PLAYER NOTES
–WR Rashard Higgins (knee) did not practice Wednesday. He has missed three games with his knee injury.
–C JC Tretter (ankle) did not practice Wednesday. He has been held out of practice the last two weeks but played on Sunday both times.
–DB Damarious Randall (groin) did not practice Wednesday. He has been slowed by the injury for two weeks.
–LB Joe Schobert (hamstring) did not practice Wednesday. He has missed three games with the injury.
–TE David Njoku was limited with a knee injury Wednesday.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: DB Damarious Randall is going to be a busy man on Sunday. He could line up at cornerback on some plays if his groin has healed sufficiently or he could line up at free safety and double-team a Chiefs’ receiver at other times. Either way, the only time he is likely to be off the field is when the Browns offense has the ball.
GAME PLAN: The best defense for the Browns on Sunday is going to be a grind-it-out offense with a heavy dose of running back Nick Chubb chewing up the clock to keep Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on the sideline. The run offense has been better than the pass offense because quarterback Baker Mayfield isn’t getting time to throw the ball, so using a ground game, especially with running backs coach Freddie Kitchens as the interim offensive coordinator, won’t be forced.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Browns SS Jabrill Peppers vs. Chiefs TE Travis Kelce. Peppers won’t have to cover Kelce on his own all game long, but the Chiefs tight end is going to be a handful for him when he does draw the assignment. Kelce has 44 catches, tied for the Chiefs’ lead, and he has four touchdown catches. Peppers has three pass breakups.
–Browns P Britton Colquitt vs. Chiefs PR Tyreek Hill. Hill is dangerous as a wide receiver but even more dangerous as a punt returner. He has 12 returns for 175 yards (14.6 average) including a 91-yard touchdown return. The Browns’ punt coverage has been spotty at best this season. Colquitt might kick it high and sacrifice distance to force Hill to call a fair catch.
