Middle linebacker Anthony Walker is making steady progress in Browns training camp after suffering a quadriceps tendon tear in a game with the Steelers on Sept. 23 last year.
Walker is in his third one-year contract with the Browns. It was an encouraging sign from the beginning when training camp began on July 22 in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., without Walker being placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list. The same goes for linebacker Sione Takitaki, whose 2022 season was cut short by a torn ACL.
Walker hasn’t participated in team practice yet, but he is involved with individual drills with an eye on the season opener Sept. 10 at FirstEnergy Stadium against the Bengals.
“Making great progression,” Walker told reporters. “I think every day has been better for me out there on the field. You can’t recreate football by doing rehab or by doing just training on the side. So I think for me, the last bit is actually getting out there and doing individual drills and then progressing to 7-on-7, then progressing to team period.
“I think I’m taking steps in the right direction. Still got weeks away till we play a game, a regular-season game, but just making good progression and moving at the pace that the trainers want me to move.”
Walker led the Browns with 113 tackles in 2021. Coach Kevin Stefanski also appreciates Walker’s leadership.
“Intangibles hard to describe, obviously, but his presence is felt really throughout the building, meeting rooms, weight room, on the field,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “He’s a pros pro, and just with his career and what he’s been able to accomplish and plays at a high level and then provides great leadership off the field.”
Walker definitely will not play in the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 3 in Canton and might not play in any of the preseason games.
• The Bengals on July 28 announced starting quarterback Joe Burrow will be out “weeks” with a right calf strain injury. Burrow was injured on a non-contact play as he sprinted to his right on July 27. He was already wearing a black sleeve on his lower right leg when the injury occurred.
“Several weeks is several weeks,” Coach Zac Taylor told reporters covering the Bengals training camp.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported Burrow is expected to be ready to face the Browns in the season opener.
