Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will miss the 2026 season after Cleveland placed him on the reserve/physically unable to perform list for the second straight year on Friday.

Owusu-Koramoah, who also was placed on reserve/PUP last May, has been sidelined since Oct. 27, 2024 due to a neck injury. He was carted off the field after colliding with Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry, whose right shoulder barreled into the linebacker’s head and neck area on a 10-yard run.

He was hospitalized overnight and released the next day with movement in all of his extremities.

Owusu-Koramoah, 26, had started all eight games prior to the injury and had a team-high 61 tackles, including three sacks and 10 tackles for loss. The Browns signed him to a three-year extension worth up to $39 million in August 2024.

The Browns selected Owusu-Koramoah in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame and he made the Pro Bowl in 2023.

In 49 games (41 starts), he has totaled 308 tackles, 40 tackles for loss, 14 quarterback hits, eight sacks, six forced fumbles and three interceptions.

–Field Level Media

We’ve made it through the week, happy Friday!

Let’s enjoy the weekend with a couple MLB Pick winners from the late window.

Season Record 19-14-1, +2.53 Units

Pittsburgh Pirates at San Francisco Giants

Giants F5 -.5 (+114 FanDuel)

It’s a SP battle between one of the easiest names to pronounce in MLB (Robbie Ray) vs. one of the toughest (Carmen Mlodzinski).

Oh, and there’s also quite the contrast in how they’ve pitched lately.

The Giants’ Ray has turned back the clock a bit as his 2.95 ERA is his lowest since his Cy Young season of 2021 in Toronto. He’s not fanning guys like he used to as his K% is 25.5%, down from the low 30’s levels of his heyday. But he’s also throwing more strikes as his 8.9% BB% is decent for him and he’s controlling contact well so far with an 87.4 EV allowed (72nd percentile) and 33% HardHit% (79th percentile). It’s mostly in the air, but that works in his spacious home park

“Mlod” is a converted starter and it’s been a little bumpy so far, at least as far as the bottom line numbers go. Through four starts he had a 1.77 ERA but with a meh 13.4% K-BB%. Well he improved that mark to 22.4% in his last three starts but at the expense of ferocious contact in the form of a 19.4% Barrel%. How high is that whole lineup? Byron Buxton has a 19% Barrel% and Matt Olson is at 20.2%. It has resulted in a 9.22 ERA and 1.77 WHIP.

Now you might say the Giants are the least equipped team in MLB to take advantage of a guy serving up meatballs, and you would be correct.

They have just 23 homers, the fewest in MLB. But they added a couple interesting bats this week in Bryce Eldridge and Jesus Rodriguez and they’ve ticked up a bit overall. I think they have a major edge on the mound here so let’s try to isolate that and roll with them at home on the F5.

Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers F5 (-104 FanDuel)

It’s not often you can get the Dodgers at a non insane price.

Well, there’s a very good reason for it here as they face an excellent Braves team and their ace Chris Sale tonight. Sale has been lights out fantastic so far with a 2.14 ERA and 0.90 WHIP that are both a shade better than the numbers he put up in his 2024 Cy Young campaign. His 29.9% K% is 91st percentile. Oh and the Braves are smacking the ball lately despite Ronald Acuña Jr. landing on the IL and Michael Harris II in and out lately managing injuries.

So why Dodgers? Well I think today’s starter Emmet Sheehan is getting a bit of a discount on account of his lousy overall numbers (5.32 ERA, 1.33 WHIP). Under the hood he’s pitching very well, especially the last 3 starts where he has a 32.8% K% vs. just a 4.5% BB% and an ace-like SIERA of 2.51. What’s interesting and perhaps encouraging is that his velo has dipped a shade from early in the season and he’s actually throwing much better as he’s now getting nice plus results from his slider.

Right here right now this sure looks like a preview of the NLCS. Let’s go with the two-time defending champs.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are on the verge of seeing history made. The Carolina Hurricanes have opened the playoffs with seven victories, and the Colorado Avalanche have the opportunity to duplicate that feat when they visit the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

It would be the first time two teams have kicked off the playoffs with seven victories in the same year. Only four teams have opened the playoffs with eight wins, with the last the Edmonton Oilers (who actually won nine straight to kick off the playoffs.)

But before we get to the affairs featuring those teams, here are our three best bets for Friday’s action. Odds are via FanDuel.

• Golden Knights/Ducks Over 6.5 goals (+114)
• Montreal’s Cole Caufield to score (+175)
• Vegas’s Jack Eichel to register 3+ shots on goal (-128)

Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights over 6.5 goals (+114)

Both games to kick off this series finished 3-1. The Ducks put on a defensive clinic in their Game 2 victory that evened the series as it heads to Anaheim.

What makes that unique? Anaheim was among the worst defensive teams in the NHL during the regular season, finishing 29th among the 32 clubs in goal-against-per-game.

We are not buying the Ducks are about to become defensive stalwarts and expect to see more what these teams have done in the regular season and first round of the playoffs.

Anaheim surrendered four goals in four of six games against the Edmonton Oilers and racked up 26 goals in those six outings.

Meanwhile, the Golden Knights averaged four goals per game while facing the Utah Mammoth in their six-game victory.

This is a game for both teams to return to the median.

Montreal’s Cole Caufield to score a goal (+175)

After a series-opening 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, the focus has become more intense on Montreal Canadiens star Cole Caufield and his lack of production so far in the playoffs.

Good.

Caufield this season became only the seventh player in Canadiens history to reach the 50-goal mark, and first since Stephane Richer in 1989-90, when he hit 51 tallies.

The playoffs have been another animal so far. Caufield has netted only one marker in eight games but that’s only part of his swoon. He has not even netted a point in the last four outings.

After winning an emotional Game 7 over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Canadiens were not quite right to kick off the Eastern Conference semifinal.

Expect a different Montreal team in this affair, and a fired-up Caufield.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel to register 3+ shots on goal (-128)

With a couple of sleeps to digest the first two games of their series, the Golden Knights will be focused on creating more offensively.

One aspect will be to sustain more sustained pressure in the Anaheim zone, especially after the Golden Knights were held to 22 shots on goal in each of the first two clashes of the series.

Speaking of players under the microscope, Eichel averaged 3.51 shots on goal during the regular season but has managed only 21 in eight games so far in this year’s playoffs, and only three over the first two game of this series.

Time for him to lead the charge.