Hunt has surgery for sports hernia

Running back Kareem Hunt underwent surgery Aug. 29 to repair a sports hernia, the Browns announced before hosting the Lions in the final preseason game.

Running back Kareem Hunt underwent surgery Aug. 29 to repair a sports hernia, the Browns announced before hosting the Lions in the final preseason game.

The former Willoughby South star is expected to make a full recovery before returning to the team following his eight-game suspension mandated by the NFL.

Hunt totaled seven carries in preseason games against the Colts and Buccaneers. He caught one pass for three yards.

The Browns signed Hunt in February, less than three months after the Chiefs released him Nov. 30, 2018.

Hunt rushed for 1,327 yards with the Chiefs in 2017. He had 824 yards rushing with five games to play last season but was cut by Kansas City when a video surfaced of him shoving and kicking a woman in a downtown Cleveland hotel in February, 2018.

The Browns envision a backfield of Nick Chubb and Hunt in the second half of the season. Hunt can resume practice Nov. 3. The first time he is eligible to play is the game Nov. 10 against Buffalo.

The NFL has ruled Hunt cannot be inside the Browns facility during his suspension.

Trade for guard

The Browns made a trade less than four hours before their last game of the preseason to improve their offensive line.

General Manager John Dorsey swapped the Browns fifth round and sixth round picks in the 2020 draft to Buffalo for Wyatt Teller, a 2018 fifth-round pick from Virginia Tech. Teller started the final seven games of his rookie season at left guard for the Bills last year.

Teller, 6-foot-4, 315 pounds, won’t start at left guard for the Browns. That job belongs to Joel Bitonio, but Teller could end up as the right guard.

Eric Kush won the training camp battle to start at right guard. He started the first three games of the preseason. Coach Freddie Kitchens said Kush would start in the season opener against the Titans on Sept. 8. If nothing else comes from it, the trade for Teller at least gives the Browns depth with starting experience behind Kush and Bitonio.