CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns are set to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in a Halloween matchup Sunday afternoon, but they'll do so without a few players.
The following players are inactive for Sunday's game:
- WR Donovan Peoples-Jones
- CB Denzel Ward
- CB A.J. Green
- S Richard LeCounte III
- DE Takkarist McKinley
- G Hjalte Froholdt
- DT Tommy Togiai
On Friday, the Browns announced that Ward, Peoples-Jones, and LeCounte would all be ruled out for Sunday’s game.
Ward left the Thursday Night Football game against the Denver Broncos with a hamstring injury and after MRIs were conducted, was sidelined from practice for the entire week leading up to the Steelers game. Held out of practice again on Friday, the team decided to rule him out. Cornerback Greedy Williams will start in Ward's place.
Peoples-Jones sustained a groin injury during pregame warmups against the Broncos, missing the game and going on to be sidelined from practice the entire week.
LeCounte, the Browns’ fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, was ruled out after being held out of practice for disciplinary reasons. The team said that the discipline stemmed from LeCounte “violating team rules” but are opting to keep the specifics of the incident in-house.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, defensive tackle Malik Jackson, and fullback Johnny Stanton were all questionable for Sunday but were cleared to play before kickoff.
Beckham has been dealing with a shoulder injury, playing through it on Thursday but remaining limited in practice throughout the week. Clowney is dealing with an ankle, groin, and knee injury, Jackson is dealing with an ankle injury and Johnny Stanton is dealing with a calf injury. Stanton was added to the injury report Friday after practice, listed as limited.
Green and McKinley are dealing with groin injuries and were not cleared to play Sunday. McKinley was added on Thursday as limited and then did not practice Friday due to the injury.
Wide receiver Jarvis Landry will serve as the Game Captain.
For the Steelers, the following players were listed as inactive:
- QB Dwayne Haskins
- LB Melvin Ingram III
- CB Ahkello Witherspoon
- LB Buddy Johnson
- OL Zach Banner
- TE Eric Ebron
Ebron was ruled out for Sunday’s game on Saturday as he deals with a hamstring injury. Linebacker Melvin Ingram III was listed as doubtful to play Sunday with a groin injury and on Saturday was downgraded to out.
Banner, wide receiver Chase Claypool, running back Anthony McFarland, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger were listed on the injury report throughout the week but all returned to full practice by Friday. Banner was ruled out before the game.
Camryn Justice is a digital content producer at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.
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