12 Browns players were sent home with flulike symptoms

On Wednesday, the Browns practiced without 12 players, including Pro Bowl nose tackle Shaun Rogers and five other starters. The team is sacked by the flu and players with flulike symptoms are all sent home as preventive measures to stop the virus from spreading deeper through the team.

“We’re being really aggressive preventatively,” Coach Eric Mangini said. “If there’s any sign of it and we think it’s heading that way, we’d much rather try to minimize the effects on the player and also possibly the exposure to the rest of the group.”

Mangini implied the sick players had not yet been tested for H1N1 virus. He is hoping that these sick players will recover in time to play in their Bills jerseys against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. But if they are not healthy to play, the Browns may need to promote players from practice squad to replace them as ruled by the NFL roster provisions to protect teams overwhelmed by swine flu.