ZingDash

Just over a year since suffering his first major injury and three games into a season he wasn’t sure he’d get to play in, Anthony Walker Jr. isn’t afraid to talk about his road back, his high hopes for a Cleveland Browns defense that’s off to a torrid start, or his election as team captain despite going 11 1/2 months without suiting up.

Advertisement

Walker’s appreciation is rooted in the truth that he too often thought his football career could have been over after suffering a torn quad tendon that prematurely ended his 2022 season.

“I cried a lot,” Walker said. “There were days back in the winter where I didn’t want to do (the rehab), and a lot of days I just didn’t know if I’d ever be able to play again. One thousand percent, I thought I was done. And that’s hard.

“So every time there’s a (milestone), like it was a year ago last week that it happened, it’s gonna mean a little more to me. Every time we get a win or we come out of a timeout and get a big third-down stop, I might smile a little more. There were some dark days. I’m grateful for them now.”

The Browns’ defense started to slip last season after Walker was injured in a Week 3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. At points later in the year, the linebacker spot reached emergency status. And that’s not because Walker is some tackling machine who has rare strength or crazy range.

He’s a good player. He’s a better leader. And part of Walker’s appreciation now — and the Browns’ appreciation of him — is that he’s back for a seventh NFL season as the wise old man on what looks to be the best defense he’s been a part of.

“I think it speaks for itself that A-Walk was (voted) one of our captains,” Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. “He wasn’t part of most of the season last year, wasn’t part of most of the offseason program, sporadic in training camp. But he found a way to make his presence felt. He’s an experienced player. He’s super smart, understands situations. He’s a really good communicator, makes life easy for the other guys around him.

“I’m going to run out of time saying nice things about him.”

The leadership stuff is not new to Walker, the son of a coach who’s always prided himself on being a smart player. But being sidelined was new, and the uncomfortable and uncertain feelings started as soon as Walker fell to the turf last September.

Advertisement

“As soon as it happened, I knew that I was hurt and was gonna miss the rest of the season,” Walker said. “I never felt anything like that before. I never had surgery, never had season-ending anything. I got knocked down and just something in me always said to get back up and walk it off. But I knew right away. I could put no pressure (on my leg). The trainers came out and I told them, ‘Don’t touch me.’ I just had a burning sensation, one of the worst things I ever felt.

“To start working back and be in so much pain, knowing that I was so far away, it hurt my heart. It was in my head, too. There were days where Amari Cooper had to come get me out of the car and get me to work out, days I didn’t want to do it. It was hard, but I kept telling myself I had to do it. My mindset was that I had to fight back.”

In March, Walker signed his third one-year deal with the Browns. Schwartz wanted him back and Walker wanted to be back. He’d become closer with fellow linebacker Sione Takitaki, who was also rehabbing after tearing his ACL in December. He’d further bonded with Cooper, who was recovering from offseason core muscle surgery. In the linebacker room, it’s Walker who often encourages the younger players to keep working. In the parking lot this spring, it was Cooper who sometimes needed to push Walker.

“It just comes with experience and knowing what it’s like to be healing from an injury, but it’s a daily grind,” Cooper said. “Sometimes, you just don’t have the energy. Sometimes, you think you just need a chill day. But that day you need to get 1 percent better. So A-Walk, he did the work. But I definitely was there to give him a nudge when he needed one.

“Those types of injuries and the road back where you don’t know if you’re gonna get back, or if you don’t know if you’ll ever be the same player again, it’s hard. It can be a lingering thing. So you can’t let up, even when you want to.”

Advertisement

The Browns kept both Walker and Takitaki out of the preseason. They returned to practice at something close to full speed in August as part of their respective rehab plans, but never on consecutive days. Both finished last season on injured reserve and without contracts for 2023. Now, they’re starting for what’s the league’s No. 1 defense through three weeks.

“There were days back in the winter and spring that sucked, but we kind of made a pact that we weren’t gonna stop,” Takitaki said. “It was awesome to lean on someone like that. A-Walk, he’s one of those guys who’s a leader on the team. He motivated me to just continue to go and we pushed each other. Walk is just one of those guys who’s an awesome teammate and somebody you can go to for anything. We were able to lean on each other. We just kept pushing.”

To Cooper, Walker being elected captain despite not participating in spring practices and missing about half of training camp “says it all about his makeup, about who he is and how other guys view him as a leader.”

“I think we all lead in our different ways,” Walker said. “But to be elected by your peers is one of the greatest things you can ever achieve in football. I am humbled to lead these guys, and I’m glad they chose me to be a captain, but that’s never a goal to be one. I always want the respect of my peers, but that’s something you earn.

“Last year sitting and (rehabbing) and just being here but not being able to help, I was low. I’ve always prided myself on going through the grind with my teammates no matter what. And not being able to do that, it was hard. It sucked. I did try to be myself every day, lead in any way possible, show up every day and try to help the team.”

To Walker, captaincy doesn’t mean being one of the first ones to arrive. It means always trying to be first. It doesn’t mean taking notes or speaking up in some meetings. It means always setting an example and speaking up for the teammates who voted him to be in that role.

“He’s basically a coach,” Cooper said. “He’s probably the smartest football player I’ve ever been around, honestly. He can watch (the film) and maybe you’re only one play in, but he’s dissecting that one play. The guys on the defense look to him. They listen to him talk when they’re on the field, and he’s watching the other team break the huddle and calling out their plays.

Advertisement

“That’s what our defense is right now. Obviously, we’ve got some really talented players out there. But a lot of them are listening to A-Walk to know what’s coming.”

During training camp, linebackers coach Jason Tarver said he’d summoned the team’s rookie linebackers to a meeting — and Tarver found the rookies already meeting with Walker when he arrived. Walker played under new Browns special teams coach Bubba Ventrone when both were with the Indianapolis Colts, and Walker regularly helps Ventrone lead special teams meetings.

Nobody Cares; WORK Harder‼️ #JAG pic.twitter.com/zGxFYCaRbb

— Anthony Walker Jr. (@__AWalkJr) March 22, 2023

“Anthony is an extremely hard worker, very well prepared, super smart in the classroom,” Ventrone said. “He’s one of the first ones in the meeting room every day, and he doesn’t play on all four units. He’ll play one or two depending on the game plan. And he’s a tremendous note-taker, he’s very detailed, he helps the younger players out even when he’s not in practice, he’s coaching up the younger players and bringing them along in that regard.

“I feel like he truly is a great leader, not just on the defensive side of the ball, but on special teams as well. He understands the game. He gets it. He’s just a guy that understands football and just gets it.”

That it almost got taken away from Walker a year ago is just a part of it.

“Ever since I got here, A-Walk has been like a big brother to me,” third-year linebacker Tony Fields II said. “I think last year we were talking and he was talking about setting examples, being the first one here and how someone’s always watching. It’s something that stuck with me, to be one of the first people here. Be early, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

“I tried one week to be first. I couldn’t beat A-Walk, so I was just one of the first. His message is that you have to be ready all the time, and it’s just so awesome to see him back healthy.”

(Top photos: Cooper Neill / Getty Images, Lon Horwedel / USA Today)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k3Jnb2xpaHxzfJFsZmlxX2eFcK7RqK6nq12htq%2BxwZqapJ2iYq6vwMeopbJlp5a5rLHRZqCnoqWnxnA%3D