CLEVELAND — When Mason Graham went down with a knee injury Thursday night against Pittsburgh, there was reason to fear the worst.

For a Browns team suddenly sitting at 3-1, losing one of the best young players on its defense for an extended period would have been brutal. Instead, Cleveland got about as good news as it reasonably could have hoped for.

An MRI revealed that Graham suffered an MCL sprain along with an ankle sprain. The Browns will evaluate him on a week-to-week basis, meaning there is no firm return date yet, but the injury is not the kind of season-ending knee damage that initially had to be feared.

In that sense, Cleveland dodged a bullet.

That does not mean Graham’s absence will be easy to overcome.

The second-year defensive tackle has been one of the biggest reasons Cleveland’s defensive front has taken another step this season. Through four weeks, Graham has recorded four sacks, 15 tackles, six tackles for loss, and five quarterback hits.

That production is especially impressive considering Graham recorded only half a sack as a rookie.

He looked like a different player almost immediately this season, recording at least one sack in each of Cleveland’s first three games and exploding for two sacks, seven tackles, and three tackles for loss against Carolina. His combination of quickness, strength, and interior pressure has made it much harder for opposing offenses to focus their attention elsewhere along the defensive line.

Now the Browns have to figure out how to replace that presence, at least temporarily.

Maliek Collins gives Cleveland an experienced interior option, while Mike Hall Jr. becomes even more important after returning from an ankle injury against Pittsburgh and recording a critical third-quarter sack. The Browns can also rotate other defensive linemen more heavily, but Collins and Hall are the two most obvious players who will be asked to absorb Graham’s missing snaps inside.

There is enough depth to survive the loss, but the question is how well that group can hold up in the middle until Graham returns.

That becomes especially important because the Browns’ defense has been one of the biggest reasons this team is 3-1. Cleveland recorded five sacks and forced two turnovers against Pittsburgh, helping the offense survive a second half in which it managed only six points.

The front has been able to create pressure without constantly selling out with blitzes, and Graham has been a major part of that. Removing an interior defender who can collapse the pocket changes how offensive lines can distribute their attention, and it puts more pressure on the rest of the group to continue winning individual matchups.

The timing at least gives Graham some extra recovery time.

Cleveland does not play again until Oct. 11 against the New York Jets, giving him more than a full week before the Browns return to the field. Whether that is enough time remains to be seen, and with the team describing him as week-to-week, there is no reason to rush him back. Realistically, there is also little reason to expect him back within the next week or so.

At 3-1, this team has earned the right to start thinking about meaningful football deeper into the season. Graham is far too important to that pursuit to risk turning a manageable injury into something worse.

So yes, losing him hurts.

But considering how Thursday night initially looked, Cleveland will gladly take some time without Graham over the alternative.

Now the rest of the defensive line has to make sure the middle holds up until he gets back.