Carson Schwesinger, Quinshon Judkins day-to-day for Ravens

The scariest part of Sunday wasn't the loss. It was 2 of Cleveland's most important players walking out of the stadium in boots.

Mary Kay Cabot

@MaryKayCabot

#Browns LB Carson Schwesinger and RB Quinshon Judkins, who both walked out of the #Jets stadium in right walking boots, are day-to-day and haven't been ruled out for the #Ravens game, Todd Monken said. No one has.

Both of them had a right walking boot on after the 17-12 loss to the Jets, and that is a bad look for a Browns team that was already short-handed. On Monday Monken took most of the panic out of it. Schwesinger is day-to-day with a Grade 1 sprain, the mildest grade there is, and Judkins is in the same bucket with what Monken called a "tweak" in his ankle. According to ESPN, both of them finished the game and the boots were precautionary.

Ian Rapoport

@RapSheet

#Browns star LB Carson Schwesinger suffered a Grade 1 ankle sprain in their loss against the #Jets, though the injury occurred before his strip sack of Geno Smith, sources say. He is not ruled out for this week, though availability depends on how he responds.

The wild part is the timing. The sprain happened before the strip sack of Geno Smith, which means Schwesinger got the ball out of a quarterback's hands while playing on a bad ankle. He finished with 8 tackles and has 43 on the season, and he is the guy everything on this defense runs through. You don't sit him for a Grade 1 sprain unless the ankle tells you to.

Judkins matters just as much on the other side of the ball. Cleveland's backfield is already thin, and Monken also said the team might open Dylan Sampson's practice window this week. Sampson is on IR with a knee injury, so if Judkins can't go, a returning Sampson would be one of the only real options behind him.

ProFootballTalk

@ProFootballTalk

Quinshon Judkins day-to-day with ankle injury. t.co/s2kbhpzZ9F

Those 2 ankles aren't the whole injury list either. ESPN reports that KC Concepcion is in the concussion protocol after an illegal hit, Tytus Howard didn't finish the game with a knee injury, and Mason Graham and Mike Hall Jr. were both inactive with leg injuries. Losing the Jets game left the Browns 3-2 and 2nd in the AFC North.

That's why this week matters. The 4-1 Ravens come to Cleveland with the division lead on the line, and the Browns can't afford to play them without their best linebacker and their lead back. Monken says nobody is ruled out. Keep an eye on the practice reports this week. If Schwesinger and Judkins are full participants by Friday, the Browns dodged a bullet in New Jersey.