@ballpeen said:

Berry probably does.  Too much liability.

HIPPA laws prevent much comment unless the player makes the comments or consents, and team DR's aren't willing to clear him feeling the risk to health is great, it is what it is.

Unless JOK signs some sort of waiver which he probably won't, we are stuck in the middle.  He doesn't want to retire which would void his contract....yep, it kind of stuck in limbo at this point.

I believe HIPPA only applies to those in the medical profession. If l’m wrong there someone please let me know. It’s probably more than likely that there are still unknowns with JOK’s injury and how it relates to a football career and the team isn’t talking about it out of respect for the situation.

@ballpeen said:

Berry probably does.  Too much liability.

HIPPA laws prevent much comment unless the player makes the comments or consents, and team DR's aren't willing to clear him feeling the risk to health is great, it is what it is.

Unless JOK signs some sort of waiver which he probably won't, we are stuck in the middle.  He doesn't want to retire which would void his contract....yep, it kind of stuck in limbo at this point.

I just pray he comes back.. It would be unfortunate to lose him... He such a wise soul beyond his years...

HIPPA laws prevent much comment unless the player makes the comments or consents, and team DR's aren't willing to clear him feeling the risk to health is great, it is what it is.

Unless JOK signs some sort of waiver which he probably won't, we are stuck in the middle.  He doesn't want to retire which would void his contract....yep, it kind of stuck in limbo at this point.

@ballpeen said:

I think JOK wants to play but can't find a Dr. willing to sign off on his bill of health.  Even if he comes back and plays, we don't need to upgrade at the other backer positions?  If JOK doesn't come back, we have a replacement who plays a similar game.

This regime has not shown that they really like drafting LBers, especially high. I'm not saying they never draft LBers, but when they do its usually late in the draft. They've filled LB spots for years with frugal free agent signings.

The one exception is when Berry traded up to get JOK specifically so we'd have an athletic LB who could keep Lamar Jackson from running all over us. This reason was the reason Berry went against type and used a high pick on a LB.

Until Friday night, when he did it again. Almost makes me think he knows JOK is done, and he went to the well again. In fact, I was listening to a Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show podcast and someone on there noticed that Berry talked about JOK in the past tense, before correcting himself. He said something along the lines of "This was something JOK used to do well..." 

@londonbrown said:

The pick at 33 doesn’t bode well for the future of JOK? 

no, JOK may come back healthy and ready to play. Or, not. I expect the Browns to draft another lb, looking at their depth chart - their WSLB and MLB are both "questionable". The chart shows JOK on the weak side, and Schwesinger on the strong side.

@londonbrown said:

The pick at 33 doesn’t bode well for the future of JOK? 

It's been eerily quiet on the JOK front.