Browns linebacker Anthony Walker tore a quadriceps last Thursday against the Steelers. He will undergo surgery, ending his season.
The injury happened when Steelers right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor shoved Walker to the ground face-first with his left hand, appearing to spin Walker by the facemask. Okorafor then jumped on the back of the motionless Walker.
Okorafor did not draw a penalty and defended his actions by saying he was “just playing ball.” The NFL could fine him this week.
The Browns remain upset about Okorafor jumping on Walker while he was down and injured.
“That was a bullshit play,” Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett, who was suspended six games in 2019 for the helmet incident with Mason Rudolph, told Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com Monday. “He’s not moving. You don’t jump on a guy. That was a bullshit play.”
The only flag Okorafor drew on the play was for being an ineligible downfield, nullifying a 35-yard catch-and-run by Jaylen Warren.
Several Browns players talked about the “brotherhood” among NFL players and feel Okorafor crossed the line. Running back Kareem Hunt told Cabot he has never seen a player “dive on injured player with your full weight.”
“That ain’t the way we play football,” Hunt told Cabot. “It wasn’t a good sight, especially when a guy got hurt on the play.”
