Bucs Clips
The Browns have released their final injury report for Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers.
Cornerback Tyson Campbell has been listed as questionable for the game. Campbell was added to the injury report when he missed practice on Thursday because of an ankle injury, but he returned to practice on Friday and head coach Todd Monken said the team wants to see how he responds before making a decision about his game status.
Guard Teven Jenkins has been ruled out with a back injury for the second week in a row. Rookie Austin Barber started at right guard in last Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars and is set to start again this weekend.
No other Browns players will carry injury designations into Week 2.
Already thin at cornerback, the Browns are dealing with another injury at the position.
Tyson Campbell did not practice on Thursday with an ankle injury, according to Cleveland’s practice report. He was not listed with an injury on Wednesday.
Acquired from the Jaguars midway through last season, Campbell was on the field for 100 percent of Cleveland’s defensive snaps in the Week 1 loss to Jacksonville. He also played six special teams snaps.
The Browns lack depth at cornerback, which could be an issue for the club against Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers on Sunday.
Notably on the injury report, offensive tackle Dawand Jones (head) was upgraded from limited to full.
Offensive lineman Parker Brailsford (thumb), defensive tackle Maliek Collins (quad), and offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins (back) remained limited. Guard Teven Jenkins (back) remained out of practice. Receiver Jerry Jeudy (wrist) and guard Zion Johnson (knee) remained full.
Buccaneers wide receiver Jalen McMillan appears to be on track for his first appearance of the 2026 season.
McMillan did not play in the team’s loss to the Bengals last Sunday because of a knee injury, but he was listed as a full participant for the second straight day on Thursday. That bodes well for his chances of being in the lineup against Cleveland this weekend.
Safety Miles Killebrew (concussion) and cornerback Jacob Parrish (back) were both limited participants. Defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson had a rest day and did not participate.
Linebacker Christian Rozeboom (foot), offensive tackle Justin Skule (oblique), and running back Sean Tucker (hamstring) were full participants for the second time this week.
Eight years to the day after Baker Mayfield made his debut for the Browns, he’ll be facing the Browns in his fourth year as the starting quarterback of the Buccaneers.
Buccaneers senior offensive assistant/pass game specialist Ken Zampese was Mayfield’s position coach when he came off the bench to beat the Jets on September 20, 2018. And Zampese had some candid comments on Wednesday about how the Browns blew it with Baker.
“They had the guy,” Zampese said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN. “They had the guy and they gave him up.”
They gave him up once they decided to make a franchise-altering (in a bad way) trade for Deshaun Watson. Mayfield was later traded to the Panthers.
“The year we were there, we were one of the best offenses in the NFL the second half of that season, 5-3, in a place that was -- before that season started -- 1-31,” Zampese said regarding Mayfield. “The script got flipped and the city came alive because they finally drafted a quarterback that worked out for them and they mucked it up. They mucked it up.”
Zampese was reunited with Mayfield this year, continuing their relationship that went well in the one year when they worked together.
Mayfield, in his third season, led the Browns to a playoff appearance, a win over the Steelers in the wild-card round, and a near-miss against the Chiefs in the divisional round. After an injury-riddled 2021, the Browns made the decision to move on.
Does Zampese think the Browns believe they “mucked it up” with Mayfield?
“I don’t know,” Zampese said. “It doesn’t matter. We got the guy we wanted [in Tampa] and that’s what’s important.”
They’ll have him on Sunday against the Browns. And the Bucs will be hoping to get the win that eluded them in Cincinnati to start the season.
Browns head coach Todd Monken stuck with Deshaun Watson as the team’s starting quarterback for this week’s game against the Buccaneers, but some are already looking ahead to what he’ll do in Week 3.
That will be the Browns’ home opener and Watson’s last appearance in Cleveland came amid cascades of boos during a preseason game. During a press conference on Wednesday, Monken was asked if Watson is in a position where he has to play well enough to earn another start.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Monken said. “I always expect our players to play well. I wouldn’t put them out there if I didn’t. I expect him to play really well and there were moments on Sunday when he did.”
There were also moments when he didn’t, of course, and it won’t take too many more of those to guarantee a similar reaction to Watson taking the field in Cleveland to the same reaction he got this summer. Monken has shrugged off fan reaction to his decisions in the past, but there would seem to be a level Watson has to reach this Sunday in order for the Browns to continue trying to salvage something from his tenure with the team.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has had Sunday’s game circled since the schedule release in the spring, as Tampa Bay will host Cleveland — the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2018.
The end of Mayfield’s time with the Browns was ugly, with the team eventually replacing him with Deshaun Watson after an injury-plagued 2021. But in 2020, Mayfield helped the club end a long postseason victory drought with a blowout win over the division-rival Steelers in the wild card round.
Asked how he remembers his time with Cleveland, Mayfield emphasized the positive.
“Yeah, I mean, with any experience, there’s ups and downs, good and bad. Ultimately, you remember the good more so than the bad,” Mayfield said. “Yeah, first time having a playoff win since ’94 there. And going on the road and doing it in Pittsburgh.
“So, a lot of good memories there. A lot of teammates that are friends for life. But like I said earlier, it’s a very different building now.”
Different coaching staff or not, Mayfield is known for playing with his emotions on his proverbial sleeve and a chip on his shoulder. To combat some of the potential ill effects of that, Mayfield said he’s focusing on making sure he gets the little things right this week, particularly after fumbling three times in the Week 1 loss to Cincinnati.
“Taking it one day at a time, making sure that you harp on little details,” Mayfield said. “That goes back to, obviously, not coming out on the right side of the game last week, of really focusing on the small details. And so, when you do that, good things will happen on Sundays.
“So, for me, focusing on that and then when the lights come on, you get out there and play, it’s time to go — let it loose.”
Buccaneers rookie inside linebacker Josiah Trotter did something Sunday that had never been done. He had a sack and a pick-six in his first NFL game, becoming the only player in history to accomplish that in his debut.
Trotter became the second player in NFL history to record a sack, an interception and at least five tackles in his debut, joining Steelers pass rusher T.J. Watt.
“I’m just blessed to be out there and have the opportunity to be out there,” Trotter said, via Scott Reynolds of Pewter Report. “I wish I could’ve done more – a lot of stuff to clean up. Ultimately, we don’t win the game, so we’ve got to continue to do more, try to make more plays. I’m just blessed, thank God I was able to go out there and play, and make some plays.”
Trotter intercepted Joe Burrow late in the third quarter and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown. It cut the Bengals’ lead to 27-20, though the Bucs lost 33-27.
“Yeah, just from the film study and just trusting it,” Trotter said. “We got one like that I remember in practice, and we completed it. So, I just trusted it and trusted my eyes, just execute and try and do my job.”
If you thought the Browns would stop playing Deshaun Watson after their Week 1 stinker — why?
Head coach Todd Monken said in his Monday video conference that Watson is set to start the team’s Week 2 matchup with the Buccaneers in Tampa on Sunday.
Watson finished Sunday’s 34-10 loss 16-of-22 for 205 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Forty-six of those yards came on that TD pass to Denzel Boston, which came with 1:52 left in the fourth quarter.
“It’s only been two weeks that he’s gotten all the reps,” Monken said. “And there were some really good things on film — some things that you can build on. And there were some others that — you know, operationally, we’ve got to get better at. There’s concepts that, there’s only so many looks you get from week to week, be it red zone concepts, third-down concepts.
“I did think that when he had time, when he understood the concepts, he didn’t play tentative, that he let it rip. Even the touchdown at the end, sure that was garbage time, but that was on their [No.] 1 corner. That was one of their starters out there. And that was a communication between him and the receiver. So, there were a lot of things to build on. Was it perfect? Of course not, otherwise we wouldn’t have scored as few of points as we did. But I’d like to see how we can build on that. I like his week of practice last week. And I think he’s only going to continue to get better.”
Monken said there wasn’t much discussion about potentially replacing Watson as QB1 after his Sunday performance.
“No, just confirmed it when I looked at the tape,” Monken said. “We’ve got to play better around him. We’ve got to call it better. And he’s got to play better.
“Our inability to function consistently as an offense was a byproduct of we — coaching and playing.”
While Watson threw an interception to end Cleveland’s first drive, Monken said he didn’t feel like the quarterback got tentative when it came to throwing downfield after that play.
“I would say that some of those weren’t called,” Monken said. “[T]here were times where we were trying to push the ball down the field and he did have a missed throw once we moved the pocket one time. But I know right before halftime, he made two great throws that put us in position. And then we got a couple of holding calls that had nothing to do with Deshaun.
“So, without watching the tape, you could say that — you could say, hey, he looked a little tentative there. And it’d be like, no, not really. Really, we just didn’t call certain routes to push it down the field, or we didn’t execute.”
The real issue, according to Monken, is that the club had “too many Browns hurting Browns moments.”
“And then even as we got later in the game, I did not see that one bit — that he was tentative in terms of trying to throw it down the field,” Monken said. “Sure, there’s a couple of times maybe he could’ve pumped it down there. But in my mind, I didn’t see that.”
Maybe we’ll all see something different in Week 2 when Cleveland plays Tampa Bay.
Baker Mayfield’s Sunday afternoon did not go well, with three lost fumbles directly contributing to Tampa Bay’s 33-27 loss to Cincinnati.
After agreeing to a contract extension earlier in the week, Mayfield finished 23-of-28 for 216 yards with no touchdowns, no picks, and the three giveaways.
“This one falls on me,” Mayfield said in his postgame press conference. “I mean, they had, I think, 17 points alone off of my turnovers. Turns out to be a one-score game — six points.”
But the Bengals were just one of two AFC North opponents that the Buccaneers have to begin their 2026 slate.
The next, of course, is the Browns.
“I mean, obviously, there’s history there — there’s no way to go around that,” Mayfield said.
You think?
The Browns infamously decided to move on from Mayfield after the 2021 season and traded for Deshaun Watson as his replacement. While Mayfield has found a home with the Bucs after stints with the Panthers and Rams in 2022, the Browns are still reeling from the aftereffects of that disastrous trade.
While Mayfield is 0-1 against Cleveland, having lost to the team with Carolina in 2022, he now has a unique chance to rub the Browns’ nose in it.
But, at least publicly, he’s not making more of it than what it is.
“It’s the next opponent,” Mayfield said. “Cleveland happens to be the next opponent — our home opener. So, yeah. Have a bad taste in our mouth, looking forward to getting it out.
“It’s still the next one, and that’s the most important one,” Mayfield added. “I’ve said that to you guys over the years — it doesn’t matter who it is, the most important one is the next one. And we’ve got — I’ve got to get some stuff fixed. And we’ve got to move forward.”
If you look at Deshaun Watson’s final numbers from Cleveland’s 34-10 loss to Jacksonville on Sunday, you might be able to talk yourself into some positives.
After all, Watson was 16-of-22 for 205 yards with a touchdown and an interception — good for 9.3 yards per attempt and a 97.7 passer rating.
But if you watched the game, you’d know 46 of those yards came on a garbage-time touchdown to Denzel Boston against the Jaguars’ backups. You would’ve seen Watson fire an interception to end Cleveland’s first drive, almost throw another to end the second, and then get strip-sacked on the third. You would understand that most — if not all — of Jacksonville’s five sacks on Watson happened because he was dropping so far back that the offensive line couldn’t form a cohesive pocket. You might’ve been baffled by how often he was trying to change a call at the line of scrimmage too late in the play clock.
Cleveland’s first drive had gotten off to a solid start, with the team moving the ball before Watson’s interception. After that, the unit was off the rails with no sense of rhythm.
But Watson said postgame that the pick didn’t rattle him.
“No, I mean, bad plays are going to happen all the time,” he said in his press conference. “You look all around the league. Everyone throws interceptions, everyone makes bad plays. You’ve got to give the defense credit. He made a good play on that. Even though I got knocked off my platform a little bit, I thought I got it over him. He reached up and grabbed it. So you’ve got to move on to the next play and try to move forward and try to put something positive on the next drive. And we weren’t able to do that.
“So it didn’t really bundle up my confidence. It’s just — we didn’t get back on track like we wanted to.”
Will the Browns’ dalliance with Watson continue? It seems likely, for at least another week. And so, Watson will lean on his experience in dealing with adversity as the Browns ready to play the Buccaneers.
“Yeah, I mean just keep moving forward, keep stepping forward, keep smiling, regardless of who’s against me or who’s with me,” Watson said. “I think that’s more beneficial for the team in that locker room. I’ve had a lot of support in that locker room after the game telling me to keep my head up, keep pushing forward, keep working. They’re behind me, so that’s always positive to see and hear. Yeah, we just got to keep going.
“The adversity is going to be there. You’ve got to embrace it. That’s the only way — I thought it was going to be gone two years ago, but I guess not. So you just embrace it and keep pushing through until you break that wall through.”
The Browns will be on the road to face Baker Mayfield and the Bucs next Sunday.
