The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Even dogs aren’t safe on Berea practice fields
Moose, a dog that hangs out near the security desk at Browns headquarters, recently suffered a leg injury after a practice. Plus, Jeff Schudel’s thoughts on Jae Crowder and Michael Brantley.
Injuries have always been a part of football. But when they occur on the practice field they sap the spirit from the team.
Browns rookie Myles Garrett will miss at least two weeks with a high right ankle sprain, meaning he will miss the opener against the Steelers Sept. 10 and a road game in Baltimore a week later. The injury more than likely will keep him out at least a month.
The Browns wouldn’t win the AFC North if they had him for 16 games, so they would be smart not to let Garrett practice until he is completely healed. He sprained his left ankle last fall at Texas A&M and missed only two games. But when he returned he was not as effective as he was in 2015 and got a bad rap for taking plays off.
“I started getting better a couple games into it and then had somebody crash into me at practice,” Garrett said at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. “So, it kind of took me downhill again. I wasn’t myself throughout the whole season.”
I don’t believe in curses, but those practice fields in Berea are making me second-guess that theory.
• Garrett, the first pick of the 2017 draft, was injured in the first full practice for the first game of the season when a blocked teammate fell on him. He suffered a left foot injury in the June minicamp when former Brown Cameron Erving stepped on Garrett’s foot as Garrett was bearing down on Brock Osweiler for a would-be sack.
• The pro career of LeCharles Bentley ended on the first 11-on-11 drill of the 2006 training camp, in his first practice with the Browns, when his left patellar tendon tore while blocking teammate Ted Washington. Bentley, a Cleveland native, was rated by ESPN as the top free agent in the NFL that year.
• Tim Couch, the quarterback taken with the first pick of the 1999 draft — the Browns’ first draft pick of the expansion era — suffered a broken right thumb on the final day of practice on Oct. 20, 2000, when his hand hit the helmet of blitzing linebacker Ryan Taylor. He missed the rest of the season.
• In one of the most bizarre injuries, wide receiver Braylon Edwards was spiked while running in his stocking feet when teammate Donte Stallworth stepped on the back of his heel early in training camp in 2008. Edwards missed the entire preseason. He caught 55 passes that season after catching 80 the season before.
• Reggie Hodges, the Browns punter in 2010, suffered a torn Achilles tendon on the fourth day of training camp in 2011. The punter. A torn Achilles. Without being touched.
• Kicker Patrick Murray suffered a season ending knee injury in practice the Friday before the Browns played in Miami in the third game of 2016 season. That sent the Browns into scramble mode. They signed Cody Parkey, who missed three field-goal attempts, including one that would have broken a tie game on the final play of regulation. The Browns lost to the Dolphins, 30-24, in overtime.
• It doesn’t matter if the injured party has two legs or four.
Moose, a chocolate lab, is the pet dog that hangs out around the security desk at team headquarters in Berea. Give him a treat, rub his belly when he rolls over on his back, and you have a friend for life.
But Moose’s tail is wagging a little slower these days because he needed surgery after tearing his right rear ACL. He was injured chasing down a tennis ball while playing on the practice field when the players’ work-day ended.
Surely there are injuries I’m forgetting, but if the practice fields are too treacherous for a game of fetch, maybe the Browns next move should be hiring an exorcist.
Crowder could be special
I’ll tell you now — Cavaliers fans are going to love Jae Crowder.
Crowder, along with guard Isaiah Thomas and center Ante Zizic, plus two draft picks, was acquired from the Celtics last month for guard Kyrie Irving.
Crowder, 6-foot-6, 235 pounds, is an unselfish defender who also can deliver from behind the arc and probably play tight end for the Browns.
It is hard to imagine anyone’s life could be disrupted more than Crowder’s was on Aug. 30. His mother, after a long illness, passed away on the very day the trade to the Cavaliers was finalized. Crowder spoke of that emotional time on Sept. 7 during the news conference introducing the newest Cavaliers at the team training facility in Independence.
“There was a lot going on that day, obviously, but the good thing about the whole ordeal was I was able to whisper to my Mom before she passed,” Crowder said reverently. “I was with her and I just told her ‘I’m going to Cleveland,’ and five minutes later she passed.
“That day was tough, but it was a good day for myself, for my basketball career to move onto an organization like this, like the Cleveland Cavaliers — to be able to put myself in a position to play for it all. I couldn’t ask for anything else. I was thankful to Boston for everything they’ve done for me and for trading me to a team like this. I was thankful for the opportunity. That day was pretty wild.”
Warriors forward Kevin Durant drove the lane against the Cavaliers in the 2017 Finals like he was strolling through the park. His path will not go unchallenged if there is a four-peat in June.
“Jae can always guard the tougher opponent, which allows LeBron to roam, which he loves to do on defense, pick off steals and passes and anchor our defense by talking and communicating, so it’s going to be a great duo defensively and I’m excited for it,” Coach Tyronn Lue said.
Crowder is built like a blacksmith and has the touch of a pianist. He made nearly 40 percent of his 3-point attempts (197 of 394, 39.8 percent) with the Celtics last year.
Slow progress for Brantley
When the Tribe’s Michael Brantley collapsed to the outfield grass on Aug. 9 with a sprained ankle, the Indians tried to downplay his condition, but traded for Mets outfielder Jay Bruce the next day.
A month later, Brantley still cannot run on flat ground. Instead, he is working out on a device known as an anti-gravity treadmill.
“He’s doing everything but he’s not ready to shake free of the Alter G — the assisted running thing,” Tribe manager Terry Francona said. “I think he’s frustrated, but there’s that one spot that’s just not ready to let him do it yet.”
Brantley walks around the clubhouse without a limp, in fact with a spring in his step. But there is no timetable for his return and the start of the playoffs is less than four weeks away.
Ideally, the Indians will get Brantley back before the last week in September so he play in at least five or six games before the playoffs begin. Right now there is no guarantee that will happen.
Brantley has missed 54 games this season. He is hitting .299 with nine home runs, 52 RBI and 47 runs scored.
I didn’t know that
… Until I read my Snapple bottle cap
Forty is the only number with letters appearing in alphabetical order . ... An ostrich’s brain is smaller than its eye . ... The archer fish can spit water up to seven feet to shoot down bugs from overhanging leaves . ... A ranch in Texas is bigger than Rhode Island. ... Mercury and Venus have no moon . ... John F. Kennedy had a pony named Macaroni.