CLEVELAND -- High ankle sprains have become a dreaded injury in the National Football League, as it has hampered many a good season for high-caliber players, like Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who missed the first four games of his career last year with one.
But Browns center JC Tretter is determined to play through the high ankle sprain he suffered in last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers when Cleveland travels to Tampa, Florida for an inter-conference matchup with the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium Sunday.
“I feel confident going out there and running around,” Tretter said Thursday. “We will tape it up and we will see what it feels like, and we will make a good decision. I still feel confident about playing on Sunday. I played with it during the game for the rest of it, and it feels better than it did at that point. I feel confident.”
Since last Sunday’s 38-14 loss to the Chargers, Tretter has been working his way around the team’s Berea training facility in a walking boot, all in an effort to get the injured leg the support necessary for it to be as good as it can be ahead of this week’s game at the Buccaneers.
“Just trying to get as protected as possible and not have any wear and tear on it,” Tretter said. “I rested (Wednesday) and (Thursday). I will do something (Friday), and then, we will kind of adjust and see where I am at and how it feels. We have just been rehabbing it, doing everything that we can do in the training room to get it prepared, and then, we will test it.”
Even though Tretter expects to play against the Buccaneers, where a win will help the Browns even things up between the win and loss columns in the first half of the 2018 regular season, he knows more treatment will be necessary to remain in the starting lineup for the foreseeable future.
“I would not be surprised if I was in the boot after the game, too,” Tretter said. “I think it is one of those things that is going to linger probably for little bit.
“Just about trying to get it as right in the seven days that you have to get it ready for Sunday, and then, do the exact same thing the next week. That is just kind of how this business works with a little bit of a tweak here and there.”
Should Tretter be unable to go, the Browns will count on rookie offensive lineman Austin Corbett, whom they selected with the No. 33 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, to start each play.
A tackle at the University of Nevada, Corbett projected as an interior lineman through the pre-draft process and spent nearly all of training camp working at guard.
“I enjoy the challenge of getting everyone right because it is on me to make sure we are on the same page,” Corbett said.
“Joel (Bitonio) and Kevin (Zeitler) are there to check in if I do anything wrong, but I want to make sure we are playing as fast as we can and everyone is on the same page because once we do that, we have a really good front. I am excited, and you just never know with this opportunity. Have to be ready.”
Stream Live with fuboTV -Try Free Trial
