The Cleveland Browns are heading into a fundamentally important season in franchise history, as new owner Jimmy Haslam is ready to see what the team has, but as training camp approaches the team may be without one of its biggest starts in Trent Richardson.
According to Pro Football Talk, the first round running back will be out until at least August while dealing with a leg injury, as the team fears it could develop into a stress fracture. The report says that the team is giving him time to recover from the injury, but they are worried that he could be developing into an injury prone player. The team spent high picks on Richardson and quarterback Brandon Weeden and with new coach Rob Chudzinski in the fold, both players want to show what they can do heading into 2013.
Richardson said last week that he didn't want to become an injury prone back and now that the team is heading into the summer, the injury issue could be more serious. Last season Richardson rushed for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns while also making 51 receptions and he played well during his first season, running tough and hard through the tackles. He will miss the minicamp coming up in early June and with Richardson on the sidelines, there is a good chance that Montario Hardesty will be the number one option.
Richardson ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing touchdowns and had three 100-plaus yard games, including in back to back weeks against the Chargers and Ravens. This season Richardson is expected to be a big part of the offense and the team hopes his injury is not serious. The team also has issues on defense, as free agent Chris Owens is looking like he will command a starting position look at cornerback after coming over from the Falcons.
Last season the team ranked 24th in the league in rushing and went 5-11 and after bringing in Norv Turner and Chudzinski, the Browns are expecting improvements. From Will Burge of ESPNCleveland.com: "Breaking #Browns: Sources -Trent Richardson out til August. Team worried leg injury could develop into stress fracture. Story coming soon"