CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, but despite the victory, they didn't come away unscathed—with safety Rodney McLeod sustaining a season-ending biceps injury in the game.
McLeod left the field with trainers in the fourth quarter, holding his arm. He was evaluated and quickly ruled out of the game with a biceps injury.
On Monday morning, McLeod had an MRI and scans showed the injury was severe enough to require surgery. The safety will have that surgery, which will end his season, head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday afternoon.
"Unbelievable leader for this football team has played really well for us. He's really a guy that I've gotten to know over this year and [Jim] Schwartz had a history with Rod prior to this season. But just watching that guy work, watching him in the meeting room, on the practice field, during the games, just an amazing teammate. So I feel for him," Stefanski said.
This year with the Browns, McLeod played in 10 games, starting in five. He notched 29 tackles, two for loss, with a pass defended in that time.
McLeod is expected to have the surgery and then return to be around the team and continue his leadership off the field.
He was in a bigger role at the time of his injury, stepping up for safety Juan Thornhill, who was ruled out of the game with a calf injury. As Thornhill works through that injury, the Browns will look to guys like Ronnie Hickman and D'Anthony Bell to step up alongside Grant Delpit in the safeties room.
"We trust those guys. They've played for us. So we'll see how that all shakes out. No different than any other position. We trust our backups that when they get in there, they have their job to do," Stefanski said.
