The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Browns get good report on injuries
Maybe the curse on the Browns, if there ever really was one, is finally lifting.
Coach Hue Jackson’s injury update Aug. 24 from the preseason game with the Eagles a night earlier was more good news than bad.
• Quarterback Tyrod Taylor suffered a dislocated left pinky finger and a bruised left hand when he fell running out of bounds on a fourth-down scramble in the first quarter, but should not miss any time, Jackson said.
Taylor returned after missing two series and played most of the second quarter, but he got treatment at halftime, never returned to the sideline for the second half and left immediately after the game. That led to concerns there might have been more damage.
“Obviously, Tyrod had a dislocated pinky,” Jackson said on the conference call, the word ‘had’ fully emphasized. “Obviously, they (team doctors) were able to get that back in place. It takes about 15 seconds. He has a bruised hand. He’s sore, but he’s going to be fine.”
• Rookie cornerback Denzel Ward “has back spasms,” Jackson announced. Ward was injured tackling Eagles tight end Zach Ertz early in the game. He stayed on the ground, lying on his stomach, but eventually walked off the field. Ward did not return.
“He has back spasms from the way he was twisted attempting to make that tackle last night,” Jackson said. “We don’t think he’ll miss much time, if any.”
• Safety Damarious Randall was scratched from the lineup when his knee locked up during pregame warmups. During the conference call, Jackson said the decision to not play Randall was precautionary and that Randall
should return to practice on Aug. 25.
• The only report causing mild concern was a hip injury to rookie outside linebacker Genard Avery. There is no timetable for Avery’s return, but Jackson is not ruling Avery out for the season opener Sept. 9 with Pittsburgh.
“I’m not going to say it’s in doubt,” Jackson said. “I don’t have a timetable for sure, but he’s going to be down a little bit. The hip situation is something we have to make sure we really take care of so we don’t have a reoccurrence.”
Avery, a fifth-round draft pick from the University of Memphis, has been a bright spot this summer.
“You see his tenacity,” Jackson said. “He’s a very relentless player. I’ve seen that over the last couple of weeks. His first week playing was against Buffalo.
He played again last night. I just see glimpses of a young player who is going to be able to help contribute to our football team in his rookie year.
“How much he contributes will correspond with how much he can handle as we go throughout the year. I really like the makeup of the young man. I think that football is very important to him.”
Avery stripped the ball from Eagles quarterback Nick Foles late in the first quarter. Emmanuel Ogbah recovered it. The play led to a 54-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez.
• Rookie wide receiver Antonio Callaway missed the game with the Eagles with a groin injury but will return to practice this week, Jackson said.
• Wide receiver Josh Gordon is getting closer to
practicing. He returned to the Browns on Aug. 18 after missing more than three weeks of training camp as part of his treatment plan to continue his sobriety.
“Josh Gordon is going to go into the second phase of the process that we have him on,” Jackson said. “He will definitely be involved in walk-throughs. I am going to see where we are as far as practice is concerned — I’m not sure yet. I haven’t seen him today myself, personally — before we put him out there. How much he does will be in proportion of what I see and where he is.”
Jackson earlier said Gordon might play against the Lions on Aug. 30 in Detroit in the final preseason game. He said on the Aug. 24 conference call he is undecided whether the starters will play against the Lions.