For this weekend’s game against the Denver Broncos, the Cleveland Browns will be without one of their fastest pass catchers.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed that wide receiver Marquise Goodwin will miss the game at Mile High on Sunday, November 26 due to lingering concussion symptoms.
“Yeah, he’s still in that [concussion] protocol, but he’s doing everything in his power,” Stefanski said on Friday. “With those injuries, as you know, you follow the protocol to a T and you make sure that when they’re ready, they’re back out there.”
Goodwin, Marquise Fighting a largely lost season in 2023
Goodwin, who just turned 33, also missed Cleveland’s Week 11 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to a concussion. The veteran wideout had blood clots over the summer, which kept him out for nearly the entire preseason.
So far this season, Goodwin has appeared in eight games, but he has only played 84 offensive snaps. According to Pro Football Reference, he has only three catches for ten yards on 11 targets.
Cleveland signed Goodwin to a one-year, $1.7 million contract as a potential replacement for struggling pass-catcher Anthony Schwartz in the receiver room. After a difficult preseason, the Browns released Schwartz, who later signed with the Miami Dolphins in mid-November.
Goodwin, on the other hand, has not been healthy or successful enough in 2023 to make the contributions to Cleveland’s offense that the team had hoped for.
Denzel Ward is out for the Browns’ game against the Broncos.
Denzel Ward, the starting cornerback, will also be absent on Sunday in Denver.
Ward, a two-time Pro Bowler, suffered a shoulder injury last week against the Steelers. Stefanski confirmed that the team will keep the $100 million defensive back out at least this weekend and possibly longer as he recovers.
“Next man up,” Stefanski declared on Friday. “You guys need to step up. This is the name of the game. We don’t have Denzel this week, but we have faith in the players we do have.”
A reporter then inquired whether Ward would be out for more than just Sunday’s game.
“We’ll see,” Stefanski said. “Ruling him out for this game, but we’ll see.”
Ward’s absence is undeniably more detrimental to the Browns’ chances of defeating the Broncos than Goodwin’s absence, simply because he plays a much larger role as a starter and has played far more relevant snaps than the wideout. However, Cleveland’s offense may be more important than its defense in the outcome on Sunday.
Denver is currently 5-5 on the strength of a four-game winning streak that includes victories over three potential playoff teams in the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Minnesota Vikings.
While Broncos quarterback Russel Wilson has been more effective than some analysts have given him credit for during the winning streak, it has been the Denver defense’s ability to flip the script that has changed the franchise’s fortunes.
Between Weeks 2 and 5, the Broncos allowed 164 points to opposing offenses, an average of 41 points per game. Denver has allowed only 68 points in its last four victories.
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