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Browns guard Joel Bitonio hopes to 'bounce back physically' after tough year health-wise
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- Browns guard Joel Bitonio hopes to 'bounce back physically' after tough year health-wise
ROCKY RIVER — Joel Bitonio had developed a reputation the last several seasons for being one of the NFL's iron men. That's what made the Browns Pro Bowl left guard's 2023 season such an anomaly.
Bitonio had a 102-game regular-season start streak snapped in Week 5 last season as he recovered from a bye-week arthroscopic knee procedure. In Week 15, his back flared up in the first quarter of a game against the Chicago Bears , costing him the rest of that game.
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Finally, Bitonio suffered a high ankle sprain during the Browns ' AFC wild card loss to the Houston Texans , but he played through it despite the one-sided result. The day after that loss, he acknowledged the season as a whole was "very frustrating" because of the various health issues.
Bitonio was back in Northeast Ohio on Monday for the Cleveland Browns Foundation's charity golf outing at Westwood Country Club. While there, he said the four-plus months he's had since the playoff loss has done wonders for his body.
"I feel really good right now," Bitonio said. "You don't play football for a few months, plus you get some treatments and some stuff taken care of, and the body starts to feel a lot better. So, right now, I'm in a good space physically and I'm opening up my running and conditioning and been lifting and stuff. So I feel good right now, and we got a little bit of time before the season starts, so hopefully it just keeps improving."
Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joel Bitonio cools off during training camp on Thursday, July 28, 2022 in Berea.
Bitonio will be going into his 11th season this year with the team that made him a second-round pick (No. 35 overall) in the 2014 draft out of the University of Nevada. More importantly, he'll turn 33 on Oct. 11, two days before the Browns play at the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6 of the season.
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Right now, the Browns remain in the tail end of their offseason program, with the final week of it being a voluntary endeavor. They have three OTA sessions the next three days before they come back next week for three days of mandatory minicamp June 11-13.
Bitonio has been one of the Browns' veterans who hasn't been on the field practicing for most of the OTA sessions. He's occasionally been in the building getting treatment or working with new offensive line coach Andy Dickerson and assistant offensive line coach Roy Istvan.
"As a rookie, I thought if I took two days off, I was behind for the season," Bitonio said. "So I was just constantly, like, 'Oh, I'm back at it. I got to start training.' Now there's a fine line between wearing myself out before the season starts and making sure I'm in shape to play though.
"So, it's definitely a difference. Having kids, too, you got time to hang out with them and stuff, take trips with them. But, no, I think I figured it out well and I've been able to ramp myself up to really be at my best when, you know, the season is starting."
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Bitonio goes into the season having only missed three games, regular-season or playoffs, since the start of the 2017 season. Two of those were the Browns' January 2021 wild card win at the Pittsburgh Steelers , which he missed due to COVID, and last regular-season's finale at the Cincinnati Bengals , from which he and a number of other starters were held out after the team clinched a spot in the playoffs.
This is the next-to-last year of a three-year extension Bitonio signed in 2021 that went into effect last season. He still is under contract for next season as well.
What's Bitonio's timetable for moving on from playing and into a post-playing career? Even he's not sure.
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"I mean, I feel like I've definitely played more seasons than I have left, you know?" Bitonio said. "Really, I'm truly taking it, you know, one year, one game at a time. You never know. You know, (Hall of Famer) Joe (Thomas) played 11 years. I'm going to 11 years now, so it's a blessing every time I get to keep playing football. It's gonna dictate a lot of how my body feels and stuff and how we are as a team as well.
"But right now I feel good and I'm ready for this year and I'm, you know, hopefully like you said, I can bounce back physically and have a great year."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns guard Joel Bitonio hopes to bounce back from injury-filled 2023
