Cleveland, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – To say that the Browns are disappointed the NFL denied their request to allow Kareem Hunt access to their facilities and staff during his suspension is an understatement.
But there’s nothing they can do about it now.
“It’s not our job to really be comfortable with it or not, that’s just what they’ve said that he could do, or couldn’t do, rather,” head coach Freddie Kitchens said Friday afternoon. “Of course, we would like him here, we feel like we offer the best support for him. He’s comfortable with being here, he trusts us here, things like that.
“We’ll develop a plan for him.”
Complicating the situation is the fact that Hunt underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia and he won’t be able to have access to the team’s training staff or facilities.
Kitchens was unaware if the league was aware of Hunt’s medical situation prior to handing down their decision to enforce the ban. The league office has not responded to emails seeking comment on the matter.
“I don’t know what information they had and what they didn’t have,” Kitchens said. “I know we just found out about it this week. So I don’t really know at what point in time they made their decision.”
Hunt is expected to be healthy by the time he is eligible to play Nov. 10 against Buffalo.
“The rehab’s 4 to 6 weeks and he’s got 10 weeks until he’s back with us and he’ll be ready to go then,” Kitchens said.
Good to go – Newly acquired guard Wyatt Teller passed his physical Friday, completing the trade agreed to Thursday with the Buffalo Bills.
“Anytime he goes in the game, he brings a toughness to it, I think he plays with good technique most of the time and I think he gives us some depth at the position in the short term,” Kitchens said.
It’s been presumed that Teller could take over at right guard quickly and Kitchens didn’t close the door on the possibility of bumping Eric Kush Week 1 against Tennessee for Teller.
“Eric is our right guard as we speak, but we haven’t even had Wyatt on the field yet,” Kitchens said. “My first inkling would be to say yes, but we haven’t seen [Teller] on the field yet. We still have four practices to get through. We will see where it all goes.”
Trade winds – Thursday’s trade with Buffalo might not be the last prior to the cut deadline, which is 4 p.m. eastern Saturday.
With the Browns no longer holding premiere waiver wire priority, Dorsey could be inclined to trade for players on the bubble rather than hoping to get them through waiver claims.
“I would say that it is no different than any other time during the course of the year,” Kitchens said. “I think John and the organization has shown the innate ability to kind of stay ahead of the curve on things that we really wanted. I don’t think it is any different. If there is a player out there that we feel like we definitely need, we will go get him.”
Close call – Rookie tackle Drew Forbes appears to have avoided a serious knee injury after his left leg got bent and rolled up on in the second quarter Thursday night against the Lions.
“We haven’t gotten a length of time [he’ll be out] back yet,” Kitchens said. “But it’s a minor knee issue.”
As Kitchens and GM John Dorsey plot out the roster, there’s a chance they could put Forbes on injured reserve, freeing up a roster spot. Teams are permitted to designate up to two players to return from IR but they don’t have to make that designation until the player is close to being able to practice.
