CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is working through a mid-foot sprain and will determine over the next few weeks if he needs surgery.
On injured reserve for the remainder of the season, Koramoah must decide over the next couple of weeks if he can let the foot heal on its own or have it surgically repaired. Depending on the extent of the sprain or tear and whether or not he needs surgery, Owusu-Koramoah could spend most of the offseason rehabbing and trying to make it back in time for training camp and the season.
If the injury proves to be a Lisfranc sprain or tear, he’ll be more likely to need surgery and could need nine months to a year to be fully recovered.
But as Kevin Stefanski noted this week, Owusu-Koramoah is still “working through all of that.”
Stefanski still sees plenty of upside for Owusu-Koramoah, who didn’t take the leap this season that the Browns expected, in part because of injuries. He missed two games with a knee injury and now the final four with the foot injury suffered late in the Bengals game.
“With JOK, still a young player,” Stefanski said Tuesday. “Played at a high level for us. Very productive making plays sideline to sideline and those type of things. Always has room to grow. I think he can continue to get better. I think there are areas that he can continue to improve. Disappointed in this case with this injury, but like a lot of guys, I know he will bounce back.”
After finished No. 10 among linebackers as a rookie last season with a 76.5 Pro Football Focus grade, Owusu-Koramoah finished his 11 games this season ranked No. 40 overall with a 64.2 mark. In tackling, he was 85th at 42.9.
“It was good,” defensive coordinator Joe Woods said of Owusu-Koramoah’s season. “There were obviously some ups and downs. When you’re not playing well defensively at times and when you’re not winning games, guys are trying to make plays were all you really have to do is do your job. I think for him just because he is so athletic and so dynamic, there were times where he tried to make some plays that he shouldn’t have that led to problems, but I felt like as we went through the season, he got better in terms of that.”
David Bell inactive for Ravens game
Bell, who suffered a toe issue before the Bengals game, thought he had resolved it and that it was behind him. He played in Cincinnati, catching all three of his targets for 27 yards.
But the toe flared up again and he received treatment on it that prevented him from practicing all week, and he’s inactive for today’s game, as expected.
It means fellow rookie Michael Woods II will get some targets this week, and Daylen Baldwin, called up from the practice squad Friday, could see some time. With Amari Cooper not 100 percent with his core muscle injury, Deshaun Watson will have to rely heavily again on Donovan Peoples-Jones (8-of-12 targets, 114 yards) and David Njoku (7-of-9 targets, 59 yards, one TD).
Jack Conklin a strong candidate to be back next season
Conklin said this week he wants to finish his career here, and the Browns are definitely open to bringing him back. His contract is up after this season, but the Browns will talk to him in the offseason about extending the contract.
“Cleveland will be my home forever,” he said this week. “So obviously I would like to be here for the rest of my career. We’ll see what happens and how that works out. This is the place I definitely wanna be. But how things work out, it will work or it won’t work. So we’ll see what happens when it comes to that. But right now I’m worried about these next four games and making the most of that and doing what I can to be a part of a win for this week.”
Conklin, who had surgery to repair a torn patella tendon a year ago, finished 15th in PFF grading among qualifying tackles.
Another year removed from the surgery, he should be even better next season.
Sione Takitaki too
The Browns will try to re-sign Takitaki, their third-round pick in 2019, despite the fact he suffered a torn ACL in Houston and underwent surgery.
Takitaki had an excellent season, and solidified the run defense, ranking 32nd among qualifying linebackers with a 67.8 PFF grade. Takitaki is PFF’s highest-graded Browns linebacker this season.
