The Cleveland Browns have reunited with Tre Avery just days after cutting ties with the veteran cornerback.
Avery, who was previously on the active roster, will now be signed to the practice squad, the team announced. The Browns had waived Avery earlier in the week and no corresponding move was made.
Originally signed by Tennessee as an undrafted free agent in 2022, Avery has appeared in 44 career games, including six with the Browns this season. Avery has played almost exclusively on special teams with Cleveland this season. Avery was one of the gunners on the Jets‘ punt return for a touchdown in Week 10.
The Browns have since filled the roster spot with wide receiver Kaden Davis, who was promoted from the practice squad. The Browns officially announced the move on Wednesday. Davis went undrafted in 2022 and has since bounced around. He’s spent time with the Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals on the practice squad. He spent 2023 playing for the Michigan Panthers in the USFL.
Davis spent part of last year and this season on the Browns’ practice squad. He’s been elevated for one game, recording 14 snaps on special teams. Davis had a solid preseason with the Browns, catching six passes for 67 yards with two touchdowns.
The Browns’ special teams let them down against the Jets. In a game where the offense took a slight step forward and the defense dominated early, two return touchdowns on punt and kick returns were backbreakers.
Browns special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone addressed the mistakes on Thursday.
“On the kickoff, got to do a better job of getting off blocks and then folding when necessary. You know, we practiced that play multiple times throughout the week, so could have done a better job with our details, and our techniques and our fundamentals,” Ventrone said. “And then on our punt, just not taking the easiest release in the coverage, getting outside the ball, and then we need a better ball with better hang on that. So, we need to do a better job. We haven’t played near our capabilities. We’ve had too many issues with just dumb football, dumb mistakes.”
The Browns are 2-7 and looking to turn things around after a rough loss to the Jets. The morale may be low but coach Kevin Stefanski needs the guys to lock in for a divisional matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.
“You have to turn around and get right back at it, so that’s what we’ll do. We got to quickly learn from it, and then, like I said to you guys, move forward to a division game at our place,” Stefanski said.
The Ravens have won three in a row and it isn’t a great get-right spot for Cleveland.
“They’re talented at all levels,” Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel said. “They play really good as a unit, communicate really effectively. Yeah, we have our hands full.”
The Browns lost to the Ravens in Week 2, 41-17, in a game that was never particularly close. Baltimore was able to blow that game open with 31 second-half points. The Browns are a 9.5-point underdog for the Week 11 matchup.
The Denver Broncos have been without All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II since Week 8, but the star defender insists he’s making rapid progress.
Surtain suffered a pectoral strain during Denver’s big win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8.,
As The SportsRush noted, While the injury forced him to miss two straight games, he says his body is responding in a great way.
“It makes me anxious to go back out there,” Surtain told Closed on Sundays.
“Because now you can see how many more plays I can make… them boys eating up front. I feel like Wolverine, my dog.”
“I feel like Wolverine, my dog,” Surtain said. “Everything’s going on schedule. Your boy moving his arm a little bit now.
“I can do a push-up. My strength is coming back. We progressing in small increments.”
The Broncos’ defense has dominated in his absence, but that dominance has only heightened Surtain’s urge to rejoin the lineup.
“It makes me anxious to go back out there,” he said.
“Because now you can see how many more plays I can make. How aggressive I can be, because them boys eating up front.”
Despite his optimism, Surtain remained a DNP on Denver’s Wednesday injury report and is still trending toward another missed game in Week 11.
Surtain’s pectoral strain initially sparked concern that he might have needed to go on injured reserve, which would have guaranteed a minimum four-game absence.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported early that IR was on the table, but Denver ultimately kept Surtain off the list.
This is a strong indication the injury was likely a low-grade strain and that the team believed he could return within a month.
So far, that timeline has held.
Surtain has missed Weeks 9 and 10, and while he continues to sit out practice, the cornerback says the healing process is “right on schedule.”
His ability to regain movement, push-up strength, and pain-free arm usage all point toward a realistic return after the bye in Week 13.
His Week 11 status remains doubtful.
Surtain suffered the injury on October 26, meaning the early end of his projected 4-6 week timetable would fall just after Denver’s matchup with the Chiefs on Sunday.
He has not practiced since being sidelined, and the coaching staff has made clear he will need multiple sessions before retaking the field.
Even without their reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Denver’s defense has been nothing short of dominant.
Over the two-game stretch Surtain has missed, the Broncos have allowed the fewest points in the NFL, and rank second in sacks and yards allowed.
Their ferocious pass rush has been the story of the season, as Denver already has 46 sacks through 10 games.
They are on pace to break the single-season NFL record of 72 set by the 1984 Bears.
Surtain has taken notice of the historic pace and emphasized early in the year that Denver’s defense had the potential to be one of the all-time greats.
We could be mentioned among the greats… the 2000 Ravens, the Legion of Boom,” he said. “I said that with conviction.”
In Surtain’s absence, the cornerback unit has held strong.
However, no corner in the NFL erases top receivers the way Surtain does.
As good as this defense has been without Surtain, it came against inferior offensive competition in the Texans and Raiders.
This weekend will signal their first true offensive test against the Chiefs.
With key AFC matchups ahead and playoff positioning at stake, Denver is hopeful its Wolverine-like superstar will be back soon.
When he returns, the NFL’s hottest defense gets even scarier.