The Browns starters worked hard in their first 16 games to earn a day off and watch their understudies get drilled by the Bengals, 31-14, in Cincinnati on Jan. 7.
Now it’s back to work for the second season that begins Jan. 13 when the Browns play the Texans in Houston in a wild-card playoff game. Kickoff is 4:30 p.m. on Channel 3.
Tuesdays are normally a day off for the Browns. But because the game is on a Saturday, they will practice Jan. 9, 10 and 11 in Berea to prepare for the Texans.
“I think we were sharp in practice (last) week when the (starters) were out there,” 10th-year left guard Joel Bitonio told reporters after the game in Cincinnati. “I think we’re going to have a big week of practice. I think awareness is heightened.
“The guys are focused on the task at hand. For us, it was about getting guys as close to 100 percent as you can at this point of a season.”
Michael Dunn started in Bitonio’s spot against the Bengals. Bitonio isn’t the only one who played hurt this season, but he has been doing this longer than anyone else who began his career in a Browns uniform. He has played with a sore back, a sore knee and an oblique injury, and who knows whatever doesn’t show up on the injury report.
“It’s just one thing after another for me,” Bitonio, 32, said on Jan. 4. “I don’t know if it’s like a domino effect with the knee and everything kind of just works together and it adds on. Luckily for me, I’ve been able to play through most of it. But, yeah, you’re always beat up.”
Bitonio was on the 2020 team that beat the Steelers in a wild-card playoff game and then lost to the Chiefs in the divisional round. This will be cornerback Martin Emerson’s first chance at the playoffs.
The Browns knew before playing the Bengals that they would face the winner of the AFC South in the first round of the playoffs. But they didn’t learn their opponent’s identity until Tennessee secured a 28-20 victory over Jacksonville. Had the Jaguars won, the Browns would have visited the Jags in the first round. The Jacksonville-Tennessee game ended at almost the exact moment the Browns-Bengals game concluded.
“I don’t mind who I line up against,” Emerson told reporters. “We’re jelling. We’re all together. Everything’s in line. It’s the second season. We have to do what we were planning on doing since the beginning of camp.”
Emerson, in his second season, also was a spectator when in Cincinnati. Emerson led the Browns with four interceptions in the regular season.
2024 opponents set
The Browns’ opponents for 2024 are set. They will play eight home games and nine on the road.
Home opponents: Ravens, Bengals, Steelers, Cowboys, Giants, Chargers, Chiefs and Dolphins.
Road opponents: Ravens, Bengals, Steelers, Raiders, Broncos, Eagles, Commanders, Jaguars and Saints.
The 2024 schedule will be announced in May.
BROWNS AT TEXANS
What: AFC wild card game
When: 4:30 p.m., Jan. 13
Where: NRG Stadium, Houston
Records: Browns 11-6, Texans 10-7
TV: TBA; Radio: WKRK-FM 92.3, WNCX-FM 98.5, WKNR-AM 850
