Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward suffered his fifth concussion as a pro in practice recently. Ward smacked his head against the ground tackling receiver Elijah Moore on August 12th in one-on-ones. Head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed this week that it was indeed a concussion, marking it Ward’s fifth since joining Cleveland in 2018.
His last concussion came in the preseason finale in 2023 against the Kansas City Chiefs. He would miss two weeks before being ready to play for the opener against Cincinnati. Even by making it back in time for the start of the year, Ward did not play the full season and never has in his pro career. Ward has struggled with injuries consistently, but the repeated concussions have been and now continue once again to be the major concern.
When asked about his concussion problems, he stated how he has done research himself and with the Browns staff on how to best prevent them. He also explained how he has always known the risks of the game and his focus isn’t always on preventing concussions.
“I did a lot of research over the season and the offseason on concussions and just how to treat them and stuff like that. So yeah, I’m not too concerned about it going out there. I go out there, play fast, play hard, and try to win games.”
I think Ward can be justified some in the regard that you can’t quite play careful or reserved in the NFL, because nobody else is when the game is full-go. Doing that is how players will get hurt. You have to be one-hundred percent locked in and focused on the game itself. However, Ward needs to change how he’s approaching the game technique wise if he does continue playing long term, which he also stated he will earlier this week.
Ward suffered from back spasms as a rookie in a preseason game against Philadelphia when he tackled Eagle’s tight end Zach Hertz helmet first. The NFL had recently put rules in place to help eliminate helmet to helmet hits on players. This resulted in players instead often just tackling helmet first lower instead up towards the offensive player’s heads, something Ward consistently does. Then Brown’s defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had a lot to say in reference to Ward after the incident.
“Maybe he’ll finally listen to me and stop doing those stupid things the way he’s trying to tackle.”
Williams expressed transparently the care he had for his players and that he was working with Ward to clean up some dangerous and unsafe tendencies. He praised his natural ball skills and coverage abilities, which have proven to be top-tier each of his years in the league. Williams however then stressed that being a professional football players is about two things: accountability and availability.
Denzel Ward has been nothing but accountable as a Cleveland Brown. He is a top corner year-in and year-out in terms of almost every category one can imagine for an outside cornerback. He excels in both man and zone, he rarely gets beat, and he constantly comes away with interceptions. His sole issue, is indeed his availability. With his 5 year, 100.5 million dollar contract and the Brown’s window to make a playoff run each year with this young team full of talent, his lack of availability is worrisome.
The real concern for Denzel Ward actually has nothing to do with football. It has everything to do with his health and well-being. Ward is 27 years old and likely has more known concussions than any player his age as a pro. Former players have recently began seeing lifespans and their health overall shortened and worsened from CTE(chronic traumatic encephalopathy). There is no current method to confirm the full effects and degree to which CTE has affected player’s brains while they are alive. Former players who have passed away have had their brains looked at and revealed to have suffered greatly from their years of repeated minor and occasional major concussions. Ward is now repeatedly suffering major ones.
Ward was very clear and adamant that he plans to continue playing long-term and that he is not concerned about his injuries. His will to compete and play for this city is admirable, but there could be, and perhaps has already been, a point where Denzel Ward needs to consider his own health.
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