Slightly ahead of schedule in his rehab from hip surgery, Jarvis Landry hopes to be back on the field in August. (cbssports.com)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Jarvis Landry Zoom call …
1. Ahead of schedule?: When Jarvis Landry elected to have surgery on Feb. 4 to remove bone fragments and repair an injured hip labrum, the club announced Landry was “expected to make a full recovery for the 2020 season.” The purposely vague statement didn’t specify if he would be recovered in time to practice for the season or just begin practicing when the season began. The difference is being cleared to return to the field in August or September. Approaching four months since the surgery, Landry still is not certain about a timetable for return, “Right now, I am a little bit ahead of schedule, but the most important thing right now is just taking it day by day,” he said. “I can’t predict when exactly I will be able to feel [ready], whether that is July, August or September, but obviously, my return date is sometime in August.”
2. The virus factor: The closure of the Browns’ facility has forced Landry to rehab with local doctors in Deerfield Beach, FL, while under the auspices virtually of Browns’ physical therapist Anthony Trem. “Anthony … has been doing an amazing job of checking in with me every morning and every afternoon to make sure that I am OK and sending me things to do, if I have any problems or soreness and tightness. I have also been working with one of my primary doctors Dr. Chad (Teague), as well,” Landry said.
3. Motivation: Rehabbing in a semi-virtual environment can be a lonely endeavor. Landry is finding motivation in two areas: 1. His determination to never miss a regular-season game; he is 96 for 96 in his six-year career, and 2. His natural competition with soul mate Odell Beckham Jr., who is rehabbing in a different place from core muscle surgery. “We have not seen each other. We have been FaceTiming,” Landry said.
“We have been documenting our whole process of recovery and sending it back and forth to each other. Obviously, right now, it is a crucial time in our recovery stages of getting our strength back. The healing process is kind of done. Now is the time to make sure everything is working together and then being able to go in the right phases and the right stages to be able to translate that all back to the field. Seeing his process has been motivating me, obviously, from afar, which he does automatically. The player he is, his work ethic motivate me. Going back and forth on video just about where we are in our rehab process is something that has been encouraging us to get even better than where we were before.”
4. Another offense: Kevin Stefanski is Landry’s fourth head coach in four years, and Alex Van Pelt is his fourth offensive coordinator in four years. I asked him if he had a vision of the end product of Stefanski’s play-action based offense. “As of now, obviously, we are very multiple,” he said. “We plan on playing in multiple packages. Obviously, the guys who are on the team, we plan on using them in the best way that helps benefit the team and things like that. It is good to see we continue to add talent and we continue to try to find balance and who we want to be as an offense. That is the exciting part.”