One of the more sobering notes from the final day of Cleveland Browns minicamp was the news that starting slot corner T.J. Carrie left the field with an undisclosed leg injury.
While the injury is not believed to be serious, coach Freddie Kitchens offered no update in his post-practice press conference.
“I do not right now,” Kitchens said of Carrie’s leg. “I do not know.”
Carrie has had some minor durability issues throughout his career, though he has proven he will play through ankle and foot issues. He did manage to play all 16 games in his first year in Cleveland. But Carrie going down in minicamp — even with something hopefully insignificant — puts a spotlight on the slot corner depth, or lack thereof, on the Browns.
In theory, Denzel Ward and Terrance Mitchell can both kick inside and play over the slot. Second-rounder Greedy Williams has shown enough to merit playing outside with one of Ward or Mitchell sliding in. But to this point we’ve not seen much of Ward inside; he played less than 10 percent of his rookie reps in the slot. Mitchell has played his entire 5-year career almost exclusively on the outside.
Last year the Browns had versatile, if inconsistent, Briean Boddy-Calhoun as a backup slot. This year, nobody for that role has emerged yet. That will be something to focus on once training camp arrives. It’s good to get the minor scare out of the way early, because it helps identify what could be an issue if Carrie goes down when the games start counting.
