Cleveland Browns linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. will miss the remainder of the season with a torn quad tendon, the team announced Friday.
He underwent an MRI on Friday, one day after sustaining the injury in the third quarter of Cleveland’s 29-17 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers.
He took a blow to the face from Steelers tackle Chukwuma Okorafor during a passing play and fell awkwardly to the turf. Okorafor then dove on Walker’s back while guard James Daniels inadvertently stepped on Walker’s legs.
Walker was loaded onto a cart with an air cast applied to his left leg.
“He is a huge, huge, huge part of our football team, what he brings to us on the field and off the field,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Friday.
Jacob Phillips will replace Walker in the starting lineup.
“I thought he was outstanding,” Stefanski said. “The two plays he made late in the game with the blitz and the sack and then the (pass breakup) were outstanding. I was proud of Jacob because you wish you could put 12 guys out there for the defense. We listed him as a starter with Anthony early because those guys, I really think they are both capable of starting.
“Now with Anthony out, Jacob goes in there, and we have a ton of confidence in him.”
A team captain, Walker recorded 13 tackles — including four for losses — and two pass deflections in three games this season.
Walker, 27, has 469 tackles, 4.5 sacks, three interceptions and one forced fumble in 73 career games (63 starts) with the Indianapolis Colts and Browns.
–Field Level Media
