Jack Conklin has had a rough run of injuries but the Cleveland Browns veteran right tackle is ready to return.
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Conklin took to social media with a rare message that gave insight into his situation. He also channeled his teammate, Nick Chubb, who is also returning from a season-ending knee injury.
“Nothing is easy after an injury especially multiple,” Conklin wrote. “I could never have made it thru with out my wife [Caitlyn Conklin] she is my rock. I talked to [Nick Chubb] and there may be one dark knight but the first person to rise from the pit was bane! #Imback.”
Conklin sustained a torn ACL and MCL in Week 1 last season, knocking him out for the year. He was limited to just seven games in 2021 after rupturing his right patellar tendon.
Conklin signed a four-year extension with the Browns at the end of the 2022 season, linking him to Cleveland through 2026. He’ll be 32 when the contract ends.
Browns Have Decision to Make With Jack Conklin
The Browns have a good problem at the tackle position with three starting-caliber players. Former first-round pick Jedrick Wills, second-year big man Dawand Jones and Conklin will compete for the starting spots. All three went down with season-ending injuries last season.
Wills, heading into a contract year, is pretty locked in at left tackle. Although his consistency has left something to be desired, the Browns have praised Wills for his growth.
“As you go back and watch a lot of the tape over and over, he’s doing a nice job in the run game and the pass game. He’s winning his one-on-one matchups,” Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters in March, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “Never perfect because it’s hard to be perfect as a left tackle in this game. But he played well. I really think if he stays healthy, the trajectory continues to ascend.”
Jones filled in for Conklin after his injury and made a strong case to be the permenant starter. There’s a chance that Conklin could lose his starting spot to Jones when the season opens.
“I think Jed Wills Jr. will start the season at left tackle, and Dawand Jones will start on the right side in part because I think Jack Conklin will need a little more time to recover from his torn ACL and MCL,” Cabot said on June 22. “Once Conklin is fully healthy, I think the Browns might keep Wills and Jones in their starting spots as long as they’re playing well so as not to disrupt the timing and chemistry of the line.”
Conklin counts $10 million against the cap this year but nearly $20 million for the next two seasons. If the Browns feel like they have a surefire option in Jones, Conklin could potentially be a trade piece.
Browns RB Nick Chubb Ahead of Schedule in Recovery
As Conklin noted, Chubb is also rebounding from knee surgery. He went down in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Chubb has been working hard to get back on the field but a timeline is still uncertain. However, a recent video of Chubb training provided some evidence that he could be ready to go early in the year.
“I even had to ask him, ‘Which knee was it again?’” Chubb’s trainer Brad Lester told Cleveland.com. “He said ‘the left one.’ I said, ‘That’s good that I can’t even tell.’ He’s way ahead of schedule in my opinion.”
Chubb and the Browns agreed to a restructured contract this offseason. The move chopped down Chubb’s base salary of around $12 million to $2.275 million, converting much of that into incentives.
J.R. DeGroote covers the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com. He graduated from Arizona State and has decades of experience in digital media with previous stops at SBNation and Bleacher Report. He has won multiple state, regional and national honors for sports reporting and photography. More about J.R. DeGroote
