JC Tretter returns to practice for the Browns

Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter returned to practice on Monday as the Browns start preparation for the season-opening game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Tretter had been sideline all of training camp after undergoing a “minor procedure” on his knee to clean out loose bodies that had been causing him discomfort.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski was understandably relieved to see one of the game’s best centers back on the practice field, as he told Nate Ulrich of The Beacon Journal:

“It was good to have JC back out there. I’m not going to get [into] the extent to which he was back out there. We’ll deal with that Wednesday [when the first injury report is released]. It was good to have him out there in pads.

“JC is a veteran. He’s seen a lot of football. I think there’s value in that. He’s a leader of the football team. So it was really good to have him out there today.”

As Stefanski pointed out, practicing on Monday for the first time in months is different than lining up to play on Sunday, but if he is capable it would not be a surprise to see Tretter on the field against the Ravens.

The bright side to Tretter’s injury is that rookie Nick Harris, the team’s fifth-round draft selection out of Washington, was able to spend training camp gaining valuable reps with the first-team offense.

That will prove handy if it turns out that Tretter can’t go against Baltimore, especially given that the Browns have their second game just four days later when they host the Cincinnati Bengals on September 17.