Rookie OL Drew Forbes Won't Be Activated From Injured Reserve For Game Against Bills
Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens announced in his media availability on Friday that the team will not activate rookie offensive lineman Drew Forbes from injured reserve for the game against the Buffalo Bills. Forbes will still be eligible to be activated next week for the first of the Browns' two matchups against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Forbes suffered a knee injury at the end of the preseason, but the team performed some roster trickery to get him onto the 53-man roster into the regular season, so that when he was placed on injured reserve, he would be eligible to be designated for return. The Browns designated him for return on October 24th, but they have a 21-day window to activate him starting from this week. Should they choose not to, he would revert back to injured reserve for the rest of the season.
The team thought enough of Forbes as a rookie to designate him for return. They believe he's a promising player and they seem to want to see him play this season. It's not entirely clear where they want him to play. He repped at both guard and tackle in training camp and the preseason. The early returns were better at guard, but he played his entire college career at tackle.
The Browns are currently set to start Wyatt Teller at right guard this week in place of Eric Kush, trying to evaluate him for a possible long-term role. Teller was acquired in a trade from the Buffalo Bills right before the season. It would seem reasonable that if they wantt to evaluate Forbes at guard, it would be in place of Teller. However, evaluating him at tackle would be in place of Chris Hubbard, who is not likely to be here next year due to poor play and his contract.
Forbes is one of the more interesting players on the Browns roster simply because it's not clear what they want him to do, but he does have the physical talent to be a franchise offensive lineman. His development needs to get him there.
