Elgton

Jenkins

The Browns enter Thursday Night Football without their starting center and right guard. Running the ball up the middle against the Steelers’ talented defensive tackle group could be challenging. Green will serve as the Browns’ emergency third quarterback.

Teven Jenkins remains sidelined with a back injury. Elgton didn’t practice once this week and the short turnaround to Thursday Night Football was simply too quick for him to clear the league’s concussion protocol. Luke Wypler will start at center for Cleveland.

The Browns have a quick turnaround as they prepare to face the Steelers on Thursday Night Football in Week 4, making it highly unlikely that Elgton Jenkins will be able to clear concussion protocol in time to suit up. That makes the practice status of Teven Jenkins of primary concern considering an absence would mean the Browns would be without two of their starting interior offensive linemen against one of the better pass rushes in the league.

Jenkins missed some practice time this week with a lingering back issue. He’ll suit up against a Tampa defense that last week pressured the passer at a lowly 24 percent rate. Browns declared QB Taylen Green, LB Justin Jefferson, S Daniel Thomas, CB Toriano Pride Jr., C Parker Brailsford, and G Teven Jenkins inactive for Week 2.

There is a bit of an out in Labbe’s analysis, which is that this is contingent on Joel Bitonio returning to the team rather than retiring. Bitonio has yet to make a decision if he’ll return or not. If not, Jenkins and Zion Johnson would likely both play guard. Jenkins has said he’s open to playing either position to help the team.

Roughly 24 hours after being released by the Packers, Jenkins now lands in Cleveland. The Browns continue to work to overhaul their line, and have now added Jenkins, along with guards Zion Johnson and Teven Jenkins, to the roster. It’s possible Jenkins continues to play center, as he did in 2025, but he also has experience at tackle. It’s possible the Browns experiment with him at a few spots to see where he best fits for the upcoming season.

They were trying to shop him for a pick, but couldn’t find a taker. Jenkins enters his age-31 season off a disastrous experiment at center, but he’s got a long track record of high-quality play and should be one of the more highly-regarded free agents on the board.

He names Jenkins and Denver G Ben Powers as another lineman with a large cap hit and potential value. Jenkins finished last year on IR with a fractured leg, but has made two Pro Bowls and is a reasonable fallback plan. We’d be surprised if the Packers or Broncos recouped a lot of draft capital for these players given their ages and cap hits, but stranger things have happened.

Jenkins suffered a fracture in his leg in Week 10. He isn’t officially out for the year, but all signs point to him missing the remainder of the season. Sean Rhyam will take his spot in the lineup going forward.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur is on record saying that the injury “doesn’t sound promising.” Jenkins sounds like a candidate to spend some time on injured reserve. Sean Rhyan replaced Jenkins at center and figures to be the replacement in the short term.