Injury bug biting Browns wide receivers

It was a rough opening week of training camp for the Cleveland Browns wide receivers.

Things got off to a bad start when rookies reported to Berea and the news came out that wide receiver David Bell was being placed on the active/physically unable to perform (PUP) list with a foot injury.

Bell’s injury happened at some point near the end of the team’s offseason program and is still bothering him, but head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Wednesday that Bell will “ultimately be OK.”

On Thursday, second-year wide receiver Anthony Schwartz left practice with an injury to his left knee. While it appears that Schwartz avoided anything serious, he is still listed as day-to-day and will be “ready for the season,” according to Stefanski.

The situation did not get any better on Saturday as rookie wide receiver Isaiah Weston had to leave the field on a cart after suffering a knee injury. According to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, the Browns are hoping it is a meniscus injury rather than a torn ACL for Weston.

No matter the extent of the injury, it is a bad break for Weston as he was getting much-needed extra practice reps with Bell and Schwartz on the sidelines.

While you never want to see injuries hit any player or position group, the Browns are just three days into training camp so there is time for things to settle down before the start of the regular season. It also presents an opportunity for other players to get additional practice reps, like wide receiver Jakeem Grant, who reportedly had a few “impressive catches” in the middle of the field the past two days of practice, according to clevelandbrowns.com.

The Browns do not practice on Sunday, so the wide receivers should be safe from injury for the day before everyone gets back to work on Monday.

Hopefully, things take a turn for the better as the team heads into the second week of training camp.