JOK: ‘Surgery was an option’ for injured foot

Cleveland Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s second season in the NFL ended with him watching from the sidelines.

Owusu-Koramoah suffered a Lisfranc injury during the Week 14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and landed on the injured reserve list for the final four games of the season.

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It was a disappointing end to a rocky 2022 season for JOK, as his play did not always match what he showed during his rookie season, at least in the eyes of Pro Football Focus, as he dropped from the analytics site’s No. 9 ranked linebacker in 2021 down to No. 40 last year as he was not particularly strong in any category.

On Monday, Owusu-Koramoah revealed that while surgery on his foot was an option during the offseason, he opted to let the injury heal naturally, according to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot:

“(I) spent a lot of time in the offseason, eating the right things, doing the right things, whether it’s stretching, yoga, taking the right supplements to be able to ensure the foot’s health. So it’s going well. Surgery was obviously presented as an option. I wanted to more so naturally, kind of heal my foot. I just thought, personally, it was a personal decision. It wasn’t like I saw anything better on this side or not better on that side. It was more so just a personal preference.”

Even though last season did not go as planned, the Browns were still pleased with what they saw from Owusu-Koramoah and linebackers coach Jason Tarver explained in December that the team needs JOK to focus on building his body to hold up for a full season.

Owusu-Koramoah heard the message and added some mass during the offseason and said he now has to focus on keeping his weight up during the season (quote via cleveland.com):

“It’s just about keeping that consistently throughout the season and making sure that I’m eating the right things. With my diet, it’s a little bit different. I can’t take three days off, two days off with not eating the right things. So I have to be a little bit more conscientious of exactly what I’m putting my body and the things I’m taking.”

The Browns dealt with numerous injuries at the linebacker position last season, as in addition to JOK they lost Anthony Walker Jr., Sione Takitaki and Jacob Phillips to season-ending injured reserve. So it is good news that Owusu-Koramoah is back healthy, stronger and ready to go.