Notes: Mike Hall Jr. ruled out for Saints game with knee injury, could be placed on IR

BEREA — The Browns began the season without rookie defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. and may have to finish it without him.Hall sustained a knee injury Thursday in practice, was ruled out Friday for the game in New Orleans on Sunday and is a candidate for injured reserve. Coach Kevin Stefanski didn't rule out surgery."Not really going there yet, other than to say IR is a potential," he said.Jameis Winston returning to New Orleans, calls time there pivotal in his careerBeing placed on IR would require Hall to miss a minimum of four games. The Browns (2-7) have eight games left in the regular season."Had an injury yesterday in a drill, so we'll just monitor that. But obviously tough to see him go down," Stefanski said. "He's likely out for a period of time, but I don't have all the details just yet."Hall, a second-round pick out of Ohio State, was suspended for the first five games for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. He was arrested after a domestic incident at his Avon home in August and eventually pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct.Jordan Hicks details recent run of injuries, including elbow infection that sent him to hospital, broken rib, strained tricepsHe returned to make his NFL debut Oct. 13 against the Eagles, and in the last four games had five tackles, one for loss, and two quarterback hits. He also contributed on special teams, making a tackle."What you're getting from Mike is a lot of positive plays both on defense and on special teams," Stefanski said. "He was providing some good plays for us. So, disappointed, but we'll see how it all shakes out. But believe that this young man's going to be a good football player for us."Hall was taken with the No. 54 pick, Cleveland's first selection of the draft."It's tough. It's been a rough year for him and want to see him keep his head up and positive throughout all of it," defensive end Myles Garrett said. "Use that time to develop as a person, as a man and as a player knowing that these kind of things do happen, happen to the greatest of players. But you have to continue to keep your head up and keep working."Notes: Grant Delpit's New Orleans homecoming will feature gumbo and a lot of family"That's just what comes with life in football," end Ogbo Okoronkwo said. "But he's going to have a great career, so it's just a little setback. He'll be all right."MAKING ENDS MEETCoordinator Jim Schwartz said Thursday that Hall could also play end following the trade of starter Za'Darius Smith to the Lions on Nov. 5. With Smith gone and Hall out, the Browns will have to dig deeper into the depth chart to fill out the end rotation behind Garrett, Okoronkwo and Isaiah McGuire."You just have to be ready for anything that comes your way, and guys step up when a guy goes out for whatever the reason," Stefanski said. "We like the guys that we have at that group and someone's going to get a few more reps and we trust those guys that get those reps."Elerson Smith and Marcus Haynes are the ends on the practice squad. Neither has played for the Browns, but Smith (6-foot-7, 245 pounds) appeared in 13 games for the Giants in 2021 and '22. Haynes (6-4, 240) hasn't played in an NFL game."We'll see what decisions we make there and who makes it to the game. But those are guys we like," Stefanski said. "They give great looks to our offense when they're on scout team, so we feel really good about that."Okoronkwo indicated Smith will be active to face the Saints. Practice squad tackle Sam Kamara could also see time on the edge.GOODBYE, GUYGarrett didn't expect Smith to be traded and addressed the move for the first time."Well, first, I'd like to say I've never seen a man smile so much going to a new place, my man was cheesin' from ear to ear when he was on TV," Garrett said, referring to Smith on the sideline during the Lions' game last week. "But happy to see him feeling good, feeling like himself and being positive."As far as the guys we have here, have a lot of confidence. Isaiah's been studying behind us, been watching us and developing on his own and coming into his own. So we're glad to see him out there and getting those chances to develop into the player we know he can. And Ogbo, he's been consistent since he's been here. He's been a threat and he's been that sixth man really off the bench and now he's really going to get an opportunity to show what we can really do on a more consistent basis."Okoronkwo said he didn't know if he or McGuire would get the start."Really sad because Z's a great player, very productive, but we've got good guys and we're excited about the opportunity to just go show we can still be productive," Okoronkwo said. "We're definitely going to have more snaps out there. I'm excited for the opportunity."GET WELL SOONLinebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah hasn't talked to reporters since a neck injury sent him to the hospital Oct. 27 during the game against the Ravens. He's on injured reserve, and the team hasn't provided a date for a potential return."He's good. We miss him. We love him," linebackers coach Jason Tarver said.Owusu-Koramoah was a Pro Bowler last season and leads the team with 60 tackles, adding three sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and three passes defensed."He's so special in everything that he does, both as a human and, of course, as a player," Tarver said. "So you don't replace it, but our job as coaches is, one, help everybody get better and then, two, is to get the 11 guys that are on the field to stop the offense."Jordan Hicks, Mohamoud Diabate and Devin Bush will be asked to pick up the slack."There's some things that Jordan does really well, both in coverage or in rushing," Tarver said. "Same with Mohamoud, same with Devin Bush, so we're going to use them in certain alignments. We've become a little bit more interchangeable."INJURY REPORTLeft guard Joel Bitonio (pectoral) was a full participant after being limited Wednesday and Thursday.Everyone besides Hall practiced fully and is available to face the Saints coming off the bye.** For the Saints, left guard Lucas Patrick (ankle) and running back Jamaal Williams (groin) were ruled out.Safety J.T. Gray (hip), center Erik McCoy (groin), cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry (hamstring), linebackers Nephi Sewell (knee) and Pete Werner (hand) and receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. (shoulder) were listed as questionable.The post Notes: Mike Hall Jr. ruled out for Saints game with knee injury, could be placed on IR first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.