Browns left guard Joel Bitonio had not missed a game since 2016 before a knee injury early last season forced him to have arthroscopic surgery.
Bitonio only missed one game while recovering, but he later picked up back and ankle injuries that kept him from finishing out the year at anything close to 100 percent. After the team’s playoff loss to the Texans, Bitonio said it was a “very frustrating” year as a result.
The tune was more positive on Monday. Bitonio said that time off has been a positive for his health and that he hopes to continue to “bounce back physically” as the regular season gets closer.
“I feel really good right now,” Bitonio said, via Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal. “You don’t play football for a few months, plus you get some treatments and some stuff taken care of, and the body starts to feel a lot better. So, right now, I’m in a good space physically and I’m opening up my running and conditioning and been lifting and stuff. So I feel good right now and we got a little bit of time before the season starts, so hopefully it just keeps improving.”
Bitonio is heading into his 11th season and said he has “definitely played more seasons than I have left” and will be taking it a year at a time, so a better year on the injury front will likely be necessary for his return in 2025 to be a sure thing.