Malik McDowell impressing the Browns after early career struggles

Defensive lineman Malik McDowell is impressing the Cleveland Browns in his bid to finally play in the NFL, via Pro Football Talk. McDowell has not made an NFL roster in his career since being drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 2017.

Malik McDowell with the Browns

It had been more than five years since McDowell had played in an organized football game before playing for the Browns this preseason. As McDowell battles to make the Browns’ final roster, his efforts in camp have drawn praise for his ability to return to the NFL level.

“He has been great,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said, via the team website. “He has been great in the meeting rooms, around the building and out on the grass. He is in a really good place, works very hard and is very serious about his craft. I see him making strides every day working with Coach Kiff [defensive line coach Chris Kiffin] and working with [assistant defensive line] Coach [Jeremy] Garrett.”

McDowell played 25 snaps Sunday, most of which came in the second half. He finished with five tackles, a sack and two quarterback hurries in his performance. The Browns felt it resembled the kind of chaos he created at Michigan State, where he earned second-team All-American honors in 2016.

“To see him out there making plays, his teammates were excited for him,” Stefanski said. “He continues to grind. He continues to work at this thing.

“He had worked really hard when we got him in the building in the spring. Obviously, had a couple of injuries that set him back but stayed into it with the walkthroughs and stayed into it in the meeting rooms. He is a guy who is really, really battling. He is working very, very hard as we get through this training camp.”

McDowell will find out the results of his hard work following the Browns’ final preseason game against Atlanta. As training camps come to a close, teams around the league will be cutting their rosters down to just 53 players.

Early career struggles

McDowell’s path to the NFL was fairly normal, resulting in him being drafted in the second round by the Seahawks after playing for Michigan State. Before his first NFL training camp began however, things didn’t go as planned.

A few weeks prior to training camp, McDowell was involved in an ATV accident and was placed on the reserve list for not reporting to camp. He later returned to practice with the Seahawks and was placed on the non-football injury list due to the injuries from the accident.

McDowell was then arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to 12 months of probation. Three months later he was arrested again for disorderly conduct.

In 2018, McDowell was waived by the Seahawks with a non-football injury designation, and placed on the reserve list the next day. McDowell’s off-field issues continued from there, until the Seahawks released him in 2019.

In late 2019, McDowell was sentenced to 11 months in prison, and has been pursuing a return to the NFL since. The Cleveland Browns signed him to a contract in May of 2021 and he has been battling for a roster position all preseason.