The Browns have spent the first three weeks of the 2026 season proving their defense can take a punch and keep moving.
Cleveland sits at 2-1 after opening with a 34-point loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, then tightening everything up in back-to-back wins. The turnaround showed up again Sunday, when the Browns beat the Carolina Panthers 21-18 in their home opener and kept Bryce Young from finding much rhythm. Young finished with 290 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and he needed nearly 50 throws to get there.
That kind of result would stand out on its own. It looks even better when you consider Cleveland has been doing it without one of its key defensive backs.
Tyson Campbell missed Sunday’s game while dealing with ankle and hip injuries that had been bothering him since the Buccaneers matchup. Head coach Todd Monken said Campbell was close to playing and sounded optimistic about his status for Thursday.
"He was close to going [on Sunday] and I feel good about Thursday," head coach Todd Monken said on Monday.
Browns coach Todd Monken said he “feels good” about CB Tyson Campbell playing against the Steelers on Thursday night. “He was close to going (on Sunday).”
Campbell’s absence matters because of what he brought to the defense last season. In 12 games, he posted 53 combined tackles, grabbed an interception, broke up 12 passes, and added a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit.
With Campbell sidelined, Denzel Ward has been carrying a heavy load, and he looked every bit like the top-tier corner Cleveland needs him to be against Carolina. Ward was targeted twice by Bryce Young on 25 matchups and gave up just one catch for 12 yards to Tetairoa McMillan.
That fits the pattern with Ward, who has long been one of the league’s more underappreciated corners, especially in man coverage. In the 2024 season, he was the highest-rated cornerback by Pro Football Focus with a 91.3 grade and led the league with 15 forced incompletions.
The Browns have also gotten a major boost from Myles Harden, whose rise over the last two weeks has helped soften the blow of Campbell’s injury. Harden is currently the sixth-ranked cornerback and second-ranked slot cornerback in the NFL by Coverage Grade, according to PFF.
Through 3 weeks, the #Browns boast two Top 5 CB’s in the #NFL by Coverage Grade per PFF@denzelward is the #2 overall and the #2 Outside CB.@Myles1Harden is #6 overall and the #2 Slot CB. #DawgPound pic.twitter.com/Tlp7yEiAZw
If Ward and Harden keep playing at this level while the younger depth pieces hold up, Cleveland’s secondary should stay in strong shape until Campbell is ready to return.
Next up is a Thursday night divisional test against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Huntington Bank Field on Oct. 1.
Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. EST.
In Other News...
Browns Passing Game Just Caught A Break Before Steelers Week 4
The Browns passing game got a late-week boost before a division-size matchup with Pittsburgh, and it comes from an opponents roster shuffle rather than anything Cleveland did on its own. Joey Porter Jr. was already ruled out of the upcoming game because of a back injury, but the Steelers then sent the cornerback to Dallas in a deal for a second-round pick and a conditional sixth-rounder, removing one of their more familiar cover men from the AFC North picture altogether.
For Cleveland, the timing matters because Porter would have been a name the Browns would have had to account for twice a year if he had stayed put. Instead, Pittsburghs secondary depth now looks thinner, with Jamel Dean and Asante Samuel Jr. as the primary corners, and that changes the challenge for a Browns passing attack trying to find any edge it can get in Week 4. [Read more 🡒]
Quinshon Judkins Has A Browns Problem Bigger Than The Blocking
Quinshon Judkins has run into a problem in Cleveland that goes beyond what the offensive line is giving him. Through three games, the Browns back is averaging just 3.0 yards per carry with no touchdowns, a steep drop from the efficiency he showed as a rookie. Even with fewer stacked boxes in front of him, his runs have been among the leagues least effective, with Next Gen Stats putting him sixth from the bottom among NFL backs.
The Browns run-block win rate has not helped, but the film and the numbers point to a back who has been too tentative and has left too much yardage on the field. Now comes a tough test against Pittsburgh, one of the leagues top-graded run defenses, which makes this as much about Judkins finding decisiveness as it is about Cleveland creating better lanes. If the ground game is going to become a real threat, the Browns need more than cleaner blocking - they need Judkins to turn the openings he does get into something more. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Face A Bigger Thursday Test Than Their Record Suggests
A short week has a way of stripping away the polish, and that is exactly what the Browns are walking into as they head into a Thursday matchup in Pittsburgh. Both teams are 2-1, which gives this meeting a little more weight than a typical early-season divisional game, especially with Cleveland trying to show it can travel well and handle a Steelers team that has been steadier than its record might suggest.
The numbers point to a tight game, with quarterback play and the ground attack both likely to matter in a big way. Jaylen Warren has been part of Pittsburghs offensive conversation, while Cleveland has gotten attention from Harold Fannin Jr. as the Browns continue to sort out what kind of weekly identity they want on offense, and the betting markets have even framed Cleveland as an underdog worth a look. [Read more 🡒]