornhill didn't practice all week for the Browns, while Kunaszyk showed up on the injury report Thursday after tweaking his calf. As for Okoronkwo, his season may in fact be over as he's dealing with a pectoral injury sustained in the team's win over the Jaguars. Head coach Kevin Stefanski noted on Friday that they still don't have confirmation that the ailment is season ending, but reports suggest that will be the case.
Without Okoronkwo, the Browns will likely lean on second-year man Alex Wright to fill in behind Myles Garrett and Za'Darius Smith at defensive end. Without Thornhill, and with Grant Delpit heading to the IR earlier in the week, the Browns will likely turn to the trio of rookie Ronnie Hickman, De'Anthony Bell and veteran Duron Harmon who they promoted from the practice squad this week.
On a brighter note, defensive tackle Jordan Phillips returned to practice on Friday while spending the week in the concussion protocol. He is heading into the weekend listed as questionable as the Browns will see how he progresses over the next 48 hours, leading up to kickoff.
Joining Phillips with a questionable designation for Sunday is too CB Denzel Ward. Last week Ward spoke as though he was going to ready to play against Jacksonville but wound up being ruled out. He's been dealing with a shoulder injury for the last four weeks and has yet to return to action since the team's Week 11 win over Pittsburgh.
As for the Bears, they'll be without pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue, who was placed on the IR with a broken ankle earlier this week. Otherwise, the Bears remain one of the league's healthiest teams. Wide receiver, Equarious St. Browns hasn't practiced for them this week. Additionally, starting safety Jaquan Brisker is also dealing with a groin injury that kept him out of practice on Thursday.
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