Getty Wyatt Teller of the Cleveland Browns.
The calf strain that kept Cleveland Browns starter Wyatt Teller on the sideline for more than three games was no joke. But the good-humored guard still managed to make some light of what he went through on the verge of making his return to the lineup.
“It was only a Grade 2 calf strain, which means the ligament came off the bone a little bit but not fully, which is good,” Teller told reporters. “I was moving around. I was in a boot and moving with the boot, and I still feel like I am walking with a pimp walk or something. I do not know. It is kind of funny. That boot is like five pounds of walking around with the heavy old boot on. I am just trying to get back to normal and run fast and hit hard.”
Wyatt Teller said he had never missed a play in his career before straining his calf. Said he’s still got a “pimp” walk.
Browns Run Game Gets Boost With Wyatt Teller Back
Teller was a key cog in the Browns run-game, which was the best in the league at the time of his departure. He’s glad to be back in action.
“It feels good. It has been a process the past four weeks. I wanted to make it back, but I do not want the same injury to be nagging all year,” Teller said Wednesday. “You definitely want to take advantage of the bye week, take advantage of the couple weeks that I had off and come back with a vengeance to get this game back on track.”
#Browns Wyatt Teller said it feels good to have guys coming back healthy after the bye. Said he wishes his time away was shorter but he took that time to focus on how to improve his game once he was able to get back.
Teller turned out to be a major steal for former Browns GM John Dorsey, who traded just a fifth- and a sixth-round pick to Buffalo in the move. He started nine games last season and all five he was active for this year. In those games, Teller — who was projected to be a weak-link on the line — recorded a Pro Football Focus grade of 94.4, the highest in the NFL at his position.
🙋if your team just got the NFL’s highest-graded offensive lineman back to practice today
Wyatt Teller Says Nick Chubb is ‘Super-Human’
The Browns are hoping to not just have Teller back this weekend against the Texans, but also Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb, who was a candidate to lead the league in rushing before getting injured.
“Nick is damn near superhuman (laughter). He is a good player. I am excited to come back with him. I am thankful.
Teller’s teammates had high-praise for him as well and the grit he brings to the lineup.
#Browns TE Austin Hooper gives shout-out to Chris Hubbard for filling in so well at RG but says it’ll be nice to have Wyatt Teller back. Said he brings juice, nastiness and physicality.
“It’s fun to play with the guy when he’s burying people.”
“[Teller] brings the juice, the physicality and the nastiness. That guy is a lot of fun on game days because he’s just burying people,” tight end Austin Hooper said. “It is definitely fun when you have a guy like that on the field just burying people and having fun with it, laughing and joking around. He definitely has that infectious personality that I think resonates with not just the offensive side of the ball but the entire team. Definitely good to have a guy like that back.”
The Browns are a 3-point favorite (per Odds Shark) at home against the Texans this weekend, in large part because of the players they get back following a bye.
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