The Browns left wide receiver Dwayne Bowe inactive last Sunday for the fourth time in six games and it doesn’t appear that will be changing anytime soon.
While Browns quarterback Josh McCown said last week on PFT Live that he thought Bowe would bring “added value to the group” when his conditioning was where it needs to be, coach Mike Pettine suggested Wednesday that it will take an injury to another receiver or some other development that alters the current mix of the roster to get Bowe on the field.
“We make that decision each week,” Pettine said, via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. “We build a plan and see where we are from a depth standpoint. We talk about the minimum position requirements. The top 4 guys [at wide receiver] are entrenched.”
Travis Benjamin, Brian Hartline, Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel are joined by Marlon Moore at receiver. Pettine said Moore has been “outstanding” on special teams for the Browns this season and Bowe doesn’t play special teams, which doesn’t leave him much of a chance at getting a uniform on Sunday.
That’s not much return on the $9 million in guaranteed money the Browns gave Bowe this offseason nor is it much of an endorsement of the kind of player that Bowe is at this point in his career.