Doom and gloom settled in for many Browns fans when starting center Nick Harris suffered a bad knee injury in the preseason opener. It manifested when replacement Dawson Deaton was lost soon thereafter.
Cleveland was already trying to replace venerable veteran JC Tretter, who had been the Browns’ starter for the last five seasons. The multiple injuries are certainly a worry, but the Browns linemen don’t necessarily see it as a devastating blow.
Right guard Wyatt Teller, for one, has a lot of confidence in new starter Ethan Pocic. He talked about it after a recent practice.
“He is in a perfect place where he is making that next step to be that Day 1, Week 1 starter,” Teller said of Pocic. “I am excited to see where he goes and what he does.”
Pocic does offer considerable starting experience. He’s been the regular starter for the Seahawks for the last two years and also sprinkled in over a dozen starts in the three years before it. In Seattle, Pocic didn’t have nearly the kind of talent flanking him that he does with Teller and left guard Joel Bitonio.
While expectations have been fairly low for Pocic, it’s important to remember that Teller was dumped by the Bills early in his career and had a similar lowly outlook. Now he’s one of the best at his position in the NFL. Asking that from Pocic is probably too optimistic, but the veteran played reasonably well in his first test and has the faith and support from his linemate.
