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The Cleveland Browns received some very good news in regard to two injured starters on Friday.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor and cornerback Denzel Ward, who both left Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, should not miss any significant time, head coach Hue Jackson told clevelandbrowns.com:
“Tyrod (Taylor) had a dislocated pinkie. But obviously, they were able to get that back into place. Real quickly, it takes 15 seconds to do that. He has a bruised hand. He is sore, but he is going to be fine. Denzel Ward, he has some back spasms from the way that he was twisted by attempting to make that tackle last night. We do not think that he will miss much time, if any.”
That is a relief, as Taylor looked to be in bad shape after landing awkwardly on his left wrist during a fourth-down play in the first quarter. The fact that he walked away with a dislocated pinkie rather than a broken wrist is kind of amazing.
Similarly Ward looked to be in some major discomfort after twisting his back during a tackle in the first quarter.
The news was not so good for rookie linebacker Genard Avery, as it appears is going to be out with what Jackson described as a hip injury. Avery, a fifth-round selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, has been one of the fun players to watch during training camp and the preseason.
He made the most of his time against the Eagles, forcing a fumble on a strip sack of Philadelphia quarterback Nick Foles.
Plays like that have caught the attention of the coaching staff, according to Jackson:
“Obviously, he did a tremendous job last night of rushing the passer and being in the right spot to make plays. You see his tenacity. He is relentless – he is a very relentless player. 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.”
While Jackson did not go into detail about the nature of Avery’s injury, he did say that Avery will be “down for a bit.”