For the second day in a row, a member of the Cleveland Browns went down with what could be a significant injury. On Tuesday, starting linebacker Mack Wilson was carted off the field and suffered a significant hyperextended knee, according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network. He will be missing some time due to the injury but will need to undergo further evaluation before a recovery timeframe can be established. According to Ian Rapoport, all options are on the table at this point in time, including season-ending surgery.
Wilson was drafted by the Browns in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The University of Alabama product played in all 16 games during his rookie season with 14 starts, and recorded 82 combined tackles, one sack, seven passes defensed, one forced fumble and one interception. He was a player Cleveland was excited for entering 2020, although he recently drew the ire of the Browns fan base.
Just one day before he suffered his knee injury, Wilson delivered a hard hit to running back Nick Chubb in practice. The Pro Bowl running back was placed into the concussion protocol on Tuesday, and would be sidelined for the immediate future. Tight end David Njoku was one of the Browns' offensive players who approached Wilson on Monday, saying that the hit "wasn't right and no one condones that behavior," according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
Wilson defended his hit on Chubb via social media later that night, saying that he did not have any bad intentions when making a play on his teammate.
"I just practice with a lot of passion," Wilson wrote via Twitter. "My intentions is to never hurt anyone on my team nor any other player I'm going up against. We good though keep the negative comments to yourself."
Now, Wilson will join Chubb on the sidelines as the Browns continue to prepare for the 2020 season. Like with Chubb's situation, Cleveland hopes that Wilson will return sooner rather than later and not require season-ending surgery.
