New Browns LB Jordan Hicks has football 'put into perspective' through very rare injury

Jordan Hicks would be the first to admit that injuries haven't been something he's completely avoided during his NFL career. The newly signed Browns linebacker even missed out on playing in a Super Bowl because of an Achilles injury.

However, what Hicks dealt with last season while with the Minnesota Vikings was something even he couldn't believe.

"I mean, I've had my fair share of injuries throughout the years and have been able to bounce back," Hicks said during an introductory Zoom call Thursday. "Last year, I had compartment syndrome, which can be very serious. I got emergency surgery, basically to relieve the pressure in my shin. When I woke up on the table, I was told by the doctor it was a good thing we cut it open because I could have lost my leg, at the worst."

Compartment syndrome, according to Cleveland Clinic, occurs when there's too much pressure built up around the muscle, which leads to a restriction of blood, oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and nerves. It's rare with, according to the hospital, fewer than 10 in every 100,000 people in the United States being affected.

The compartment syndrome was caused when Hicks suffered a leg contusion during a Week 10 win over the New Orleans Saints in November. Despite having the surgery, he only missed four games, returning for the final three games of the Vikings' season.

"It's like, OK, you could have had muscle damage, you could've had nerve damage, you could have had a whole list of things on top of that," Hicks said. "So everything went exactly the way you could ever hope for it.

"But being a veteran in this league and seeing a lot of injuries, this is the first time I've ever seen that one firsthand. And so things definitely get put into perspective."

That perspective included taking stock of his own NFL career. The 31-year-old Hicks will be entering his 10th season since being a third-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Eagles out of the University of Texas in 2015.

The West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West High School product's career started with four injury-plagued seasons with the Eagles, where he played for Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz over the final seasons. He played in just 43 out of a possible 64 regular-season with Philadelphia, including missing out on its Super Bowl victory during the 2017 season.

Hicks' career took him from Philadelphia to the Arizona Cardinals for three seasons, then to Minnesota for the last two. Over those last two stops, he didn't miss a single regular-season game until he suffered the leg contusion against the Saints.

"I've got three children," Hicks said. "I got a wife, I got a family, that if something would have gone south — you think about those thoughts of, like, man, that never would have imagined, right? And so count your blessings. It puts things into perspective of how lucky you are every time you step out there on the field to be able to play the game that so many people love to watch and find enjoyment in and that we find enjoyment in. We wouldn't be able to play this game if we didn't."

Hicks played every defensive snap on his very first game back from the injury. Over those 79 snaps in a 30-24 loss to the Detroit Lions, he had nine total tackles, one quarterback hit and one pass defensed.

The snap counts were slightly less over the final two games, down to just 89% (66 snaps) in Week 17 and 79% (45 snaps) in the season finale. He had 11 total tackles combined in those games, the final two losses in a season-ending four-game losing streak that cost the Vikings a shot at an NFC wild card spot.

While the losing streak cost Hicks a chance to play in the postseason for the third consecutive season — and fourth time in the last six seasons — being able to get back out on the field gave him a completely different opportunity.

"For me, there was a lot of opportunity to show the amount of grit and the amount of fight that I try to instill in my kids and my family through that injury and was able to get back," Hicks said. "I was up running around in a couple of weeks and was able to get back on the field for the last three games of the season, even going through that.

"So a lot of learning, a lot of perspective, but hopefully was able to navigate that the right way."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns' LB Jordan Hicks gains more 'perspective' after rare injury