BEREA, Ohio — As the Cleveland Browns finish their preparations for Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers, they'll do so with four players questionable, including a key special teamer, for the game, and one player already ruled out.
The Browns announced the following injury designations for the game:
OUT:
DT Mike Hall Jr.
QUESTIONABLE:
LG Joel Bitonio
WR DeAndre Carter
RT Jack Conklin
K Andre Szmyt
Hall has been working his way back from a knee injury he had surgery on last season. He passed a physical at the end of training camp but has been ramping his way back up to game action. Hall was ruled out for the Week 1 matchup with the Bengals and again against the Ravens last week.
On Wednesday, Hall was working on the side, seen on the stationary bike during the portion of practice open to media. On Thursday, Hall was not on the field, listed as a non-participant in practice. On Friday, Hall was once again absent from practice, and Hall was ruled out after practice ended.
Bitonio was also not on the practice field on Friday after missing Wednesday and Thursday's practice as well, with a back injury. Bitonio spoke on Thursday about the injury, saying he didn't expect to practice that day, dealing with the injury that popped up against the Ravens.
"I got full speed in the game there and it locked up on me a little bit, but I'm working through it. So it's a little bit better today than it was yesterday. So it's an improvement," Bitonio said on Thursday. "The hardest part is you don't know when it's going to pop up. But once it does happen, I do know what has helped it in the past and now you're just hoping that the 48 hours and stuff you get through it and hopefully it starts feeling better by Sunday."
The #Browns have said they need to focus on playing complementary football. I asked #Browns Joel Bitonio about where they stand in that regard on offense.
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) September 18, 2025
“There was just too much miscommunication out there...we put our defense in a lot of bad positions early this year." pic.twitter.com/Ms4t99GZ8M
Also on the offensive line, Conklin has been working through an elbow injury he sustained in practice leading up to the Ravens game. Conklin had left the season opener against the Bengals after getting poked in the eye and was held out for the remainder of the game. While his eye healed enough for him to return to practice, his elbow injury that week landed him back on the injury report and eventually led to him being ruled out for the Ravens game.
Conklin returned to practice this week but was limited each day, and he was seen working individually to the side while the rest of the unit ran blocking drills together.
#Browns RT Jack Conklin (elbow) at practice, doing some individual work during the portion open to media. pic.twitter.com/hi6OBONpgP
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) September 17, 2025
Meanwhile, Carter has been working through concussion protocol after leaving the Ravens game after his first return attempt. Carter was evaluated for a concussion and ruled out of the game, then put in the protocol following the contest. Carter returned to practice in a limited capacity on Thursday and continued to practice on Friday.
An unexpected addition to the injury list was Szmyt.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski said Szmyt felt something in his left calf during Friday's practice. Szmyt will have an MRI on his calf to determine what's going on. Stefanski said it was "premature" to say now if the team will need to bring in a different kicker for Sunday's game.
"We're doing the appropriate thing and getting a look at it with some imaging and we'll go from there," Stefanski said after practice Friday. "We'll get the imaging back first, see what it says and we'll adjust accordingly."
The Browns kick off their Week 3 matchup with the Packers inside Huntington Bank Field at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
