Karl Joseph limited in Cleveland Browns practice

Cleveland Browns S Karl Joseph is limited as he returns from foot surgery

The Cleveland Browns were thrilled to land Karl Joseph in free agency, but they have yet to see him at 100 percent. Joesph took part in the team’s first practice and will be on the field again Sunday but he’s one of the players listed as a limited participant.

Joseph’s availability isn’t shocking by any means to the Browns as he was signed this offseason after having surgery on his foot. A sprain caused him to miss the final seven games of 2019 with the Raiders — who drafted him in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of West Virginia.

In his four seasons with Oakland, Joseph played in 49 games with 41 starts. He had 236 tackles, three sacks, 15 pass defenses, and four interceptions (one in each season). However, he spent the majority of 2018 and 2019 having to try and block out trade rumors that wouldn’t die.

For whatever reason, head coach Jon Gruden never truly warmed up to Joseph. The Raiders coach took over in 2018 and he sent off many of the former first-round picks from he previous regime and it seemed to be only a matter of time until he did the same with Joseph.

In the end, the safety simply finished his rookie deal and then hit the open market. Once that happened, Cleveland came in and signed him to a one-year deal which allowed them some financial flexibility but also gave him a shot to prove he deserves a more lucrative deal in 2021 free agency.

Joseph is expected to start alongside Grant Delpit and fellow veteran Andrew Sendejo is also expected to see a lot of action this season.