Browns rookie DB breaks kneecap
Rookie says delay in signing pact was due to ‘paperwork.’
Browns fourth-round draft pick Howard Wilson, a cornerback from the University of Houston, broke his kneecap in practice Friday, will undergo surgery soon and could miss the season.
“It’s disappointing but this is part of playing football,’’ Wilson said in a statement released by the Browns. “It was kind of a freak thing. I was just running around and my knee just kind of locked up on me.”
The timetable for Wilson’s return will be determined after the surgery. It’s his second major knee injury in two years. He suffered a torn ACL in 2015.
“It’s unfortunate,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “He’ll be out for a while, significant time.”
Jackson acknowledged the loss of Wilson, a ballhawk, who had five interceptions at Houston last season, is a blow.
“Absolutely,’’ said Jackson. “Any time you lose a player that you drafted the first day when you’re trying to see what he is and how he can contribute, that’s hard.”
Browns safety Jabrill Peppers said Saturday that not signing his participation agreement Friday and missing the first day of rookie camp had nothing to do with avoiding a drug test.
“I don’t know why you think of me like that, but everyone is entitled to an opinion,” the first-round draft pick from Michigan said before practice. “What you think of me is no skin off my teeth. I’m not worried about anything but being the best football player and person I can be.”
Profootballtalk.com had speculated that perhaps Peppers didn’t sign the agreement right away to avoid being tested by the NFL. He’s in Stage One of the drug program because of his dilute sample at the NFL combine, and subject to random testing once he signs the participation agreement or his rookie contract.
“No. No, I am not worried about that,” he said. “Stop asking questions about that.”
On Wednesday, former ESPN Cleveland contributor Sabrina Parr, who was fired by the radio station that night, said on the air that Peppers is on “the Lean and the Molly,” two popular illegal recreational drugs.
On Friday, Peppers denied the allegations. He maintained that his dilute sample came from overhydrating before his combine workout to avoid cramping. A hybrid player, he ran first among linebackers and safeties.
“I mean, people can say whatever they want to say,” he said. “I just think people want to say what they say to make stories. I can’t do anything about that. I came here to play football and help this great organization get back to prominence.”
Peppers attributed not signing the agreement, a rarity in the NFL, to “just some things with paperwork. In light of my excitement, I forgot there is also a business aspect. Fortunately, we were able to get it handled today, and I get to be out there with the guys.”
He acknowledged that coach Hue Jackson urged him to sign the form and get on the field.
“He stressed that to me (Friday),” said Peppers. “I stressed my want to be out there, but we both understood it’s a business, too. You do hire an agent for a reason for things like that. It sucks, but at the end of the day, this is my profession now, so some things come with the job.”
He also said he told his agents, who had advised him not to sign the paper according to the Browns, how imperative it was for him to practice the final two days of rookie camp.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I definitely think that was part of the reason they got it squared away for me today. You pay them for a reason for things like that. They handle the business aspect of it. I just try to perform my best on the field.”
Peppers said fear of injury wasn’t the reason he sat out Friday.
“There are no concerns,” he said. “Whatever God’s plan is for each and every one of us, that is His plan. You just have to go 110 miles per hour every snap, every play. Injuries don’t happen when you play 100 miles per hour. That is what I was taught.”
To keep pace, he watched film of Friday’s practice alone and with teammates.
“It was the first day. There were a lot of hiccups, a lot of mistakes but that’s expected,” he said. “What’s expected is to minimize those mistakes and not make the same ones, but if you make new ones, make them 100 miles per hour. I think we are all doing a good job of processing the defense and understanding what (defensive coordinator) Coach (Gregg Williams) wants us to do. That is what I am going to try to do today.”