Browns near bottom, but not last, in games lost due to injury

Injuries decimated Cleveland but not as much as it did the Texans

The story of the Cleveland Browns 2023 season will be written with injuries as the headline, subheadline and final point. Seemingly every week, the Browns dealt with some starter, mostly on the offensive side of the ball, going down for the year. Starting with OT Jack Conklin and RB Nick Chubb in the first two weeks, Cleveland seemed cursed.

Despite that curse, the Browns made the playoffs with QB Joe Flacco and their fourth and fifth offensive tackles on the field.

Injuries weren’t limited to the offensive side of the ball as later in the season veteran safety Rodney McLeod, LB Anthony Walker Jr. and DT Maurice Hurst were lost. DE Ogbo Okoronkwo was severely limited but returned to the field.

Interestingly, Cleveland’s playoff opponent, the Houston Texans, actually had the most games lost due to injury. The Adjusted Games Lost data takes a number of variables into account:

Adjusted games lost doesn’t just add up total injuries. It accounts for both absent players and those playing at less than 100%, and it specifically measures injuries to expected starters and important situational players rather than little-used backups. As such, AGL estimates the impact of injuries on teams and provides a comparable total that often succinctly explains why teams improved or declined from one year to the next.

Here is a look at the top 10 (read most games lost) in 2023 with the Browns ranked as having the fourth most lost:

It is interesting to note that four of the most injured teams still made the playoffs while a few of the worst teams last year also appear on the list.

Obviously, the data doesn’t take into account the talent of the player missing. Chubb, Conklin, Jedrick Wills, Dawand Jones and Deshaun Watson off the offense is a hugely talented group.

Are you surprised that the Browns aren’t first on the list?