Corey Coleman didn't think much of it when his hand broke at practice last week.
The Browns rookie wide receiver went about his business after a play in which he said his hand collided with a teammate's pads and bent backward.
"I just thought it was jammed or sprained so I kept on practicing, not going to complain about anything," he said Monday.
"Then after, my hand hurts so I went and told the trainer. He asked if I needed some ice. I said OK, so I come back in and said, 'Can I get some ice?' They said it needed to get an X-ray. I told them no, just give me some ice. I'll be good. They said, 'No, we need to get an X-ray on this thing.' The X-ray comes back – broken hand."
Coleman, who caught five passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns in his last outing against the Ravens, will miss the next three to five weeks as his hand heals. But the first-round draft pick from Baylor was all smiles and seemed upbeat in the locker room when addressing reporters for the first time about the injury.
"I was sad at first, but I'm here for my teammates. We are just going to keep on pushing through. These guys are doing an unbelievable job," he said. "We have guys who are hurt right now and guys stepping up and just doing their job."
Coleman is among several injured Browns players who are out for various periods of time. The team lost two quarterbacks Robert Griffin III (shoulder) and Josh McCown (shoulder) in as many weeks. Center Cameron Erving (bruised chest/lung), safety Ibraheim Campbell (hamstring) and defensive end Carl Nassib (hand) were injured in a loss to the Ravens. Kicker Patrick Murray was placed on injured reserve last week after suffering a knee injury in practice and outside linebacker Nate Orchard will miss time after a high ankle sprain in Miami.
When Browns head coach Hue Jackson learned of Coleman's injury, he said he nearly fell out of his chair considering how the rookie shrugged off the pain.
"I mean, the guy, he's tough. He practiced and that's what was amazing. I probably was the most surprised when our medical staff came up to tell me," Jackson said. "I told him, 'You have to be kidding me,' because the guy practiced the whole practice."
The Browns will travel to Washington this weekend without the services of Coleman and others. Jackson has played down that dynamic, though, over the past two weeks, saying injuries are part of the game.
"I keep telling you guys I'm not blinking. I think you guys know me. I'm never going to do that. This football team and this organization depends on me to have a positive outlook about it all and I do because I've seen this before, we all have," Jackson said.
Neither is Coleman, who said he's eager to return to the field and build off his eye-popping performance against Baltimore.
"I'm just going to continue to work," he said, "and just listen to my coaches and do what they say so I can get back in a rhythm of things."
