The Browns enter Week 1 of the 2017 regular season with four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster after the addition of Josh Woodrum.
That setup just isn't expected to last long, coach Hue Jackson said Monday.
"I think the most important thing is we still have some young players and here is a chance to see another potential player who has some characteristics that we like," Jackson said. "I think it will be temporary. I think we are taking a look at a guy. How it is all going to unfold, I don't know. We will get to that here, I am sure, by the end of the week."
Woodrum was one of five players the Browns claimed off waivers Sunday. The second-year quarterback out of Liberty spent the preseason with the Ravens, completing 25-of-36 passes for 321 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 115.6 passer rating.
Woodrum, who was undrafted in 2016, joins the league's youngest quarterback room, which features rookie DeShone Kizer as the starter and an open backup job that he'll contest with second-year signal-callers Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan.
Jackson said he'd settle on a backup quarterback by the end of the week and "keep it that way."
"I think what is important is how we want to play on offense, in our system and getting to play. This is a new year, so we are starting over a little bit," Jackson said. "DeShone is our starter and he has not played one regular season game, so we were going to have a quarterback that was going to have a 0-0 record. Hopefully we can earn some wins this year."
-- Left guard Joel Bitonio will return to practice this week and is preparing to start Sunday against the Steelers.
Bitonio has been sidelined for multiple weeks with a knee injury he suffered in practice. After missing most of last season with a knee injury, Bitonio appeared in just one preseason game.
The projected first-team offensive line of Joe Thomas, Bitonio, JC Tretter, Kevin Zeitler and Shon Coleman did not play any snaps together in any of the four preseason games.
"Me and Joe have gotten tons of reps through the years together and then me and JC at the start of camp, we were doing pretty well," Bitonio said. "It is definitely not ideal, but we are going to practice this week and we are going to go out there and play on Sunday."
-- Rookie offensive lineman Rod Johnson is dealing with a sprained knee that will require more tests in the coming days, Jackson said.
Johnson, a fifth-round pick out of Florida State, injured the knee in last week's win at Chicago. He'd been serving as a backup to Thomas at left tackle. With the departure of Cameron Erving via trade to Kansas City and Johnson's injury, the Browns are thinner at tackle than they were a week ago, but still have bodies in the 10-man room.
Both Zach Sterup and Spencer Drango can play the positions if starters Thomas and Shon Coleman go down with an injury.
"We have tackles," Jackson said. "We have capable tackles."
-- Jackson said he's comfortable with the team's current roster makeup in the secondary, which features four cornerbacks and four safeties.
Three defensive backs -- Kai Nacua, Darius Hillary and Marcus Burley -- were released Sunday in the wake of five players claimed off waivers. Defensive back Michael Jordan was one of the five players claimed.
"Sometimes even though there is four receivers out there, we still might play with more safeties," Jackson said. "We might play with more linebackers. We do a lot of different things. I think we are OK. I think you guys know this is still all fluid as of right now. There are still going to be some things, I am sure, that we continue to work through, but I think when the time comes we will be where we need to be."
