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Flu hits Browns hard

BEREA, Ohio — Some rest, liquids and medication have the Cleveland Browns feeling a little better.

Pro Bowl nose tackle Shaun Rogers and linebacker Kamerion Wimbley returned to the team Thursday after being among 12 players — six of them starters — who were sent home Wednesday with flu-like symptoms. The other 10 players remain isolated from the team.

Browns coach Eric Mangini said two of the unidentified players have been diagnosed with Influenza A, which is related to the H1N1 virus. Mangini reported that there have been no new cases of the flu, and that the other ill players have not gotten any worse.

"That's a positive," Mangini said. "As far as a timetable for the rest of the group coming back, I'm not totally sure yet, but we're going to keep being cautious with this to make sure we don't go into the weekend and put the group that hasn't had it in a position where they could get it."

Mangini said the team will continue to take preventive measures to combat the virus spreading further. He scaled back practice Wednesday and canceled meetings so players would get extra rest in advance of Sunday's home game against Green Bay.

The NFL recently implemented roster provisions for teams hit hard by the swine flu. If a team has a minimum of six players with confirmed cases of H1N1, the league will allow the team to use practice squad players in games.

"We're going through the process of talking to the league and documenting different things to see where we are with that," Mangini said. "It's open communication. We want to be sure what we're able to do and not able to do."

Mangini expects most of the affected players to be ready by Sunday. The Browns typically stay in a downtown Cleveland hotel on the night before a game, and Mangini intends to go forward with those plans.

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