There was some bad news coming out of Berea on Sunday not related to the Browns first win of the season over the Bills. There is a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that James Davis was injured over two weeks ago in practice while not wearing pads. This was a re-aggravation of the shoulder injury he suffered in week one against the Vikings. The injury sustained in practice led to a torn labrum and a trip to the IR ending Davis’ season.
Schefter is citing witnesses at the practice who described the injury as a result of a post-practice drill in which Davis was not wearing shoulder pads. Unfortunately, the defenders in the drill were wearing shoulder pads. The details and specifics of the drill and the injury are in dispute but it is clear that Eric Mangini and the Browns are burning more bridges with the NFLPA.
Schefter cited the witness accounts which have been swirling around the league for the past two weeks:
Each repeated the same details. Davis was injured during a pass blocking drill in what Cleveland calls a post-practice ‘opportunity period’ when a Browns linebacker in pads ‘got frisky’ and ‘trucked’ Davis, who was not in pads.”
Schefter cited a high-ranking source in the NFLPA who was not happy:
This is an outrage. We have a no-pads rule for offseason activities. We’ve never seen a need to have a rule that if some guy has on pads, he can’t take on a guy without pads. The commissioner’s office needs to look into this.”
The Clemson product is also reportedly hesitant to file a grievance against the club for fear of ruffling feathers in Berea and losing his job. The NFLPA would likely need his assistance to go forward to file a grievance against the Browns.
This conjures up images of Braylon Edwards being injured while running without shoes on. It seems like these completely avoidable freak injuries only happen in Berea. This is a different scenario obviously, where the Browns may have some culpability as opposed to a player acting stupidly on his own. It is just another frustrating occurrence which could have been avoided. The details still remain in dispute and Browns spokesmen are vigorously denying the report and calling the witness accounts “not true.”
