Browns lose both starting offensive tackles to injuries in loss to Pittsburgh Steelers

PITTSBURGH — Both Browns starting offensive tackles were out of the game due to injuries by the end of Cleveland’s 23-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Right tackle Jack Conklin left the game midway through the third quarter with what ultimately was ruled as a concussion. Left tackle Cam Robinson sustained a knee injury in the final two minutes of the game.

It’s just the latest in a season-long storyline of injuries at the tackle positions. Coach Kevin Stefanski did not state a severity of the injuries, which were among five during the game that required players to go to the locker room.

KT Leveston replaced Conklin at right tackle. Teven Jenkins went in for Robinson.

As for what’s next at those positions?

“Yeah, we’ll just coach up the guys we got,” Stefanski said. “Obviously we know injuries are a part of this game and we expect the guys that are out there to go perform, but we’ll get ‘em coached up.”

Conklin was on the bench with the rest of the offense during Pittsburgh’s extended third-quarter touchdown drive when he initially went into the medical tent. Leveston was on the field when the Browns got the ball back with 7:40 left in the third quarter.

The veteran, who missed three games with an elbow injury after having missed all but the opening drive of the opener after getting poked in the eye, was taken to the locker room to be evaluated for the concussion. He was ruled out early in the fourth quarter.

Robinson started for the first time since the Browns acquired him from the Houston Texans Sept. 29. He replaced Leveston, who had started the previous two games because Dawand Jones is on the injured reserve list after right knee surgery.

The veteran played the entire game until there was just under two minutes remaining. That’s when quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who was hit on a throw by Pittsburgh’s Jack Sawyer, fell into Robinson’s right knee.

Sawyer’s hit was one of 16 Gabriel took during the game. He was sacked six times by the Steelers.

“You throw the ball 60 times against a premier front, quarterback’s gonna get hit,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “We have to block better. We have to figure those things out, but in that circumstance of the game, when you pass them all 60 times, the quarterback gets hit in those situations, we’re playing against a good front. They make it one-on-one a lot, and we have to find a way to win those battles.”