Cleveland Browns receiver Amari Cooper feeling better after surgery on core muscle injury

BEREA — Browns receiver Amari Cooper continues to recover from surgery he had on a core muscle injury he sustained last December.

Speaking on the second day of the Browns' voluntary offseason program, Cooper acknowledged he underwent surgery for the injury in February. Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia conducted the surgery.

"It went well," Cooper said Tuesday. "The recovery went well. I'm like on the eighth week of it now, so I feel good. I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

The current phase of the offseason program in which the Browns are in is exclusively off-field work, such as meetings, strength and conditioning workouts and, for players like Cooper, rehab. The on-field work begins during the second phase of the program, which essentially starts in May.

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Cooper believes he'll be able to get on the field once the Browns transition to that part of the offseason. He spoke with confidence that it shouldn't impact the regular season.

"Yeah, I think I'll be doing both simultaneously," Cooper said. "I don't think I'm being held back from much right now. Obviously you don't just want to go out there and go full throttle, so obviously I'm going to be a little bit cautious, but at the same time I'm here to get working."

Cooper sustained the injury leading up to the Week 14 game at the Cincinnati Bengals. Despite not practicing that week, he not only played in that game, he didn't miss any of the Browns' final five games.

Even with the injury, Cooper posted a three-catch, 105-yard, three-touchdown performance in Week 17 at the Washington Commanders. He finished the season with 78 catches, 1,160 yards and nine touchdowns.

The injury coincided almost directly to when Deshaun Watson returned from his 11-game suspension in Week 13 against the Houston Texans. That was the only game Watson started in which Cooper wasn't dealing with the core muscle injury.

"Yeah, I mean it was very frustrating, but you know, just got to roll with the punches, I would say," Cooper said. "But that all that's behind me. I'm excited to get the work to build, to get better chemistry with Deshaun. It just continues to get better."

Kevin Stefanski said no update on Perrion Winfrey situation

The Browns still have very little public comment to say about second-year defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey, who was arrested last week in Texas for misdemeanor assault of his girlfriend. According to court documents in Harris County District Court, Winfrey is next scheduled to have a court date on June 1, which he doesn't have to appear.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski was asked about Winfrey's status Tuesday. He would neither confirm nor deny whether the 2022 fourth-round pick was in the facility.

"Yeah, I think, as you can imagine, I won't get into who's here on a day-to-day basis, that type of thing," Stefanski said. "It's a voluntary program with any of our players. Listen, I want them to be safe when they're not in this building. I want them to be making sure that they're following all rules outside of this building and making sure that they're being safe in the community. And in this particular instance, we will gather all the information that we need to and monitor it and that type of thing. But I'm not ready to go past that other than to tell you. Taking all of this in as we go."

Stefanski, though, did confirm that Winfrey remained on the team. However, considering some of the disciplinary issues the Browns had to deal with during his rookie season, the question of whether or not that will remain the case was a legitimate one.

Winfrey was suspended for the Week 2 home opener against the New York Jets due to a team issue. He also had an non-football head injury which cost him time in November.

Myles Garrett says toe 'most nagging' injury, not shoulder

Myles Garrett's 2022 season was a story of pain tolerance after he sustained injuries to his left shoulder and his right bicep in a late September single-car accident. Other than missing the next game, Oct. 2 at Atlanta, he played through the pain to tie his own single-season franchise sack record with 16 and earn All-Pro honors.

On top of those injuries, Garrett also sustained a dislocated big toe on his right foot was competing in the obstacle course portion of the Pro Bowl Games on Feb. 5 in Las Vegas. All of it has added up for the star edge rusher.

"It's been a journey in dealing with the shoulder during this offseason, then the Pro Bowl wanted to add one with the little dislocated toe, so that didn't do me any favors, but it's been consistently good," Garrett said. "It's been getting better, little by little and, honestly, I got more beef with the Pro Bowl and messing up my toe than I do with the shoulder right now. I think the shoulder will be just fine. The toe is the most nagging thing trying to get out there, do agility, run and plant, stuff that I can do, but it's just nagging stuff like you said, it’s just it's just frustrating. But by the time season rolls around, I don't think any of that will be an issue."

No surgery for Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, while other linebackers rehab

The Browns linebacking corps was a MASH unit by the end of the season. The top four linebackers — Anthony Walker Jr. (torn quad tendon), Sione Takitaki (torn ACL), Jacob Phillips (torn pectoral) and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (foot) — all ended the season on injured reserve.

Walker, Takitaki and Phillips all underwent surgery for their respective injuries. Stefanski said Tuesday that Owusu-Koramoah did not need surgery for his injury.

Stefanski wouldn't confirm if all four were in Berea this week. However, he did say all were progressing toward their on-field returns.

"Everybody's doing what they're supposed to do, they’re coming along," Stefanski said. "And then I'll update you guys as we get closer to getting out in the field. Everybody's rehabbing. I don't want to get into who's here and who's not here, but they're all rehabbing. They're all doing exactly what they're supposed to do."

Myles Garrett, Greg Newsome II confident in Cavaliers' chances

Garrett and cornerback Greg Newsome II are two of the bigger basketball fans on the Browns. They're also two players who can regularly be seen in attendance at various Cavaliers game, including last Saturday's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs against the New York Knicks.

The Cavs dropped the first game of the series, putting them in a critical must-win Game 2 on Tuesday night. Garrett is fully confident they'll be able to even the series heading to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 on Friday.

"Absolutely," Garrett said. "I mean they got a taste of the pace that they're going to get, the kind of physicality that the regular season really doesn't have on average. So I think they're kind of ready for what they're getting and what to expect."

Cornerback Greg Newsome II arrived in Cleveland a year after the Browns' 2020 playoff season. Being at the Cavs' first playoff game since 2018, he saw the energy of the region behind a team, something he's hoping to see with his own team sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, it was crazy," Newsome said. "Going to the game, it was just electric. It just shows what the future can hold. Obviously, we’ve got to start now. This is day one of workouts, so we got to keep building upon—but trying to get to that playoff, trying to get to that Super Bowl run. I can just tell how excited the fans were for the Cavs, so I can only imagine for us.”

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns' Amari Cooper recovering from surgery on core muscle injury