Team news: Cleveland Browns

Kevin Stefanski said the short turnaround to Thursday night played a role in RB Nick Chubb only playing 22 snaps against the Saints.

Related players: Jerome Ford

The Browns play the Steelers this Thursday night and the hope would be Chubb is unleashed a bit more. Chubb ran 11 times for 50 yards this past week. Ford had five carries and four catches for 29 yards in the game while Strong had two rushes. Chubb averaged 4.5 YPC, but it might be tough to trust him in a game against the Steelers. There is some hope, though, as the Ravens Derrick Henry did have a 13-65-0 line against Pittsburg this past week. Chubb owners just need to hope his snaps won't be reduced again.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski says Jameis Winston remains the starting QB coming off the bye.

Related players: Dorian Thompson-Robinson

DTR has served as Winston’s backup over the last two games. Even with the Browns struggles this season, Stefanski doesn't seem to be heading toward making another change at QB to see what Thompson-Robinson could potentially do with the offense, according to the story. Winston has had his struggles at times, but there is fantasy upside potential for those planning to start Winston. He's best served as a QB2 option in superflex leagues.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters after the game that Jameis Winston remains the team’s starter.

Related players: Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Bailey Zappe

Winston finished the game 26-of-46 for 235 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. He was also sacked six times. All three of Winston’s interceptions came in Chargers territory, the story pointed out. The Browns have DTR and Zappe waiting in the wings, but neither would bring the upside Winston brings to the offense. Unfortunately with Winston, fantasy owners will get the downside too, much like in Week 9.

Browns TE David Njoku missed practice today with his ankle injury. He missed 3 games with it earlier this season.

Related Players: Cedric Tillman, Jerry Jeudy, Jordan Akins

It would be a huge bummer if Njoku were forced to miss time after putting up great back-to-back performances sans Watson at quarterback. Jordan Akins would be interesting for deep leagues in this scenario, though he only crested 9.0 half-PPR points in one game during Njoku's absence.

Browns game status for Week 8 vs. Ravens

Wyatt Teller - questionable
Jerome Ford, Ronnie Hickman, Jordan Hicks and Jedrick Wills Jr. - out

Related Players: Nick Chubb, Pierre Strong Jr.

Chubb is set to continue taking a big piece of the backfield pie here, but it's doubtful he gets to a huge workload for another week or two. Consider him an RB3 option in Week 8.

The Cleveland Browns will start Jameis Winston, per source.

This is great news for fantasy as Winston is an immediate upgrade to the QB position, and we know he will sling the ball around the yard. While this doesn't put him in startable territory, it does boost the floor of David Njoku, Jerry Jeudy, Elijah Moore, and Cedric Tillman.

Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s season appears to be over, but how long his recovery takes after Sunday’s Achilles injury remains to be seen.

Watson has a ruptured Achilles tendon and will undergo surgery soon, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

Related players: Jameis Winston, Dorian Thompson-Robinson

What’s unclear is the nature of the surgery, with Watson considering both conventional surgery and a newer “speed bridge” procedure that can result in a faster return to action. That’s the surgery Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers had last season, and he was able to resume practicing faster than most players with Achilles tears, the story went on to say. DTR took over for Watson but injured his finger, forcing Winston to come in and finish the game. X-rays were negative on the finger, according to reports. There seems to be a good chance Winston will take over as the Browns QB, however. It will be worth monitoring this situation as the week goes on.

Browns QB Deshaun Watson left Sunday’s game against the Bengals with a lower body injury.

Adam Schefter shared a tweet David Chao that suggests Watson may have suffered a torn Achilles. If so, his season would obviously be over. Watson was 15-of-17 for 128 yards before the injury. Dorian Thompson-Robinson is now in at quarterback, Jameis Winston is the emergency quarterback.

The Browns officially activated RB Nick Chubb from the physically unable to perform list Saturday.

Chubb will make his season debut Sunday against the Bengals, his first game since tearing multiple ligaments in Week 2 of last season. We’ll see how much the Browns use Chubb this soon but it’s worth noting that Jerome Ford was ruled out with a hamstring injury. Pierre Strong and D’Onta Foreman are also in the mix.

The Browns ruled out Jerome Ford and Ronnie Hickman, who didn’t practice this week.

Jordan Hicks, Nyheim Hines, Ethan Pocic and Juan Thornhill are all questionable.

Browns RB Nick Chubb is officially questionable for Sunday. He’s practiced the last three weeks ahead of his expected season debut.

The Browns backfield is a complete stay-away until we have a better idea of Chubb's health/how the backfield work is going to be split. Keep them all on your bench for Week 7.