Collins Is Still Out, and Camp Has Already Started

Maliek Collins arrived in Berea with a knee that hasn't healed, and the Browns opened training camp with their starting defensive tackle listed out. I noted this when it first surfaced a couple days ago, and nothing has changed — which is itself the update. Camp is live, and the man who handled every meaningful snap at the position last season isn't practicing.

The depth chart behind Collins is Malik Jackson and Mike Hall, neither of whom logged significant playing time in 2025. That's not a rotation. That's a name on a roster sheet. The Browns went through an entire season with one defensive tackle doing real work, and now that player is unavailable on the first day anyone is supposed to be in pads.

The broader defensive picture isn't much softer. Mason Graham is also listed questionable. The cornerback room is thin enough that the team was waiving bodies due to failed physicals four days before camp. The interior line problem is just the most acute version of a structural issue I've been tracking since July — this roster has single points of failure at too many positions, and injuries are now activating several of them at once.

My read is that the next week or two will tell you a lot about how serious the Collins situation actually is. If he's back on the field in short order, this is a managed camp ramp-up. If he's still out when the pads come on in earnest, the Browns have a genuine problem at the position with no obvious in-house solution.