BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Browns linebacker Anthony Walker is headed to injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
The team made the announcement Friday.
Walker will miss at minimum the next three games.
“He's on IR for three weeks is the hope,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said following Friday’s practice.
Walker suffered the injury during Thursday’s practice and was added to the team’s injury report and listed as limited before they moved him to IR Friday.
Walker played 62 snaps – or 95% – and graded out at 59.6, ranked 29th out of 63 linebackers according to Pro Football Focus for Week 1 in a 33-29 loss to the Chiefs. He recorded a team-high nine tackles in the loss.
“He's a big part of what we do,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, schematically, Xs and Os, he's a big part of who we are, and he's a great leader. He's going to continue to lead, even though he's not playing. But he's going to support his teammates.”
Walker missed time during training camp due to a knee injury so the Browns should have little trouble adjusting to losing their defensive signal caller.
Malcolm Smith and Elijah Lee, who is expected to be elevated again from the practice squad on Saturday, are both candidates to take Walker’s snaps.
“We'll work through it,” Stefanski said, declining to say who will assume that role in Walker’s absence. “It's something that we've talked about and when we get to the game we'll see what we're going to do. But we have a plan obviously to rotate in some linebackers.”
