Broncos vs. Browns NFL injury report, odds: Spread, total dropping with Baker Mayfield out and Case Keenum starting Thursday
Cleveland will be extremely short-handed offensively Thursday against visiting Denver.
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As of this writing, 93 percent of all money wagered on the spread at Caesars Sportsbook for Thursday night's Broncos at Browns NFL Week 7 matchup is on underdog Denver, and that spread as well as the total may continue to drop with the news that Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield will join top running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt on the sideline.
The spread once was as high as 6 and is now down to Browns -3; it almost surely will drop to -2.5 today if not -2. The total opened at 44.5 and has dropped to 41.5. So far, 71 percent of the money wagered is on the Under. The total is the lowest for any Browns game since the start of last season when Kevin Stefanski took over as head coach. Winds of nearly 20 mph are expected Thursday night in Cleveland.
Mayfield had said early this week that it was his decision whether to play Thursday after rather gruesomely aggravating his injured non-throwing shoulder in Cleveland's Week 6 home blowout loss to Arizona. That might require surgery. The former Heisman winner had started 51 straight games. Chubb missed the Cardinals game with a calf injury and Hunt injured his calf in it – he's now on injured reserve. Odell Beckham Jr. also may miss Thursday with a shoulder injury.
So, your Browns skill position starters Thursday will be Keenum, D'Ernest Johnson at running back, and Jarvis Landry and perhaps Rashard Higgins (for Beckham) at wideout. The Browns have also been without starting offensive tackles Jack Conklin (knee) and Jedrick Wills Jr. (ankle) and both are questionable.
Keenum is 27-35 straight up in his career as an NFL starter but this will be his first with the Browns, the 33-year-old's sixth team. He last started eight games in 2019 with Washington and was 1-7. Keenum started all 16 games in 2018 with the Broncos and was 6-10. During this year's preseason, Keenum completed 33 of 48 passes for 298 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Nick Mullens will be called up from the practice squad and serve as the emergency QB on Thursday.
Broncos starting QB Teddy Bridgewater served as a backup to Keenum while returning from a serious knee injury with the Minnesota Vikings in 2017. Keenum took over for an injured Sam Bradford in Week 2 that year and took the Vikings all the way to the NFC Championship Game. Stefanski was Minnesota's quarterbacks coach.
Bridgewater is dealing with a foot injury but fully expected to play as Denver looks to end a three-game skid. He is 18-2 ATS all-time as a road underdog but his current three-game ATS losing streak overall is the longest of his career.
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