Cleveland Browns right tackle Jack Conklin suffers season-ending injury vs. Bengals
BEREA — The Browns received the bad news they expected Monday morning.
Right tackle Jack Conklin sustained a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee during Sunday's season-opening win over the Cincinnati Bengals, a league source confirmed to the Beacon Journal. The two-time Pro Bowler will be placed on season-ending injured reserve.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski did confirm Monday that Conklin had a "major injury" to his knee, but didn't specify the exact details. He also did confirm that he will require surgery and be out for the season.
"Very, very disappointed for Jack," Stefanski said on a Zoom call with the media. "Spent some time with him yesterday, spent some time with him today. He's a huge part of this team, and when he gets this surgery and when he's ready, he's going to be back in this building helping us because he's just, again, a big part of that offensive line room. You guys know how tight that room is just for this team, what he provides. So disappointed for him."
Dawand Jones tasked with starting at RT, facing Steelers' T.J. Watt
Rookie Dawand Jones came in for Conklin after the injury and played the final 52 offensive snaps in his spot. Jones, the fourth-round pick (No. 111 overall) out of Ohio State in April's draft, is expected to start at right tackle against the Pittsburgh Steelers next Monday night.
That means Jones will be tasked with lining up opposite of Steelers ultra-talented edge rusher T.J. Watt, who has 15 career sacks against Browns quarterbacks. Stefanski said that's just the reality of life in the NFL.
"There are no redshirts in the NFL, so you never know when that opportunity is going to come," he said. "It happened in the first half of the first game and you have to be ready. He will continue to get better, and then as it pertains to any matchup moving forward, it's the NFL, every week is going to be very difficult. Obviously, going into Pittsburgh is tough on every team that goes into that place. So we'll have a plan and we'll move forward."
Conklin sustained the injury with 12:13 remaining in the second quarter. On a second-and-11 play from the Browns 43, he was blocking when Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who was rushing from the opposite side, was pushed to the ground and rolled into the back of Conklin's leg.
The immediate reactions from not only Conklin, but his teammates and even Hendrickson, indicated the severity of the injury. The training staff almost immediately called for the cart to take the big tackle off the field.
Jack Conklin contract has his locked up with Browns through 2026
The injury is just the latest to plague Conklin, who signed a four-year, $60 million extension with the Browns right before last Christmas. It'll be the second time since he originally signed with the Browns in 2020 his season has been ended by a knee injury.
"It's hard to describe if you're not in the building every single day, the impact that guys like Jack have on your team," Stefanski said. "And it can be very, very subtle. It can be in meeting rooms. It can be in the weight room. It can be out on the practice field. So we'll miss him while he's getting healthy, but then we're going to need his butt back here to help."
After a Pro Bowl 2020 season, Conklin sustained a torn patellar tendon in a Week 12 game at Baltimore that cost him the remainder of that season. It was one of three injuries that season that limited him to just seven games played, having also injured his knee and his elbow.
Conklin was voted by his teammates as the Ed Block Courage Award winner last year after returning from the previous season's injury in Week 3 and starting in 14 games. He did not play in the first two games while he finished up rehabbing from the torn patellar, then missed the season finale due to an ankle injury.
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jack Conklin injury ends season for Browns tackle
