Jordan Hicks details recent run of injuries, including elbow infection that sent him to hospital, broken rib, strained triceps

BEREA — Jordan Hicks has been listed on the injury report for weeks with "elbow, triceps."The two words and comma don't begin to cover what the middle linebacker's been through since Week 3.He returned to practice Monday, was a full participant Wednesday, said he's feeling "good" and is expected to play Sunday against the Saints in New Orleans. He revealed the series of unfortunate events that caused him to miss four of the last five games.Browns at the bye: Top players, biggest disappointments and five to watch"I had an infection in my elbow, actually checked myself into the hospital after the Giants game for two days," he said, referring to an infection in the bursa. "Getting antibiotics. I was feverish. The infection was real."So played that game and then ended up breaking my rib during the Giants game. So it was an onslaught of things."He didn't practice Wednesday and Thursday that week due to the elbow and rib but returned Friday and played Sunday, Sept. 29, against the Raiders. He exited after five snaps when he tried to make a tackle with an extended arm and it didn't work."Same elbow, same triceps, tore it — strained it, I guess," Hicks said.He sat out the next two games then played 33 snaps in the loss to the Bengals on Oct. 20. He was shut down again and missed the two games before the bye last week.Zone Coverage Podcast"It was a frustrating couple of weeks going through that, tried to come back, played with one arm basically in the Bengals game and thought it was the best decision to heal it and let it do its thing," he said. "I wasn't healthy. You want to be out there, you want to play this game at a high level, at the highest level possible, but when you're dealing with something that you use on every single play, it's tough."Hicks, 32, signed a two-year, $8 million deal in March with $4.5 million guaranteed. He replaced Anthony Walker Jr., who was allowed to leave in free agency, at middle linebacker and in five games has 24 tackles, two for loss, a sack, three quarterback hits and two passes defensed.He's been durable throughout his 10-year career, playing fewer than 12 games in a season only twice. But this is the second straight season he's wound up in a hospital.Browns at the bye: Top five — and bottom five — moments from the seasonWhat seemed like an ordinary shin bruise during a game with the Vikings last Nov. 12 wound up being compartment syndrome, a painful condition when pressure within the muscles builds to dangerous levels. He had surgery and missed four games but returned to finish the season."When I woke up on the table, I was told by the doctor it was a good thing we cut it open because I could have lost my leg, at worst," he said in March.He didn't need it, but Hicks got another reminder of the fragility of life and the dangers of his profession when linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah sustained a neck injury Oct. 27 during a collision with Ravens running back Derrick Henry. Owusu-Koramoah spent a night in the hospital, was placed on injured reserve and the team hasn't given an update on the severity of the injury or when he might return."It was tough because we play this game because we love it," Hicks said. "We sacrifice our bodies for it and we understand the risks that are involved in it, but at the end of the day, you see something like that and it's real life."I look at my life and I've got three kids and a wife at home and it's like, what if I were to come home like that? And so he's got family that he loves, people that care about him more than just what he can do on the field. And so it puts things in perspective and you hope and pray that he's going to make a miraculous recovery. I don't know, it's just hard. But you rally around him and you rally around each other."The Browns are 2-7 and trying to rally after the bye. Hicks was asked if the frustration of being injured is exacerbated by a helpless feeling of not being available to try to stop the losing."It's a lose-lose," he said. "When the team's winning, you're like, 'man, I'm missing out on all this excitement and I can't be a part of this.' And if you're losing, you're like, 'damn, I could help.' So it's a lose-lose either way. Injury just sucks."He fought the frustration by staying mentally engaged and trying to remain positive. He used his downtime to teach young players while taking notes as if he were playing.Mohamoud Diabate, Devin Bush and rookies Winston Reid and Nathaniel Watson got more time without Hicks and Owusu-Koramoah."It's been a storm, so you've got guys stepping up," Hicks said. "Mohamoud's played well, Dev has jumped in and he's got a lot of proven football in his career, so expected that from him. And then you got the young rooks. Those guys are stepping up, playing roles when we need them. So it's been a rally the troops mentality."The theme of the interview was injuries, which Hicks said have "always been the hardest part of this game."Even harder than the average fan realizes."There's a lot of things that nobody will ever know about this game and what players go through and what we have to deal with on a weekly basis," he said. "Getting checked out at the hospital Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday evening, and then being in practice on Wednesday. It's just something that you do and you deal with you guys don't have to know that. But me in the back, I know what I deal with and I know what I have to do to get back onto the field." The post Jordan Hicks details recent run of injuries, including elbow infection that sent him to hospital, broken rib, strained triceps first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.