Howard Wilson’s injury reportedly not as serious as expected

The Cleveland Browns and cornerback Howard Wilson may have received some good news as Wilson’s knee injury may not be as severe as it first seemed.

The Cleveland Browns were dealt a blow last weekend with cornerback Howard Wilson went down with a fractured kneecap on the opening day of Rookie Minicamp.

At the time the fear was the Wilson would miss a significant portion – if not all of – the upcoming season.

Now the prognosis looks a bit better for Wilson and the Browns, however, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport sent out a Tweet saying that the injury may not be so severe:

A 12- to 16-week recovery period would take Wilson to Sept. 7 (for the full 16 weeks), meaning he could be eligible to resume practicing just days before the Browns open the regular season by hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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That is good news, obviously, as the Browns need all the help they can get in the secondary. But it is also premature to say that Wilson will see the field this fall.

The lengthy recovery period means that Wilson will miss valuable practice time in training camp and game action in the preseason. For a veteran it might be easier to come off an injury and quickly work their way back into the lineup. That scenario is going to be very different and very difficult for a rookie to pull off, however.

It seems more likely that Wilson will open the season on one of the league’s various injury lists with the Browns holding the option of activating him at some point during the season. If one of the current defensive backs is injured in the opening weeks of the season, or someone struggles to get the job done, there may be an opportunity for Wilson to get on the field once he gets his game back up to speed.

If not, it will be disappointing but not the end of the world. Even if he had not been injured, Wilson may have been in a fight for playing time, and that was before the Browns added veteran cornerback Jason McCourty to the mix.

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Still, if Rapoport’s intel is legitimate, it is good news for the Browns and for Wilson, which is becoming quite the theme for the franchise this offseason.