Around The AFC North: Browns' Injuries Piling Up, An Unemployed Flacco, Ngata's Future Cloudy in 2015

Cleveland Browns: After a feel-good two and a half months, the "Dawgs" are battling through major injuries on the defensive side of the football. After losing defensive tackle Phil Taylor for the year with a knee injury, the linebacker crops have been hit hard. Leading tackler Karlos Dansby suffered a knee injury of his own and is being labeled as missing "upwards of a month", per The Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

You can also add linebacker Jabaal Sheard to the list of the Browns' walking wounded, as his season is apparently done as well. He suffered what is being called a "bone injury in his foot" and is apparently headed for Injured Reserve. As it currently stands, the Browns are ranked 22nd in overall defense and 31st against the run.

Baltimore Ravens: According to reports, Mike Flacco, the brother of Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, has been cut from the Jacksonville Jaguars' Practice Squad. Mike Flacco was a two-sport athlete, who attempted to latch on to an NFL team after his professional baseball career fizzled out. Like his brother, Mike is a large-bodied guy at 6'5", 245 pounds and plays tight end.

Though they are on their bye week, the Ravens still made a transaction, bringing Allen Reisner to their Practice Squad and releasing Emmanuel Ogbuehi. Resiner is a fourth-year player who has floated around on different teams in that span.

There also seems to be a growing sentiment that the team will have a tough time figuring out the contract situation with defensive lineman Haloti Ngata after this season. The club has made it known they would like to strike a deal this winter/spring before the next season, which is the last in a very lucrative deal. Ngata has largely (no pun intended) lived up to the deal in that time, being elected to three Pro Bowls and helping the team to a Super Bowl victory. Ngata has had another great season in 2014 for Baltimore, but with his $16 million cap hit in 2015 and the team having to get creative with the cap over the past couple of seasons, General Manager Ozzie Newsome will have to work magic once again next year.