Injuries force Browns to alter rotations against Bengals on 'Monday Night Football'

CLEVELAND − Every NFL team is happy to see the bye week arrive for them. The Browns, certainly, are no different.

Monday night's 32-13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals was the kind of upswing a team wants to head into the bye on, especially when it snaps a four-game losing streak. It's even bigger when a team has been riddled with the kind of key injuries the Browns have had lately.

The Browns were down starters in right guard Wyatt Teller, tight end David Njoku, cornerback Denzel Ward, Mike linebackers Anthony Walker Jr. and Jacob Phillips, along with linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. All-Pro defensive ends Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney both have battled injuries over the last month-plus.

All of that creates personnel problems. Some of it is in the starting lineup; some is with the rotations.

To see how the Browns dealt with some of those injury issues, it's time to dive into the snap counts from Monday night's game.

Martin Emerson Jr., A.J. Green jump into the fire

The secondary was a primary concern this week for the Browns for two reasons. There was the obvious concern about the Bengals' passing game, plus several injuries which left some players' availability up in the air.

While Ward remained sidelined with a concussion for the third consecutive game, there was questions about whether or not cornerbacks Greg Newsome II (oblique) and Greedy Williams (illness) would play. Both would − Newsome playing all 53 defensive snaps − although Williams would miss a large percentage of the first half because of that illness before finishing with 25 snaps (47%).

That put the onus on rookie third-round pick Martin Emerson Jr. and second-year pro A.J. Green to rise up to help against Cincinnati's talented receivers, even without Ja'Marr Chase. Emerson played 98% of the defensive snaps for the second game in a row, this time playing in 52 of a possible 53 snaps.

Green, though, had barely played at all on defense this season. However, he played 27 snaps on that side of the ball, which was 51% of the Browns' defensive snaps.

Linebacker a grab bag of players due to injuries

Linebacker has been a position room decimated by injuries during the regular season. Walker went on injured reserve after the Sept. 22 win over Pittsburgh with a torn quad tendon, while Phillips did the same last Wednesday with a torn pectoral muscle.

Owusu-Koramoah suffered a knee injury the Baltimore game on Oct. 23. While he was seen leaving the locker room after Monday night's win without any noticeable limp, he still did not play against the Bengals.

So, how did the Browns' compensate for the losses? Sione Takitaki, literally the lone healthy starting linebacker from the beginning of the year, played 45 out of a possible 53 defensive snaps (85%) against Cincinnati.

Due to the Bengals' offense, the Browns primarily played a nickel defense, which limited them to just two linebackers. The other linebacker spot was split between Deion Jones with 41 snaps (71%), Jordan Kunaszyk with 12 (23%) and Tony Fields II, who actually started the game, with three (6%).

Jadeveon Clowney increases his snaps after injury

Clowney finished consecutive games for the first time this season. He left the Sept. 18 loss to the New York Jets in the third quarter with an ankle injury, then missed four of the next five games recovering from the issue.

Against the Ravens, Clowney returned to play 23 out of a possible 64 defensive snaps. That comes out to just 36%.

Clowney's snaps increased noticeably against the Bengals. He played 36 snaps, which amounted to 68% of the defensive snaps.

As far as the rest of the defensive line, Garrett played 42 out of a possible 53 (79%), while Taven Bryan played 36 (68%) and Jordan Elliott played 23 (53%). Among the reserves, Alex Wright played 31 (58%), Isaiah Thomas 18 (34%) and Isaac Rochell three (6%).

Michael Woods II moves into wide receiver rotation

The Browns were high on rookie sixth-round pick Michael Woods II throughout the offseason and training camp. The problem for him was staying on the field, as injuries kept him out for a large percentage of both.

Woods has been relatively healthy this season, but spent the first few games just trying to make up for lost time. Against the Bengals, he turned that work into playing time.

After playing just six offensive snaps out of a possible 60 in the Week 7 loss at Baltimore. Woods doubled those snaps against Cincinnati. He played 12 snaps on Monday night, which accounted for 17% of the Browns' 72 offensive snaps.

How's that compare to the rest of the receiving corps? Donovan Peoples-Jones actually was the leader with 69 snaps, accounting for 96%, while Amari Cooper was at 57 (79%) and David Bell was at 34 (47%).

Anthony Schwartz, who was active after being a healthy scratch against the Ravens, did not play an offensive snap. He did play five special-teams snaps.

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterling ABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Injuries force Browns to alter rotations against Cincinnati Bengals