Browns quick hits: Myles Garrett, Joel Bitonio, Jack Conklin expected to play vs. Steelers

BEREA − The Browns received good news on the injury front when the team announced Myles Garrett, Joel Bitonio and Jack Conklin are all expected to play Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jadeveon Clowney was the only active player ruled out with an ankle injury, which had occurred on Monday. Clowney suffered the injury in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to the New York Jets.

Garrett and Bitonio both missed Tuesday's practice with injuries. Garrett was dealing with a neck injury, and Bitonio was dealing with a biceps issue.

At the time, coach Kevin Stefanski was non-committal about their status for Thursday.

“We will see," Stefanski said prior to Tuesday's practice. "Again, I mentioned it before, these Thursday night games, sometimes it is hard for guys to make it. We will take every hour as they come.”

For Conklin, it will be his season debut after having been a game-day call for the first two games. Conklin, a two-time All-Pro right tackle, was working his way back after tearing his patellar tendon during a Nov. 28 game at Baltimore.

James Hudson III had filled in for Conklin in his absence.

Browns sign one-day deal with Joe Haden, who's expected to retire

The Browns plan to bring back cornerback Joe Haden. However, it's not to actually play.

A league source confirmed to the Beacon Journal that the team plans to sign Haden to a one-day contract. The cornerback announced his plans to retire on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.

ESPN's Adam Schefter was the first to report, citing Haden's agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

The Browns drafted Haden with the No. 7 overall pick in 2010 out the the University of Florida. He played seven seasons with the Browns, including Pro Bowl seasons in 2013 and 2014.

Haden was released in August 2017 with three years left on a five-year extension he had signed in 2014. He was almost immediately signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers, with whom the played through last season.

In 90 career games with the Browns, Haden made 81 starts and intercepted 19 passes, including a touchdown. He played another 68 games for the Steelers, with 67 starts, 10 interceptions and a touchdowns.

The Browns plan to honor Haden at a future game this season.

Miller Forristall, Chester Rogers, Isaac Rochell elevated from practice squad; Jordan Kunaszyk signed to active roster

The Browns have elevated defensive end Isaac Rochell from the practice squad to the gameday roster for Thursday's game against the Steelers, while also signing linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk to the active roster. On Friday, they brought up tight end Miller Forristall and receiver Chester Rogers.

Forristall adds depth to the tight end room with Jesse James on injured reserve. Rogers adds to both the receiving corps, but more importantly, the special teams.

Kunaszyk had been elevated to the gameday roster from the practice squad the previous two games. He played 17 special-teams snaps against the New York Jets on Sunday.

Rochell's elevation isn't a surprise considering the amount of injuries the Browns have at that position. Chase Winovich has been placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, and Clowney has been ruled out for Thursday due to an ankle injury sustained against the Jets.

Browns get first look at new Pittsburgh Steelers QB Mitch Trubisky

The uniforms will look the same as they always have for the Pittsburgh Steelers when they come to Cleveland for Thursday's AFC North showdown. The quarterback, though, is a different one than what the Browns have been accustomed to seeing for most of the previous 18 years.

Still, as the Browns defense gets ready to see the first iteration of the post-Ben Roethlisberger era version of the Steelers, there is more than just a different quarterback at the controls. Even with Roethlisberger's ability to keep plays alive over the years, the mobility that Mitch Trubisky brings to the offense is slightly different than what even the future Hall of Famer he replaced possessed.

That doesn't change the way the Browns are approaching what the Steelers are going to try to do offensive schematically.

"Trubisky changes his feet, as you’ve seen, but it’s the same offense, the same scheme," linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah said Tuesday. "It’s a well-coached team, put together the right way. They’ll attack your mistakes.”

Trubisky, a Mentor native who will be making his first NFL regular-season appearance in FirstEnergy Stadium on Thursday, has run it four times for 16 yards through two games. Per Pro Football Focus, he's had three of those four rushing attempts came on undesigned scrambles.

That mobility is something Trubisky has acknowledged is a part of his game that he needs to utilize. However, it's about picking and choosing the right opportunities to showcase that part of his arsenal.

"Just continuous conversations how I can use my legs," Trubisky told Pittsburgh reporters this week. "Also, toeing that fine line of, like, when to move in the pocket and when not using my legs. There's a couple of times where I thought I had to move, and really, if I just trust in my time within the play, I could've got the ball out sooner and just completed the ball. Also, there's a couple of times where my legs did help us get out of a situation or just create a positive play for the offense."

In Trubisky's first two starts for the Steelers, he has yet to throw for more than 194 yards in either game. He completed 21 of 38 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown in a Week 1 overtime win at Cincinnati, then came back with a 21-of-33, 168-yard, one-touchdown, one-interception performance in Sunday's loss to the New England Patriots.

The biggest complaints which have come out of Pittsburgh regarding Trubisky have been over how much he has pushed the ball down field. He has completed 26 of 35 passes for 152 yards with one touchdown on passes of 10 yards or less. He's completed 3 of 10 passes for 74 yards on passes of more than 20 yards.

Considering some of the Steelers' weapons at receiver, such as Dionte Johnson, Chase Claypool and recent second-round pick George Pickens, the Browns are looking at the small sample size when it comes to how Trubisky will distribute the ball.

“They’ve played two games," Owusu-Koramoah said. "You can’t necessarily judge on just the two games you’ve seen. Maybe if he was on another team, he’d throw the ball deeper, but not too much on these two games, but we do find tendencies and things like that.”

If there's someone who agrees with that assessment, it's Trubisky, who was signed as a free agent this offseason by the Steelers after a season as Josh Allen's backup with the Buffalo Bills.

"I can take more opportunities down the field," said Trubisky, who beat out the Steelers' first-round draft pick in April, Kenny Pickett, for the starting job. "That's where we can get our playmakers the football. I think, better decision making and just taking those opportunities, for sure."

Jacoby Brissett shows off the wheels for Browns

Mobility was not something that was considered a feature in Jacoby Brissett's game. Even the Browns quarterback would admit to that fact.

When told Tuesday that he looked faster running the ball in Sunday's loss to the Jets than the week before at Carolina, Brissett laughed and said, "Thank you." However, he was quick to shoot down any comparisons to some kind of speedster.

"I have no idea, Brissett said. "I am slow."

Still, Brissett was an effective runner against the Jets. He ran six times for 43 yards, including a 21-yard scramble on the Browns' final desperation drive.

In fact, according to PFF, Brissett scrambled four times for 42 yards against the Jets. That was up from eight yards on three scrambles against the Panthers.

However, Brissett was again quick to dismiss it as a feature in the Browns' offense.

“No, we didn’t call any quarterback runs," he said. "If the Steelers are listening, no, we didn’t call any quarterback runs. It was just flow of the game.”

Welcome to Browns vs. Steelers, the 'Turnpike Rivalry'

Thursday will be the introduction for a number of Browns players to the rivalry against the Steelers. That includes Brissett.

Brissett never played in the rivalry before, but he's not going in blind.

“I know it goes back a lot of years," Brissett said. "Always a tough opponent year in and year out. Good team and good coaches. The tradition is rich. A divisional game on Thursday Night Football, if that does not wake you up, then something is wrong with you.”

Receiver Amari Cooper is no stranger to rivalries, be it from his college days or in the NFL. He was part of the Iron Bowl − Alabama-Auburn − while in college, and participated in heated AFC West rivalries with the Raiders and similar ones in NFC East while with the Cowboys.

Now, Cooper's looking forward to getting a taste of his newest team's biggest rivalry.

"I mean they’re already talking about the rivalry between Pittsburgh and the Browns and how historic it is and how crazy it can get, so just looking forward to it," Cooper said. "You want to make that hay in those division games because those are the game fans really care about. Those are the games that, I mean, every game is really important, but those games seem to mean a little bit more so I'm excited."

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Myles Garrett, Joel Bitonio, Jack Conklin expected to play for Browns