Monday leftovers

The newest member of the Browns' Next Man Up Club is James Hudson III, who has been pretty much a swing offensive tackle and sometimes run blocker in jumbo formations this season. 

The third-year pro will start Sunday's game in Baltimore somewhere along the offensive line after the Browns placed left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. on injured reserve Monday after suffering a high-grade MCL sprain, low-grade PCL sprain and bone bruise in his right knee in Sunday's 27-0 victory over Arizona. 

Wills is expected to miss at least the next six games with the injury, which occurred on the second series of the second half when running back Kareem Hunt rolled into the back of Wills' right leg from behind with about 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Hudson, who began his collegiate career at Michigan before transferring to Cincinnati, has played both tackles for the Browns, booking seven starts in his fist two seasons. The former defensive tackle, who switched to offense at Cincinnati, was drafted by Cleveland in the fourth round of the 2021 college draft.

He was in consideration to replace veteran right tackle Jack Conklin, who went down in the second quarter of the season opener against Cincinnati with two tears in his left knee. Head coach Kevin Stefanski opted instead for rookie Dawand Jones, who has been solid.

Chances are good Hudson will wind up on the left side, becoming Deshaun Watson's blind-side protector, which is a scary thought. Pass protection is not one of Hudson's strongest attributes. He's much more comfortable in the ground game

An option for Stefanski would be moving Jones to the left side because he is much better at pass pro than Hudson. The only problem there is Jones has a strong background on the right side for most, if not all of his career. The difference between the two sides from a blocking angle standpoint is sizable.

Either way, the overall strength of the offensive line has dropped significantly since the beginning of the season. Here we are at the halfway point of the season and one tackle is in the hands of a rookie, albeit a  solid showing this season. The other has flaws that could wind up disastrously.

Then there's Alex Leatherwood on the practice squad. Selected in the first round of the 2021 college draft by the Las Vegas Raiders as an offensive tackle, the well-decorated college lineman struggled in training camp and was moved to right guard, where he started and played every game. Apparently not too well. He was waived in training camp the following season.

After a brief stint with the Chicago Bears last season, Leatherwood was released in this year's training camp. Three days later he was a member of the Cleveland PS. Right now, he and Leroy Watson are the other tackles on the entire roster. The fact no news of his progress has been noted is a bit concerning.

So for the next six weeks at least, barring any movement by the front office with regard to the structure of the main roster, Stefanski almost surely has to game plan differently for no other reason than to protect his quarterback, who is one major shoulder injury away from being done this season.

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Special teams received a significant boost against Arizona Sunday with the debut of James Proche II, a veteran wide receiver who doubles as a return specialist. The ex-Baltimore Raven is the Browns new punt  returner based on that performance.

The Browns defense forced nine punts from Arizona's Blake Killikin, six of which were fielded by Proche (pronounced pro-SHAY), who flashed smooth open-field moves while heading north and the ability to slip arm tackles during his busy afternoon.

He had returns of five, 17, 12, 20, 16 and 10 yards, which equals 80 yards, but two (20 and 16) were wiped out by holding penalties, bringing the net yardage down to 55. Still, it is an element of special teams that needed -- and received -- improvement.

The Ravens cut Proche at the end of summer training camp and the Browns signed him to the practice squad on Halloween. He was promoted shortly after the Browns traded Donovan Peoples-Jones, who had been their punt-return specialist, to the Detroit Lions.

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Remember when Stefanski lamented the lack of takeaways by his defense? He also bemoaned his offense played giveaway way too often. Well, one of those problems has been solved and the other shows similar signs.

The offense, which regurgitated the football an alarming 17 times in the first seven games (costing them victories against Pittsburgh and Seattle), finally achieved offensive perfection with regard to ball security in the Arizona victory Sunday.

As for takeaways, that wonderful early defense produced only three in first four games before the bye. Did everything but separate the football from the opposition. All that accomplished was making the offense, which has yet to reach topnotch status this season, work that much more.

But it's like a switch went on coming out of the bye with the San Francisco and Indianapolis victories. The last four outings have produced eye-opening results. The defense has recorded 10 takeaways (six interceptions and four fumble recoveries en route to a 3-1 record).

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Finally . . . Notice how well Corey Bojorquez is punting this season? The left-footed booter is ranked fourth with 50.5 yards with a net of 43.6. His high, deep punts kept the Cardinals pinned in their territory for pretty much the entire game. . . . Bulletin: Dustin Hopkins finally missed one.  The veteran kicker was wide left from 48 yards early in the fourth quarter, snapping a streak of 12 straight successes. He's still 20-of-23 overall and perfect in seven attempts from 50+.