Browns' tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. puts back pain behind him to start against Commanders

BEREA − The back injury that kept Jedrick Wills Jr. out of two practices this week for the Browns didn't just emerge this week.

“No, I was playing with it in the game," the Browns left tackle said Friday. "It was hurting like hell.”

Wills, who returned to practice on Friday, said he had a disc bulge above his sacroiliac joint in his lower back. The injury was something he said he woke up with prior to the Christmas Eve loss to New Orleans Saints, a game that was the second-coldest Browns home game in history.

It won't be nearly that cold on Sunday when the Browns travel to play the Washington Commanders. When they do, they're going to have Wills in the lineup, as he was not listed on the team's game-status report on Friday.

“It was pretty stiff, pretty sore," Wills said of the back. "I know I didn't do anything earlier this week. It felt fine today.”

Wills being in the lineup means he'll likely be the primary Browns lineman responsible for taking on fellow 2020 top-10 draft pick Chase Young. The No. 2 overall pick in that draft, Young played for the first time since tearing his ACL and rupturing his patellar tendon on Nov. 14, 2021, in the Commanders' loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Christmas Eve.

Young played 30 snaps against the 49ers, 20 of those lined up on the right side of the defensive line, or across from the left tackle. That means he'll see the No. 10 overall pick from the 2020 draft, Wills, quite a bit.

“Still explosive," Wills said of Young. "Still big, athletic, pops out on film. Gotta make sure that we get a body on him. Do good against him."

The Browns played Washington in both players' rookie season. However, two things prevented the two from being matched up.

One was the fact Young was lined up on the opposite end of the defensive line. The other was that he only played 13 snaps due to an injury.

“Yeah, he's playing both so I'm sure I'll see him eventually," Wills said.

Jadeveon Clowney questionable for Browns while still in protocol

The lone Browns player who was listed on the game-status report was defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney was listed as questionable due to the fact he is still has to be cleared from concussion protocol, which he's been in since leaving the Dec. 17 win over the Baltimore Ravens.

Clowney practiced both Wednesday and Friday. He missed Thursday's practice due to illness.

“It is so hard to say with the concussion protocol," coach Kevin Stefanski said. "Really just have to wait for the doctors.”

Clowney has missed four games this season due to various injuries. An ankle injury he sustained in the Sept. 18 loss to the New York Jets kept him out of three of the next four games, while he also missed the Saints game due to the concussion protocol.

On his second one-year contract with the Browns, Clowney has 23 total tackles, two sacks, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

"I mean when he's out there, you can feel his presence," defensive end Myles Garrett said. "He's setting the edge, he's making, you know, (tackles for loss). He's making big plays. He may not always have the most upbeat personality, but most of the time, he's out there. He's excited, he's a joy to be around. He's talking, chatting it up, getting the guys ready to go. That's what you're supposed to do."

Jedrick Wills Jr. wants Nick Chubb to get rushing title

Nick Chubb's first rushing title is something his Browns teammates remain committed to getting for him, even as the team's overall goal of making the playoffs disappeared last weekend. Chubb enters the final two games of the season with 1,344 yards, 195 yards behind league leader Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Raiders.

While Chubb hasn't talked much about such an accomplishment, those both in the locker room and on the coaching staff have been open about it. After offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt spoke of it on Thursday, both Stefanski and Wills said they'd want to do what they could to help him reach the goal.

“It’d mean a lot," Wills said. "We're going to work for it, we're going to shoot for it, give him the ball [and] make something happen. So it is definitely in the back of our minds and we're trying to get there.”

Myles Garrett doesn't believe defensive tackles are issue

Garrett reiterated one stance defensive coordinator Joe Woods took with regards to the Browns' porous run defense. The issue isn't what they're putting on the field at defensive tackle.

"I mean it's definitely not just one group," Garrett said. "It's on all of us. We all have our jobs and there have been times where one or multiple of us are not there on different plays and it’s not one individual or one group. Just because one guy messes up, 10 others on the same page knowing what they’re supposed to do and we can make up for that one. So we have to get it all together. So no, I wouldn't say it just one or two guys on the field who are causing this disruption."

The Browns' starting defensive tackles − Taven Bryan and Jordan Elliott − have earned overall grades of 53 and 30.7 out of 100 from Pro Football Focus, ranking them 84th and 123rd out of 127 eligible interior defensive linemen. Their backups, Perrion Winfrey and Tommy Togiai, graded out at 43.7 and 30.4, per PFF.

The Browns rank 25th in the league against the run, allowing 134.3 rushing yards per game. Washington comes into Sunday's game 13th in rushing offense, averaging 123.7 yards a game.

Jason Tarver's offseason goal for Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah: 'building his body'

There was a lot linebackers coach Jason Tarver liked about Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah's second season in the league before it was cut short on Dec. 11 in Cincinnati by a season-ending foot injury. The one thing he wished was different was the way it ended.

Owusu-Koramoah will end up missing the final four games of the season due to the injury he sustained in the final two minutes against the Bengals. He missed two other games, Oct. 31 vs. Cincinnati and Nov. 13 at Miami, due to a knee injury he suffered on Oct. 23 at Baltimore.

"With Jeremiah both years, he ended up playing about the same number of snaps – I don’t know what they were exactly both years – and for him, he has had little nicks or bigger nicks injury-wise," Tarver said. "In the offseason this year, it is going to be building his body to handle the 17 weeks. I do like where he went by football progression and what he did the last week. Now, it is going to be a process of really mastering the offseason.”

Owusu-Koramoah has played 25 out of a possible 34 games in his two NFL seasons. He's recorded 94 solo tackles, 1.5 sacks and four forced fumbles in that time, including 44 solo and 70 total tackles, plus two fumbles forced and two fumbles recovered, this season

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns' tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. plays through back pain to make start