Browns LT Jedrick Wills Jr. lost for season after undergoing knee surgery

FILE - Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. is carted off the field during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 5, 2023, in Cleveland. The Browns lost their second starting tackle in two days as Jedrick Wills Jr. underwent season-ending knee surgery. Wills had been on injured reserve since Nov. 7, and the team had hoped he would be able to return at some point this season.(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. will miss the remainder of the year due to season-ending knee surgery. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Jedrick Wills Jr. will miss the remainder of the Cleveland Browns' season, the team announced. The Browns' starting left tackle underwent season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Tuesday.

Willis, who had his fifth-year option picked up in May, becomes the latest offensive lineman to be lost for the season. Cleveland has played the entire season without Jack Conklin after the starting right tackle tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee in Week 1. Rookie Dawand Jones, Conklin's replacement, tore his MCL at practice last week and is also out for the season.

The Browns were originally hoping that Wills, who was injured in the third quarter of Cleveland's 27-0 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 5, would eventually return to the field. During that game, running back Kareem Hunt was tackled into the back of Wills' leg. Then an air cast was placed on the knee, and Wills was carted off the field.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski originally said the injury wouldn't end Wills' season, and the team was hoping to have him back around Week 14, when the Browns played the Jacksonville Jaguars. But now, Wills, the 10th overall pick in 2020, is expected to be back for the beginning of the 2024 season. He has started 53 games for the Browns and was playing for a long-term deal at the end of this season.

Geron Christian will continue to start in his place as the 8-5 Browns fight for a postseason berth.

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