Austin Hooper inactive for the Browns vs. Ravens; Harrison Bryant will start in his place

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns starting tight end Austin Hooper, who sat out Friday and Saturday with a neck injury, is inactive for the Ravens game tonight.

The Browns took it right up until gameday in hopes he could rally, and he wasn’t ruled out until Monday afternoon.

For the Ravens, starting defensive tackle Calais Campbell will play despite sitting out practice all week with his calf injury. Campbell went through an extensive pre-game workout in the Dawg Pound end zone with trainers and coaches to determine if he could play, and moved well during the 20-minute session.

On his way off the field, he gave the thumbs up to a staff, which signaled he was playing, which is bad news for the Browns considering that the Ravens are 0-3 this season when he doesn’t play. In the Browns’ 38-6 loss to the Ravens in the opener, Campbell was the gamewrecker with three passes broken up.

Rookie Harrison Bryant will start in place of Hooper, but the Browns will still play a lot of two tight end sets with Bryant and David Njoku. They’ll also play some three-tight end sets — or 13 personnel — with Stephen Carlson as the third man.

“Not ideal, but we’ve been here before,’’ said coach Kevin Stefanski this week of losing Hooper late.

It’s the second time in two weeks that the Browns have had a player or players added to the injury report late in the week. Last week, it was receivers KhaDarel Hodge (hamstring) and Taywan Taylor (neck). Both missed their second straight game Monday night, and Taylor was placed on injured reserve and must miss at least two more.

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The loss of Hooper is a blow, because the tight ends promise to figure prominently against the Ravens, who will rely on their two excellent cornerbacks in Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey to shut down Jarvis Landry and Rashard Higgins.

It marks the third absence this season for Hooper, who sat out the victory over the Bengals and the loss to the Raiders after undergoing an emergency appendectomy.

Second on the team with 30 receptions but fourth with 286 yards and tied for third-most with two TDs, Hooper didn’t suffer a new injury in practice, just a flare-up of an old condition. Stefanski said Saturday it’s not serious, and that he was ‘truly questionable’ for the game.

On Sunday, NFL Network reported that Hooper would likely sit out, so it did come as a huge surprise.

Other inactives for the Browns are receiver Marvin Hall, safety Tedric Thompson and defensive end Joe Jackson. Hodge and cornerback Denzel Ward has been ruled out on Saturday.

Receiver Ja’Marcus Bradley, activated off the practice squad today, is active for the game.

Cornerback M.J. Stewart is the game captain.

Also for the Ravens, three Ravens were activated off the COVID-19 list and return for tonight’s game: tight end Mark Andrews, linebacker Matthew Judon and receiver Willie Snead.

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