The Cleveland Browns just lost a key player for the entire 2023 season. Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Saturday that linebacker Jacob Phillips will miss the season due to torn pectoral. The injury happened when Phillips was playing in the Browns’ preseason game against the Washington Commanders. Stefanski said Phillips will need to have surgery on the injured pectoral.
“It’s the worst part of this game, seeing guys get injured and especially you see how hard they work,” Stefanski said, per ESPN. “So it hurts. I hurt for Jacob, and this is why we’re teammates and why we support each other.” Phillips played in only 20 games the last three seasons due to injuries. Last year, the 24-year-old was placed on injured after suffering a pectoral injury in Week 7. He entered training camp this year battling for a roster spot behind Anthony Walker and Sione Takitaki at inside linebacker.
Videos by PopCulture.com
In Phillips’ rookie season in 2020, he dealt with a knee injury and battled COVID-19, which led to him missing six games. And in 2021, Phillips missed the first 12 games of the year due to a knee injury. Earlier this year, Phillips spoke to the Akron Beacon Journal about dealing with multiple injuries to start his NFL career.
“I think mindset is everything,” Phillips said. “I feel like being able to keep an even keel head is the reason that we even get to this point of being in the NFL. So I think you take the ups with the downs and never get too high, never get too low and have a core principle and the man that you are and then everything else will roll with it.”
Phillips also talked about working with new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. “I actually met him the first day he came in and he’s a super cool dude,” Phillips said. “Super easy to talk to. He’s actually like his home base in Nashville. That’s where I’m from, so we got to speak on that a little bit. But I know he’s excited. He’s around the facility every day that I go. I just see him in the (cafeteria) or walking around. So, yeah, it’s super cool seeing him around and getting to meet him.” Phillips was selected by the Browns in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He played college football at LSU and was a member of the team that won the national title in 2019.
