Browns defensive tackle Phil Taylor says he’s taking his time and rehabbing the right way after suffering a torn pectoral on May 10. But he and the team remain optimistic that he will play this season.
“I’m itching to get back, but I’m not gonna rush it,” Taylor told the Akron Beacon-Journal. “When I know it’s time for me to be out there, I’ll get out there.”
Taylor was a first-round draft pick last year and started all 16 games as a rookie, and the Browns want him to be back on the field and ready to go soon. But not rushing him is clearly the right call. A torn pectoral isn’t an injury a player wants to aggravate by getting back onto the field too soon.
The injury happened while Taylor was bench pressing, and he said he didn’t realize when he did it that he had seriously hurt himself.
“I really didn’t know what happened because it actually didn’t hurt that much,” Taylor said. “I mean I thought I had just strained it. But after the MRI, obviously it wasn’t just a strain.”
Taylor is expected to start the season on the physically unable to perform list and then return to the field some time after Week Six of the regular season.
