Braylon Edwards’ Unspecified Injury Explained
If you’ve been following the news out of Berea (what little there is) you probably already know about Phil Dawson’s participation and Jamal Lewis’ return to the field. Mary Kay Cabot reported today that Browns’ WR Braylon Edwards was held out of practice yesterday because he was recovering from an ‘unspecified injury’. The injury, while not believed to be serious, was enough to keep him on the stationary bike for organized activities. Cabot’s piece included the story about Edwards taking batting practice with the Tribe, and also included a quote from a source close to Edwards that “his major-league dalliance has nothing to do with his absence from the football field.” That is true. But careful followers of WFNY know where he was injured.
Go back and read through Scott’s Tuesday piece on the star receiver and find this tucked away in the comments:
So he may be in great mental condition BUT 2 weeks ago he was at EMH in Avon playing some basketball and twisted his ankle, it may just be a precaution but he was then at the movie theater on Saturday in an air cast when I saw him so yet another little injury for him….. He was a really nice dude but it just pissed me off he twisted his ankle in a pickup game when we are paying him millions, wear ankle braces or something!!
The Browns refused to comment on this or any injury, but sources close to the team describe it as accurate.
(UPDATE: We’ve spoken with John, who was working out at the EMH when Edwards was injured. He stands by his story that Edwards was injured playing basketball and later was seen with a “gray air-cast boot” on his ankle.)
It doesn’t sound like a serious injury, and certainly there is plenty of time for Braylon to heal. But it doesn’t surprise us that the Browns would be interested in keeping this injury quiet. Fans may not be too excited to hear that Braylon was hurt playing around again.
Is there a provision in Braylon’s contract in regards to basketball? Should there be? You may remember Braylon’s participation in Curtis Granderson’s charity basketball event.
Look, Braylon is a world class athlete and you don’t really want to stop him from participating in athletic events, but there is such a thing as taking precautions. What fans want to see is Braylon making good decisions this season. That and a better catch to drop ratio.
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(Photo courtesy the OBR)
June 12th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Sometimes I wish he’d get a skydiving “injury.”
June 12th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
It’d be tough to trade him if that happend.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Simply put, this guy is not an NFL-caliber receiver. As much as people rag on him, I get the sense that most still think he can be an elite receiver; he cannot.
I don’t care if he is a world-class athlete, the primary skill for his position simply doesn’t come naturally to him.
Just like an athlete who is not very fast can do very little to improve his speed, a player who can’t catch a football naturally is never going to have that skill.
It would be like a guy who ran a 4.9 all of a sudden running a 4.4.
This guy is not a big-time, elite receiver, and he never will be.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
@ ELOCK – I thought the primary skill for his position is wearing gaudy coats and sunglasses. That seems to come quite naturally to him.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
@Denny and ELOCK
You guys are only saying this because he went to UM.
June 12th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
funny story cause in all seriousness… I actually know the dudes he was playin ball against, so I found out about this last week, and apparently Braylon isnt too bad on the court
June 12th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
six-feet plus… uber athletic… and he will not hesitate to throw it down on dana jacobson.
June 12th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
He will, however, hesitate to stop Buzz Bissinger from ripping Leitch a new one.
June 12th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
ah, the excellent and always timely reporting of WFNY. love it
June 12th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
@Clown Baby – lol
June 12th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
To me it’s not a big deal because he could’ve twisted it stepping off the curb or working out to prepare for the season, it happens. And if he would’ve broke it playing hoops we probably would’ve been able to gain some money back from him and he would’ve been out so it would’ve been like we traded him. What some people wanted right?
June 12th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I completely disagree with Elock saying he is not a NFL caliber WR. That statement is ludicrous. He may never be an elite top 5 guy, but not many are. And I disagree you cannot be taught to hang onto the ball. You can’t teach speed for the most part, but you can make a guy carry a ball with him everywhere he goes, to the shower, the toilet, to bed, in the car, etc. Those techniques have been done before to help people hang onto the ball. I think a lot of the early season struggles from the team in general got in his head and he stopped focusing as much as he should.
I am not a Braylon apologist. But I am also not an Ohio State honk who goes out of his way to rag on Braylon because he went to Michigan. I could care less what school he went to. I just want him to catch balls from Quinn and give us some offense.
June 12th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Confirmed on the ankle injury. My son’s friend was playing in the game when he got hurt at EMH. What a douche……
June 12th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
cedric benson played bball tonight in a charity event in austin….he went down with what looked like a really gnarly injury…
ended up just walking it off, but cmon guys..you are paid too much cash to be risking yourselves like the local YMCA guys
June 13th, 2009 at 12:17 am
@ jeff – I’d venture a guess and say about 5 guys a year are top 5 caliber.
I’m an “Ohio State honk”. Braylon is on the Browns now – I can take my “tOSU blinders” off, or whatever you want to call it. And you know what? Even then, I can tell he’s just not that good. Not going out of my way, it’s pretty obvious to me.
June 13th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Back of the envelope… Fitzgerald, Wayne, A Johnson, Moss and Steve Smith?
June 13th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Calvin Johnson, Jennings, Boldin?
June 13th, 2009 at 11:13 am
He’s getting smarter. At least he wasn’t playing barefoot.
June 13th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
@ 4 and 5, hahaha, as i sit here just rolling in laughter at my computer
June 16th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Maybe if he had a real QB like Carson Palmer throwing to him he would be an elite WR!
June 19th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
[...] helped clear up some confusion in the MSM about Braylon Edwards’ “undisclosed” [...]
July 29th, 2009 at 11:00 am
[...] encouraging. What is notencouraging is that when we reported during the Browns OTAs that Edwards injured his ankle playing basketball – an injury later confirmed by sources close to the team – we were also told that the injury was [...]
August 4th, 2009 at 11:01 am
[...] I do think that Braylon is still nursing his busted ankle. You know, the one he injured while playing basketball. Again. However, given the hard-hitting nature of the current minicamp coupled with the fact [...]