Cleveland Browns running back Trent Richardson has been slowed down by a shin injury throughout the offseason workouts and it will once again cause him to miss action as the team opens up the preseason against the St. Louis Rams on Thursday.
Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski ruled Richardson out of the first preseason game, but he says that if this was a regular game then the team’s workhorse back will be able to go when the 2013-14 regular season begins.
“Those guys would be available to play normally,” Chudzinski said, via the Akron Beacon-Journal. “But since it’s the preseason we’re going to be smart with them and hold them for the game.”
While Richardson may be out for the preseason games Cleveland has on the schedule, the team is preparing to have him ready to go for the start of the season.
“It’s the preseason,” Chudzinski said. “We’ve been working him. We have a plan for that, of working him, and making sure that he gets reps as needed out here in practice. And we’ll build him to be ready for the beginning of the [regular] season.”
Cleveland is going to rely heavily on Richardson throughout the year, so the team is taking the smart approach by letting him get to 100 percent before marching him back on the field.