Elijah Moore was well on his way to having a career night for the Browns last Thursday, ironically, against his former team the New York Jets .
The 23-year-old had hauled in five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown before half time, but on the last of those five receptions was slammed to the turf on his head and displayed signs of someone who had experienced a concussion.
Those fears were confirmed when Moore was unable to return to the game due to an announced head injury, which resulted in him spending the night in the hospital as head coach Kevin Stefanski revealed the next day.
It was unrealistic after that ordeal that Moore would be ale to clear the NFL's concussion protocols in time to play in the team's regular season finale in Cincinnati. Low and behold though, Moore was not part of the team's injury report when it returned to practice on Wednesday.
As Stefanski revealed, Moore is making progress ahead of Sunday.
"He'll practice today," Stefanski stated. "He's progressing well. Still in the protocol."
Moore's presence at practice to open up the week is obviously a positive sign that he's, remarkably, tending toward being able to suit up for the game this weekend.
In a week where Stefanski already revealed that the team is planning to rest a handful of starters to avoid injury in a game that has no impact on their standing in the AFC, the Browns could certainly use Moore's services.
Fellow wideout, Amari Cooper, could end up being among the players who get the day off, especially after missing Week 17 with a heel injury. He did not practice on Wednesday. Stefanski was coy about naming any names though, other than announcing journeyman QB Jeff Driskel will start in place of veteran Joe Flacco.
While Moore was able to practice, a number of players were not able to go for the first session of the week in Berea. The list of non-participants also included: G Joel Bitonio (oblique/knee), CB Mike Ford Jr. (calf), RB Kareem Hunt (groin), CB Greg Newsome (knee), TE David Njoku (knee), LB Anthony Walker Jr. (knee) and K Dustin Hopkins (hamstring).
That statuses of that entire group is unknown at this time for Sunday, but it's safe to assume if they're part of the team's participation report to start the week, Stefanski and company may opt for playing it safe with a number of them.
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