Browns hoping improved health can lift defensive line entering opener

BEREA ― The injury bug bit the Browns in multiple areas during the course of training camp. The area most impacted was their defensive line .

It was the worst possible group to get bitten, considering the level of importance it holds to the Browns' success. The defensive line is central to the overall defense's success, and that defense may be central to the Browns' overall success.

"Yeah, I mean, with the attack front, the D-line is always the engine," defensive tackle Mason Graham said Sept. 1. "It starts with us, it ends with us. The way we think about it is no play should get past the front four, and if it does everyone else is there to clean it up. So that's kind of what we pride ourselves on, and that's what we're looking to do this year."

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Graham was one of the defensive linemen to miss some time in training camp, although it was only a couple of days in the first week. In the grand scheme of injuries at the position, he was an ironman compared to others.

At one point early in camp, five of the top six defensive tackles were sidelined with various injuries. The defensive end group, meanwhile, suffered a major loss during the Aug. 20 joint practice against the Buffalo Bills when Alex Wright suffered a torn Achilles.

As the season opener at the Jacksonville Jaguars closes in, that group has healed to a point where it's only down a couple of key players — Wright, obviously, and defensive tackle Kalia Davis, who's on the injured reserve list. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins was activated from the physically unable to perform list Aug. 24 after a 2025 season-ending quad injury, and defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. returned Aug. 18 from a 10-day absence.

"Oh, yeah, having our guys back, I mean, there's a reason they're all ones," Browns coach Todd Monken said Sept. 1. "There's a reason why they're paid how they're paid, and that is to play at a really high level. I've seen it when they've been out there, and it's been great having them back. I mean, their consistency over the course of time, when you have those types of players, they're going to make a play that ends a drive."

The Browns already were dealing with a new-look defensive line with defensive end Jared Verse being acquired in the trade of Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams. Wright's injury led to the signing of veteran end Derek Barnett immediately afterward, then another veteran end, Sam Williams, two days after the initial roster was set.

Hall, despite having been played tackle throughout most of his first two-plus seasons, has even worked at end the last two weeks. Adin Huntington, listed as a defensive end on the roster, has worked almost exclusively at tackle behind Graham and Collins.

That's a lot of moving parts in and out of the lineup. Hall, though, said the issue of cohesion isn't a concern.

"Yeah, I mean, just with our whole style of play, we're subbing in fresh guys," Hall said Sept. 2. "We're an attack front, so we're going balls to the wall. So you got to be able to 'next man up' or be able to play with different flavors because everybody brings a whole different taste of the game."

The defensive line personnel was a big reason why it was so important for Monken to maintain a defensive scheme at least similar to the one former defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz had run over the previous three seasons. It's what led him to bring in Mike Rutenberg, whose ties to Robert Saleh, Gus Bradley and Gregg Williams directly connect his system's to Schwartz's.

The central tenet of either scheme is, as both Graham and Hall said, an attacking defensive line. It's one that requires all four to be able to get to the quarterback and rush with borderline reckless abandon.

It's why a player like Barnett, who played for Schwartz years ago when he first came into the league with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, can make such a smooth transition.

"Well, again, he's played in this style of defense, so it's not that big of a transition," Monken said. "It's really not. It's really just getting used to what we call things, our terminology, and then just seeing what we have. We haven't been around Derek, and I've liked what I've seen so far."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at

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