BEREA, Ohio — The Browns offensive line took a hit early Sunday against the Buffalo Bills when center Ethan Pocic left with an injury, and that loss will continue for several weeks, head coach Kevin Stefanski said Monday.
Pocic left Sunday's game in the opening drive and was listed as questionable to return. At the start of the half, he was ruled out for the remainder of the game with a knee injury.
The center underwent an MRI on his knee and the results indicate he will be sidelined for a matter of "weeks."
"Not entirely sure how many weeks that is," Stefanski said.
While he's sidelined, Stefanski expects offensive lineman Hjalte Froholdt to step in at center.
Froholdt hasn't taken many game reps at center but was thrown into the position Sunday night.
"Hjalte came in and did a decent job. He hasn’t played center in a while. He was a guard last week. We did have good adjustments, but just fell short," said left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. after the Browns loss Sunday night.
The Browns have gone through numerous injuries to the position this year, starting before the regular season even kicked off. Center Nick Harris, who was set to be the starter after JC Tretter's departure, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first preseason game against the Jaguars. Then, within that week, center Dawson Deaton tore his ACL in practice, ending his season as well.
Pocic's injury is just another hit to a position that has been plagued all year, and put Froholdt in an almost impossible position. Guard Joel Bitonio expressed the difficulty of what was asked of Froholdt Sunday afternoon.
"I don’t think he’s gotten really any reps (at center) with the starters. Maybe on the scout team and stuff he’s done a little bit. But it’s tough. I thought he did a good job, obviously there was an exchange issue and stuff like that," Bitonio said. "But no, it’s tough. I was the next center up and I was like 'I don’t know if I’ll be ready for this. I haven’t done that since like my freshman year of high school.' I’ve snapped before practice, after practice, stuff like that. But not in a game situation, it’s a little different."
Still, Froholdt will continue making progress in getting up to speed as quickly as possible while the Browns plan to stick with him at center for the time being and a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday inside FirstEnergy Stadium.
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