Joel Bitonio plans to resume his Browns career in 2024 season despite injuries snowballing

BEREA — Arthroscopic knee surgery, back and oblique issues, plus a high-ankle sprain at the finish line.

In the 2023 season, Browns six-time Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio endured more physical pain and discomfort than he usually does.

However, the 32-year-old Bitonio has not reached the point where he considers retirement from football imminent.

“I want to play, and I want to show I can still play at a very elite level,” Bitonio said Sunday as the Browns cleaned out their lockers at team headquarters less than 24 hours after their season-ending 45-14 loss to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs.

“I still feel like I played well this year, but I think there's always more. You always want to push yourself to be at the top of your game, and I still feel good. I'm going to use this offseason to get my body right. But, yeah, I plan to be back.”

Bitonio exited the wild-card loss in Houston with 13:58 left in the second quarter and jogged to the locker room. The Browns listed him as questionable to return with the ankle injury, but he re-entered the action with 1:11 remaining before halftime. A day later, he wore a walking boot on his right leg while conducting a season wrap-up news conference.

“He's really the leader of the team,” Browns center Ethan Pocic said of Bitonio. “He fought through so much. You see him out there hobbling with a crazy bad ankle sprain [Saturday] still blocking people. The average player wouldn't have been able to do that.”

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski described Bitonio as “unbelievable” for returning against the AFC South champion Texans.

“He did not have to go back in that game with a high-ankle sprain and most people couldn’t and most people wouldn’t, and he was not going to let his guys down,” Stefanski said. “He battled to the end.

“He’ll rest up and heal up, but he’s the quintessential teammate. That’s what we’re talking about when you talk about the Cleveland Browns — guys that will do anything and everything they can for their teammate.”

Despite the camaraderie the Browns built during Stefanski's fourth season at the helm, they were blown out Saturday and finished 11-7, including 0-1 in the playoffs.

“The ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl, but I don't think it diminishes what these guys did being resilient this year and coming together,” Bitonio said. “I think the culture of this team and where we're at as a group of men that just like being around each other and want to win for the city of Cleveland, it's never been higher since I've been here.”

The Browns overcame a rash of injuries to key players to reach the postseason, and Bitonio's streak of 102 starts and 6,481 snaps in the regular season ended when he sat out an Oct. 15 win over the San Francisco 49ers while recovering from a knee scope.

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Bitonio returned the next week and became a fixture on the offensive line again until back spasms limited him to 11 of the offense's 69 snaps in a Dec. 17 win over the Chicago Bears. The high-ankle sprain cost him 11 snaps Saturday.

“It was honestly very frustrating for me this year,” said Bitonio, a 2014 second-round draft pick and the longest-tenured member of the Browns. “... Being hurt this year definitely took its toll.”

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Bitonio made his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl this season, though injuries were undoubtedly a factor in his streak of All-Pro selections ending. He was a first-team selection in each of the past two years.

“There's a lot of good left guards in this league,” Bitonio said, “so, if anything, it just drives [me].”

Bitonio is under contract through the 2025 season. The 2024 season will be his 11th in the NFL.

During the 2020 season, Bitonio missed Cleveland's wild-card win in Pittsburgh due to COVID-19, so one of the best Browns players of the expansion era is still seeking his first playoff victory.

Maybe next year.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio plans to play in 2024