The Green Bay Packers are 2-0 and have their first road game of the season on the slate against the Cleveland Browns. The Packers are looking to secure another win, and the latest injury update for the Browns would be good news for this defense.
According to Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot, Cleveland guard Joel Bitonio wasn't at practice for the second straight day, which leads to questions about whether he'll be active on Sunday.
Joel Bitonio Missed Two Days of Practice for Browns
Bitonio's back injury is new, and if he's unable to give it a go, that would remove a Pro Bowl offensive lineman for Cleveland. And that would be great news for a Packers defensive line that is tied for second in the NFL in team sacks (8).
Through two games, Green Bay's defense has been flying around. They are third in total defense (238), 10th in pass defense (189.5), and second in run defense (48.5). The addition of Micah Parsons added tremendous juice to the pass rush and allowed several other players to take advantage of 1-on-1 matchups.
Despite being 33 years old, Bitonio has been a solid force along the Browns' offensive line. According to Pro Football Focus, he has a 78.7 overall grade (2nd among 88 graded guards), 70.6 pass blocking grade (24th among 88 graded guards), and a 78.5 run-blocking grade (3rd among 88 graded guards). In 105 pass blocking snaps, he hasn't allowed a sack or QB hit.
That is huge, especially since Cleveland has 40-year-old Joe Flacco under center. If Bitonio can't give it a go, Teven Jenkins could be asked to fill in. He has 38 starts under his belt and has been solid as a starter, but he isn't as good as Bitonio.
That's the reality of the situation, and Green Bay would have an easier time getting past Jenkins than Bitonio. Friday's practice will be a big determining factor on whether Bitonio plays or not.
Parsons is still ramping things up and is close to being fully unleashed. When head coach Matt LaFleur was asked if this was the week for that, he answered, “We’ll see,” with a big smile.
It'll be interesting to see if Green Bay decides to give Parsons a full workload in this outing and the potential absence of Bitonio could the cherry on top for this team in Week 3.