BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns are preparing for their final game of the season in Baltimore, and in their plans, there will be one less wide receiver and a mix of two quarterbacks being featured Saturday.
Wide receiver Cedric Tillman was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday, ending his season a game early after missing the last five games with a concussion.
Tillman took a hard hit after making a catch in the Thursday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in November. He left the field for evaluation and was quickly diagnosed with a concussion.
Since then, Tillman has been working his way through the protocol. However, he was unable to clear the five-phase protocol, which consists of the following:
1. Symptom-limited activity
2. Aerobic exercise
3. Football-specific exercise
4. Club-based non-contact training drills
5. Full football activity/clearance
Tillman finished the first four phases and returned to practice in the last few weeks. But before the final game, Tillman was placed on IR.
"Certainly disappointed for Ced. He was playing well there until he was injured, which was a shame. And like we talked about, his opportunities grew as his playtime increased and he was out there, so he'll work real hard," Head Coach Kevin Stefanski said on Tuesday. "I think he's certainly a young player that can continue to improve and that'll be a big part of this offseason for him. But of course, there's disappointment that he wasn't able to continue that strong work that he had when he was playing."
Tillman might not be the only player not on the field for the last game. The Browns are working through injuries to several guys, including tight end David Njoku and running backs Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr.
To address the run game, the Browns brought back John Kelly Jr., signing him to the active roster Tuesday. Kelly has appeared in five games with the Browns between 2021-23 and spent training camp with the team this season.
But with receivers possibly dwindling, the starting quarterback will have his work cut out for him. Who that quarterback is remains to be seen.
Stefanski said that they are working out the details of the game plan and who will start between Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who has been the starter for the past two games, or Bailey Zappe, who has been with the Browns since October.
In his two recent starts, Thompson-Robinson has completed 44 of his 81 passes, putting up a completion percentage of 54.32. He's thrown for 327 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions while being sacked twice. It's been a rough couple of outings for Thompson-Robinson, who was hoping to showcase his skillsets and earn a bigger role on the team heading into the 2025 season.
Now, Stefanski said that while they still need to work out who starts, there's a chance Thompson-Robinson plays on Saturday, as well as Zappe, regardless of who starts.
"Ultimately Bailey has been a guy that got here, haven't seen him in a game just yet. Dorian is a young player who's using all these reps to get better. So there's a scenario where we do that, but I want to make sure we get through the week before making a final determination," Stefanski said.
Zappe has yet to play in an NFL game this season, but last year, he played in 10 games for the New England Patriots, completing 127 of his 212 passes for 1,272 and six touchdowns with nine interceptions while being sacked 25 times.
The Browns are expecting Jameis Winston to remain inactive for the final game of the season, still dealing with the shoulder soreness that has seen him listed as the emergency QB3 for the past two weeks.
Cleveland and Baltimore kick off the season finale on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium at 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
