Not much has gone wrong for the Cleveland Browns so far this season. They have ridden a three-game winning streak into first place in the AFC North, which is something almost no one predicted.
However, in their latest win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night, the Browns lost one of their best defensive players when Mason Graham suffered a leg injury in the first quarter. It fortunately did not turn out to be season-ending, but his timetable for a return remains unclear.
Insider Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN revealed an injury update on Graham on Tuesday, saying it does not look like he’s going to be put on injured reserve, which would indicate an absence of less than four weeks.
“They kind of labeled him week-to-week, but if you’ve got an MCL and an ankle sprain, I’d have to think he’d miss two games. It doesn’t sound like he’s gonna be an IR candidate. It does feel like a multiweek absence,” Oyefusi said.
“It does feel like a multi-week absence.”@DanielOyefusi says Mason Graham’s MCL and ankle sprains don’t sound like an IR situation, but he still expects the Browns rookie to miss multiple games.#Browns pic.twitter.com/cQUJu6X69k
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) October 6, 2026
Entering Week 4, Graham was tied for second in the NFL with 4.0 sacks. That was a huge improvement over the one-half sack he posted in 17 games as a rookie last season. In addition, he already surpassed his first-season total with five quarterback hits, and his six tackles for loss are just one shy of his number from last year.
This is the second major injury for the Browns’ defensive line. Alex Wright suffered a season-ending Achilles tear during training camp, pushing Isaiah McGuire and Mike Hall Jr. into bigger roles. They each had a sack of Aaron Rodgers on Thursday, along with Adin Huntington, Maliek Collins, and Sam Williams, as Cleveland defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg made the necessary in-game adjustments.
Graham’s injury will put even more attention on Jared Verse, who does not have a sack with his new team through the first four games. Seen as the de facto replacement for Myles Garrett after their trade for each other this offseason, Verse has 10 combined tackles, three tackles for loss, and two QB hits.
Last season, Graham played the final five weeks of the season with a broken rib, so his toughness and pain tolerance should not be questioned, so as soon as he is cleared by doctors to return, he will be out there trying to pick up right where he left off.
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