Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield will be without the bulk of his receiving corps for Sunday's game at the New York Jets, after contact tracing landed four wideouts on the reserve/COVID-19 list before the team took off from Cleveland.
Starting receivers Jarvis Landry and Rashard Higgins, along with key backups Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge, were all placed on the list after being identified as high-risk close contacts of a positive test. Cleveland announced earlier Saturday that a player had tested positive and later placed starting linebacker B.J. Goodson on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Cleveland's flight to New Jersey was delayed by more than four hours as the team conducted contact tracing. It finally departed at 7 p.m. ET and has arrived in Newark. Rookie linebacker Jacob Phillips was also placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
The Browns had only one active receiver left, Marvin Hall, and had to call up both Derrick Willies and rookie Ja'Marcus Bradley off the practice squad before a scheduled departure of 7 p.m. ET. None of the three has posted a reception with Cleveland this season.
Landry will be missing the first game of his seven-year NFL career, something he did not appear too happy about on social media.
Mayfield will also be without his blindside protector, as starting left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. was downgraded to out with an illness Sunday.
The Browns had hoped to have Wills back after he came off the reserve/COVID-19 list following contact with an individual outside the organization who tested positive for the coronavirus. He was activated Saturday before being ruled out the following day.
Cleveland could clinch its first playoff berth in 18 years Sunday with a victory over New York, plus a loss from one of three teams: Miami, Baltimore or Indianapolis.
