Cleveland Browns are already falling apart and it’s not even Week 1 yet

The Cleveland Browns have been ravaged with injuries in training camp.

The Cleveland Browns are doing almost everything possible to rid themselves of Freddie Kitchens’ influence, as the hiring of Kevin Stefanski and a defense-heavy draft might signal the dawn of a new era, Unfortunately, the Browns are still the Browns, while means that injuries had to ravage their defensive backfield.

While cornerback Kevin Johnson returned after lacerating his liver, the Browns lost a pair of former LSU stars due to injury. Greedy Williams hurt his shoulder and is still missing practice, while safety Grant Delpit was lost for the season after tearing his Achillies.

The Browns are running out of defensive backs due to injury

Williams figures to be the No. 2 cornerback opposite Denzel Ward, but he might miss a good chunk of time with his shoulder injury. Donnie Lewis Jr. and Terrance Mitchell will likely compete for his snaps. Karl Joseph just became one of Cleveland’s most important players, as Andrew Sendejo and Sheldrick Redwine will emerge as the starter at free safety following Delpit’s injury.

The presence of Mayfield and their stockpile of tremendous offensive talent is all well and good, but getting the defense whipped into shape will have just as much of an impact on wins and losses, if not more so, than Mayfield potentially getting back to the form he showcased as a rookie. Losing this many starters weeks before the first week of the season is suboptimal, to be very charitable.

Cleveland needs a lot of luck if they wanted to unseat the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers in an incredibly difficult AFC North, and they’ve started camp off by losing every defensive back with a pulse. Some might be tempted to call that a less than ideal start.