Jedrick Wills Jr., who is battling his way back from an ankle injury he suffered in the season opener, is among those considered questionable for Sunday's home opener at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Though Wills didn't practice this week, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said the team would continue to evaluate the second-year left tackle over the course of the next two days. With backup Chris Hubbard (triceps) ruled out, the Browns would need to tap into their depth if Wills is unable to play.
"If he can't make it to the game, we have a plan," Stefanski said.
Rookie James Hudson III and Blake Hance, who played tackle during his college days at Northwestern, are a couple of the Browns' options in the event Wills is inactive. Stefanski declined to name who would be the first option to potentially replace Wills.
"You see who's available to you on Game Day, and you make a ton of decisions based on that, and that's really across the board," Stefanski said. "I can think of certain scenarios where we didn't have a starter in there on defense and we did a little bit less of this or a little bit more of that. That's the natural thing to do when you have a guy playing maybe out of position or a guy playing for the first time. All those things go into how you construct a game plan."
WR Odell Beckham Jr. (knee), who was ruled out by Stefanski on Wednesday, is the only other Browns player from the 53-man roster who is officially ruled out for Sunday's game against the Texans. Earlier Friday, the Browns placed starting LB Anthony Walker (hamstring) on injured reserve, a move that ensures Walker will miss at least three games.
Joining Wills as questionable Sunday are G Michael Dunn (back), WR Anthony Schwartz (knee), C JC Tretter (knee) and CB Troy Hill (hamstring). Tretter, who did not participate in Wednesday's or Thursday's practice, was back on the field Friday.
Stefanski said he expects S Grant Delpit to make his NFL debut Sunday. Delpit, the 2020 second-round pick, missed all of his rookie season after tearing his Achilles tendon and was inactive last week after dealing with a hamstring injury through most of training camp.
"He's locked in mentally and I'm looking forward to getting him out there," Stefanski said.
