Star Browns Defender Carted Off in ‘Obvious Pain’ During Practice

The Cleveland Browns have returned to Berea, OH, for training camp practice after spending the last week at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. 

Cleveland has done an adequate job of not getting hit by the injury bug, but they’ve had a few scares lately. 

Late last week, veteran running back D’Onta Foreman was carted off the field after taking a blow to the head and experiencing neck pain. However, the 28-year-old running back was released from the hospital and watched practice on Sunday.

On Monday, the Browns saw another player getting carted off the field, but this time it was on the other side of the ball. Zac Jackson of The Athletic reported that defensive end Za’Darius Smith got a cart ride to the locker room, but was in obvious pain.

The Browns haven’t released any new information about Smith’s ailment, but they hope it is nothing serious as they just got Myles Garrett back. The 31-year-old Smith re-signed with the Browns on a two-year, $23 million deal in the offseason.

In his first season with the Browns, Smith had 27 combined tackles, 20 quarterback hits, eight tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks. 

The veteran pass rusher failed to reach double-digit sacks for the first time since 2021, but he still found a way to wreak havoc in the opposing team's backfield. Nonetheless, the Browns will hope Smith can reach 10 sacks this season because it means Garrett is getting double-teamed on the other end, leaving Smith with one-on-one matchups.

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