One Browns Defender Had An Underrated Performance Against Jets
(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Veteran defensive linemen rarely get the spotlight. Their best work often happens in the trenches, where a quick first step or a well-timed rip can disrupt an entire play without ever showing up in the highlights. Those contributions become even more valuable when a team is short on bodies. The Browns leaned on one of those veterans on Sunday, and he delivered.
Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report handed out grades for the loss to the New York Jets and gave Maliek Collins a B+.
“No Mason Graham. No Mike Hall Jr. No problem. Maliek Collins had to cause disruption on the interior with two of the Browns best interior defenders out for the game. He rose to the occasion with 1.5 sacks, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits. The Jets interior offensive line had a hard time dealing with Collins quick first step throughout the afternoon,” Ballentine wrote.
The circumstances made Maliek Collins’ performance even more important. Mason Graham remains sidelined with MCL and ankle sprains, and Mike Hall Jr. was also unavailable, leaving the Browns without 2 of their top interior defenders.
Collins answered by taking over the middle. His 1.5 sacks of Geno Smith led the team, and his 3 quarterback hits showed how consistently he was winning his matchups.
His production has jumped since Graham went down. Over the last 2 games, Collins has racked up 2.5 sacks, 4 tackles for loss and 4 quarterback hits after failing to record a sack through the first 3 weeks.
That kind of production is not new for him. Collins set a career high with 6.5 sacks in his first season with the Browns in 2025, and he now has 39.5 sacks over an 11-year career that has included stops in Dallas, Las Vegas, Houston and San Francisco.
His experience has been invaluable for a defensive line leaning on young players. With Graham out, Adin Huntington and practice squad call-up Sam Kamara were asked to take on bigger roles, and both chipped in sacks against the Jets.
The run defense remains a concern, though. Braelon Allen rushed for 116 yards on 24 carries, and the interior did not always hold up against the run. Collins’ pass-rush impact will need to be paired with better gap discipline from the group around him.
Collins has shown he can carry the load in Graham’s absence, and if he keeps it up, the Browns will have a fighting chance to slow down one of the most explosive offenses in the league on Sunday.