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ESPN Senior Writer- Jake Trotter is a senior writer at ESPN. Trotter covers college football. He also writes about other college sports, including men's and women's basketball. Trotter resides in the Cleveland area with his wife and three kids and is a fan of his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. He covered the Cleveland Browns and NFL for ESPN for five years, moving back to college football in 2024. Previously, Trotter worked for the Middletown (Ohio) Journal, Austin American-Statesman and Oklahoman newspapers before joining ESPN in 2011. He's a 2004 graduate of Washington and Lee University. You can reach out to Trotter at jake.trotter@espn.com and follow him on X at @Jake_Trotter.
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ESPN Staff Writer- Adam Teicher has covered the Kansas City Chiefs for more than 30 seasons. He joined ESPN in 2013 for the launch of NFL Nation.
KANSAS CITY -- OBJ's return will have to wait.
Cleveland Browns star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is inactive for the season opener Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.
On Friday, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Beckham's status would be a game-time decision. Two hours before kickoff, Beckham was running sprints on the field and warming up to test his surgically repaired left knee.
Beckham had been a limited participant throughout training camp as he worked his way back from the surgery to repair a season-ending injury. But over the past two weeks, he had begun to ramp up his activity in practice, taking part in both team and 7-on-7 scrimmaging drills.
Beckham has battled injuries since arriving in Cleveland in a trade from the New York Giants two years ago. Last year in Week 7, he went down with a torn ACL while attempting to tackle a defender after an interception.
The Chiefs are without safety Tyrann Mathieu, who is one of their inactive players. Mathieu was on the NFL's COVID-19 list and missed practice all week. But he was moved to the active roster Saturday and was stretching with teammates during early warm-ups at Arrowhead Stadium, sparking thought he would be available against the Browns.
The Chiefs also are without defensive end Frank Clark, who missed all of the preseason with a sore hamstring. Clark was listed as questionable for Sunday's game on the Chiefs' final injury report of the week.
