Cleveland Browns wide receiver Kadarius Toney runs with the football during an NFL game against the New Orleans Saints
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Kadarius Toney runs with the football during an NFL game against the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 17, 2024, at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.(AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman)
For the first three-and-a-half seasons of his NFL career, Jedrick Wills Jr. served as the Cleveland Browns’ left offensive tackle. But over the NFL team’s past 21 games, Wills has played in five.
After the Browns placed Wills on injured reserve on Saturday, it appears unlikely that he’ll play again in the 2024 season, and it could be that the former first-round draft pick from Alabama has played his last game for Cleveland.
As the Browns placed Wills and defensive tackle Maurice Hurst II on injured reserve on Saturday, Cleveland filled their spots on the active roster by signing practice-squad wide receivers Kadarius Toney and Michael Woods II. Toney was a standout at Blount High School in Prichard.
Wills missed the final nine games of the 2023 season after he sustained a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee in a 27-0 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 5, 2023. Wills wasn’t ready to start the 2024 season on time either. He missed three of the first four games.
Wills played every offensive snap in three straight games before he didn’t dress for Cleveland’s 29-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 27. Wills said he aggravated his knee injury in a 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 20, even though he played all 84 offensive snaps.
Wills said he was dealing with cartilage damage and a bone bruise in addition to the swelling. He had fluid drained from the knee and did not practice in the week before the Baltimore game and said he made a “business decision” not to play against the Ravens.
Wills played two offensive snaps in Cleveland’s past five games and has not practiced since Nov. 20.
Wills will be a free agent in March unless he is re-signed by the Browns before then.
An All-State quarterback at Blount and a first-round draft choice from Florida, Toney has played in two games for the Browns as a practice-squad elevation since joining the team on Sept. 10 for his fourth NFL season. He has two rushing attempts for minus-4 yards while playing 12 snaps for Cleveland this season.
In 34 NFL regular-season games, Toney has 82 receptions for 760 yards and three touchdowns, 23 rushing attempts for 117 yards and one touchdown and 17 punt returns for a 7.0-yard average.
In the Kansas City Chiefs’ 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12, 2023, Toney had the longest punt return in Super Bowl history with a 65-yarder to the Philadelphia 5-yard line to set up a touchdown in the fourth quarter less than three minutes after he had caught a TD pass. Toney’s 5-yard touchdown reception with 12:04 remaining allowed Kansas City to take a 28-27 lead, and the advantage expanded to eight points thanks to his punt return.
The Browns play the Pittsburgh Steelers at noon CST Sunday at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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