BEREA, Ohio — Linebacker Mack Wilson is coming back from a knee injury he suffered five weeks ago. Cornerback Greedy Williams is coming back from a shoulder injury he suffered four weeks ago.
That’s our update from the Browns’ training room and the department of standard football stuff.
Then there’s cornerback Kevin Johnson, who was also back at practice Monday, five weeks after being hospitalized with a lacerated liver. That’s not standard football stuff. That’s super-scary stuff.
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“I just was hoping for the best,” Johnson told reporters Monday. “I was hoping that I was not going to have to get surgery and hoping that it was not too serious. I was really upset when I heard (I had a lacerated liver), just because it sounded kind of bad. I am definitely excited that this has passed, and I feel good.”
What Browns coach Kevin Stefanski called a “freak” injury occurred on what all involved believed to be a normal training-camp play. Johnson was lunging and leaping, as he often does, in an attempt to break up a pass intended for rookie tight end Harrison Bryant.
“It was definitely an unusual situation,” Johnson said. “We were both extended in the air. We twisted up in the air, and he kind of just landed right on top of me, onto my ribs. When the injury happened, I just thought that I got the wind knocked out of me really, really bad, but then it felt a little bit different than that. I have had the wind knocked out of me plenty of times in my career, so it just felt a little different from that.”
In the minutes and hours that followed, Johnson said he “was just very uncomfortable. … Like I said, I could not really breathe. It was kind of a long time where I was just trying to get my breath back to normal. My stomach felt full. I felt like I had drank a lot of water or something like that. I was just like, ‘Yeah, something is going on inside of my body.’
“I thought I cracked my rib or something, which I had never done before. I just felt something was a little off.”
Johnson spent two nights in a Cleveland hospital, but he was back with the Browns five days after the injury occurred. Prior to Monday, he had essentially been a spectator during practice and has been rehabbing with the hope of being cleared in time to play Sunday against the Washington Football Team. Johnson said doctors have assured him he needs no extra padding and is in no danger of aggravating his initial injury.
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Five days after Johnson’s injury, Williams injured his shoulder in practice. That was the same day rookie safety Grant Delpit suffered a torn Achilles and cornerback M.J. Stewart suffered a hamstring injury, and the Browns’ lack of secondary depth was immediately exposed. With Johnson and Williams out, the Browns had to play Tavierre Thomas as their slot cornerback in their first two games. Thomas, who has been mostly a special-teams player, played just three defensive snaps in all of 2019.
It has been rather obvious that the Browns went from a proven player and a former first-round pick at slot corner to searching for answers. The Bengals repeatedly targeted Thomas in last Thursday’s game as Joe Burrow racked up an NFL rookie record 61 pass attempts. The Browns rank 28th in passing yards allowed at this early stage of the season, but they’re ninth in yards allowed per completion. In Week 1, their defense was beaten on every level by Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. This past week, the 7.7 yards allowed per completion was the lowest allowed in the league through Sunday’s games. It’s clear that the quick passing game has been in the opposition’s plans, so the Browns will welcome back Wilson, Williams and Johnson.
Before the injury, Johnson was standing out every day in camp by breaking up passes and generally showing up around the play. Though he was generally in the slot-cornerback role, he occasionally moved outside to cover Odell Beckham Jr.
“I think we all saw (Johnson’s play) prior to his injury,” Stefanski said. “He is a savvy player, and he is not very old, but he has some reps, you know he has some pelts on the wall. So, I think he was able to make some plays, and we will be excited when we do get him back out there.”
Going back to Johnson’s signing in March, he always seemed pegged for the slot but is also comfortable in the kind of super-utility role he played for the Bills last year. Pro Football Focus graded Johnson as playing in the slot on about 40 percent of his snaps for the Bills, with whom he made one start and played in just over 50 percent of the total defensive snaps. For his career, the 2015 first-round pick of the Texans has started 19 of 51 games.
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Assuming all goes well in practice this week, he could start Sunday in his Browns debut. This week’s opponent, Washington, has utilized three wide receivers on 59 percent of its plays through two games, so it’s a good week for Cleveland to be getting two of its top three cornerbacks back.
“Kevin is an aggressive corner,” Williams said. “He will attack the ball. He has quick footwork. He’s a small guy, but he plays like a big guy. He’s willing to make tackles. He’s a playmaker.”
Johnson played in just 19 games from 2016-18, his final three years with the Texans. Bad luck with injuries derailed his career in Houston, so in a way, he’s used to this.
Just not this.
“It’s such a random injury,” Johnson said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I lacerated my liver?’ I was pissed off more than anything. As time went on, I was realizing that it was not too bad and I was healing pretty quick. I was pretty excited about that, and I was looking forward to it getting better.
“I’m excited to be back. I feel blessed to be back and healthy. I’m so excited to be back with this team and going to work.”
(Photo courtesy of the Cleveland Browns)