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Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward diagnosed with concussion in win over Ravens
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- Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward diagnosed with concussion in win over Ravens
CLEVELAND — Denzel Ward left the Browns ' 29-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens with what was diagnosed as a concussion, coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed afterward.
Ward walked to the locker room with 7:41 remaining in the third quarter after he had spent several minutes in the blue tent with medical personnel. Those personnel included the NFL independent spotter, who initially pulled Ward from the game.
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The three-time Pro Bowler was at first listed as questionable to return by the team. They ruled him out at the start of the fourth quarter.
The diagnosis means it's the sixth recorded concussion for Ward since he was selected No. 4 overall in the 2018 draft. The Nordonia High School and Ohio State University product sustained his fifth concussion during training camp in August, but scoffed at the time about allowing the number of head injuries leading him to step away from football.
Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward (21) breaks up a pass intended for Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Nelson Agholor (15) on Sunday in Cleveland.
"I know people worry about the number and everything, but can't let that affect me," Ward said on Aug. 31. "I still come out here, I'm looking forward again. I'm glad to be back and playing and, yeah, I can't let the receivers off that easy in this league. So looking forward again to getting out there and giving them a hard time."
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Exactly when Ward sustained the concussion was not known. He was on the field for the Browns ' first defensive play of the third quarter, when linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah sacked Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson for a 4-yard loss.
Ward wasn't close to the play itself, but walked off the field after the play. He was replaced in the lineup by Greg Newsome II.
The Browns' other starting cornerback, Martin Emerson Jr., was shaken up with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter. He was evaluated for a head injury, but was cleared to return shortly afterward.
"Just keep praying," Emerson said. "Keep my faith in God. It's a physical game we play and every time you're out there, putting your body on the line, it's for your teammates and for your brothers. So just to see some of my fellow teammates go out, that's part of the game that it hurts and just got to keep praying, keep being physical and keep working in the weight room. "
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The training-camp concussion, on Aug. 14, was Ward's first documented one in almost exactly a year. He sustained one Aug. 26, 2023, during the team's preseason finale at the Kansas City Chiefs that kept him in the protocol for almost two weeks.
Before that, Ward had a concussion during the 2022 season. The other two came while he was a rookie in 2018, within a few weeks of each other in December.
"I'm not going to give a whole seminar on concussions up here but, no, it's not necessarily more severe," Ward said in August. "Each concussion, just what I learned, each concussion is its own specific concussion and you got to give that time to heal and then once that's healed and ready to go, once you get back out here, you're good.
"So it's not like concussions are building on top of each other, if you give it time to heal. But I think before, what guys were getting in trouble with a long time ago, is they'd get a concussion, not fully heal, then they'd go right back out there and play."
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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' Denzel Ward diagnosed with concussion in win over Ravens
