Perhaps no other team has more eyes on them heading into the 2019 regular season than the Cleveland Browns after an offseason in which they added marquee stars on both sides of the ball. Of course, second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield will have to serve as the engine for such a star-studded team but he’s far from the sole talent in Cleveland’s backfield.
Cleveland has Nick Chubb coming back for his sophomore season after an impressive rookie campaign, but people tend to forget they also added pro-bowler Kareem Hunt in February. However, Hunt has a few hurdles to jump before he can touch the field for Cleveland. Hunt has an eight-game suspension to first complete for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, but even before that, Hunt will have to recover from a major medical operation. The team announced on Twitter that Hunt underwent sports hernia surgery with an expected recovery timetable of 4-6 weeks.
RB Kareem Hunt will not play in tonight’s preseason finale against the Detroit Lions. Hunt underwent surgery this morning to repair a sports hernia injury. A full recovery is anticipated prior to his return to action in Week 10 of the regular season.
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) August 29, 2019
It’s a 4-6 week recovery for Kareem Hunt, so plenty of time. https://t.co/j8HGRvJQgL
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 29, 2019
With his current timeframe, Kareem Hunt should have plenty of time to get back into the swing of things before he’s activated in Week 10. Even upon his return, Hunt may be forced to play a complementary role to the blossoming Chubb despite his all-pro resume.
Hunt was absolutely dynamic with the Chiefs in his first two seasons, tallying 1,327 yards and 8 touchdowns his rookie season. Hunt was on pace to produce similar numbers again last season but wasn’t able to with his campaign being cut short after he was waived by Kansas City.
Now Hunt will get a second chance that many players who have been involved with domestic abuse don’t always get. The Browns have tons of attention geared towards them after adding the likes of Hunt along with Odell Beckham Jr and Olivier Vernon this offseason. It’ll be intriguing to see how Hunt fits with the rest of this talented Browns’ offense upon his return two months into the regular season.
