Browns biggest disappointment at the mid-season point has made it tough in 2023

Cleveland sits at 5-3 on the season with two huge games coming up against the AFC North. With how past years have gone, the Browns aren’t going to look past being 5-3. But the goal for every team is to be playing late into the postseason, so there won’t be any settling there. To this […]

Brandon Little — Ohio State Buckeyes & Cleveland Browns News Writer

Nov 6, 2023 2:30 PM EST

Cleveland sits at 5-3 on the season with two huge games coming up against the AFC North.

With how past years have gone, the Browns aren’t going to look past being 5-3. But the goal for every team is to be playing late into the postseason, so there won’t be any settling there.

To this point, the Browns have been elite on defense and haven’t really come around on offense. If you’re looking into what the biggest disappointment has been, it’s injuries.

Every team deals with injuries, some worse than others. For Cleveland, it started right out of the gates this season. In Week 1, RT Jack Conklin was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Just a week later, Cleveland lost RB Nick Chubb for the season with ligament damage in the knee.

Three weeks in a row to start the season, Cleveland had terrible injury luck. Against the Titans, Deshaun Watson suffered a rotator cuff injury that has kept him out until Week 9, outside of two drives against the Colts. The injury hasn’t allowed him to have a real chance to get going this year, but he will have it now. Week 9 was a solid step in the right direction for Watson.

It’s a shame we didn’t get to see Chubb combining with how good the defense is, it would likely wear teams down late.

More bad news hit today with the starting left tackle hitting the injured reserve. Jedrick Wills Jr. was carted off with a knee injury that looked significant, but Cleveland has dodged a bullet with it only being a sprain.

Cleveland was set behind the sticks to start the season and injuries are still happening. It can be an excuse, as mentioned every team deals with it. If Cleveland was healthy, they would undoubtedly have another win or two.

Outside of Wills, the Browns are about as healthy as they can be. Over the stretch run the Browns are going to have to put it all together, especially with Watson back under center.

The injuries haven’t been ideal and have been the biggest downfall for the team this year, but they have a chance to make none of that matter by simply winning football games.