With Cleveland less than two weeks from its season-opening game, defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. came off the Browns’ physically-unable-to-perform list on Monday.
The two former Alabama linemen did not practice during training camp as they recovered from knee issues. Tomlinson will return to practice on Tuesday after being medically cleared, Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday, while Wills, even though he has passed a physical exam, “will not practice tomorrow, but progressing.”
Wills missed the final nine games of the 2023 season after having surgery to repair a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
Tomlinson had arthroscopic knee surgery on July 26.
Tomlinson joined Cleveland last offseason as a free agent for a four-year, $57 million contract. The Browns defense yielded the fewest yards in the NFL in 2023 as Tomlinson recorded 28 tackles, three sacks, four tackles for loss and 12 quarterback hits while starting 16 regular-season games.
Wills joined the Browns as the 10th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. After playing right tackle at Alabama, Wills had started all 55 games that he’d played for Cleveland at left tackle when he went down in 2023.
The Browns concluded their preseason schedule with a 37-33 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night. Cleveland will kick off its regular-season schedule against the Dallas Cowboys at 3:25 p.m. CDT Sept. 8 at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland.
The Browns also announced that safety D’Anthony Bell, offensive tackle Jack Conklin and cornerback Greg Newsome II had passed their physicals on Monday and would return to practice on Tuesday.
Conklin was Cleveland’s right offensive tackle when he went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the first game of the 2023 season.
