Browns receiver Josh Cribbs admitted "it's not looking good" for him to return Sunday against the Panthers.
View full sizeJosh Cribbs fights for extra yards against the New England Patriots. Cribbs dislocated four toes against the New York Jests and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers.Browns receiver Josh Cribbs, hobbling around in one of those omnipresent gray
walking boots, is battling to play Sunday against the Panthers, but admitted he's a longshot.
"I'll be honest, it's not looking good," he said Friday. "I'm trying to make a push for it and I'm not off the table yet, but I haven't practiced all week."
Cribbs, who suffered four right dislocated toes and a foot injury during the Jets game two weeks ago, sat out again Friday and is listed as questionable, meaning there is a 50-50 chance he'll play. He was questionable last week and sat out the 24-20 loss to the Jaguars.
"I'm just moving around, doing stuff off the grid so to speak, trying to see where I'm at," he said.
Cribbs said it's not the toes that are keeping him sidelined, but the foot.
"When my toes were jammed, they were pushed back into the soft tissue of my foot," he said. "So it inflamed the ball of my foot where I plant, and on the top. That's basically what's keeping me out, the inability to plant. I can't press down on my foot because of the pain."
Cribbs said if he returns, it will most likely be on a limited basis.
"But at the same time, if I do get out there and it starts feeling better during the game, I'm not going to be kept out of any role that I need to be in. I'll do what I have to do to help my team win, regardless of my pain."
Browns coach Eric Mangini, who said he is "pretty optimistic" Cribbs will play, also said Cribbs' role would most likely be limited.
"I think that's a starting point for us -- kicks and punts -- and then we'll see where he is with receiver play and Wildcat and stuff like that," said Mangini. "With Josh, if he's playing you know he's going to want to play everything all the time. He'll want to run down the kicks, he'll want to do it all."
Mangini said the goal is to get Cribbs to the game and if "it's going well and he feels good and there are no setbacks, it may increase as the game goes on."
Cribbs said he doesn't want to rush back and risk re-injury.
"I don't want to come back if I can't be me," he said. "The worst thing I can do is come back too soon and hurt myself more and have a setback when there's six game left. I just want to be sure that I can be myself and play up to my potential without having to be limited."
Cribbs said it killed him to watch the loss to Jacksonville on TV, a game in which the Browns scored just 10 points off six takeaways, including only three points by the offense.
"I've only missed [three games] since I've been here, so it was pretty tough for me to sit and watch the game," he said. "I basically felt helpless. I kept turning the TV off and hoping that things happened in our favor. It's heartwrenching to watch us play from a fan standpoint and not be able to go out there and help."
The Browns discovered the hard way what life without Cribbs can be like. With one of their most dangerous players at home, the Browns were one-dimensional on offense, focusing too much on running back Peyton Hillis. The five times the offense got the ball after takeaways (Abe Elam scored on a fumble return on the other), it managed no first downs, no completions and a net of minus-9 yards.
"I feel like I could've helped," said Cribbs. "I'm sure a lot of the guys feel like that. I'm sure [linebacker] Scott Fujita probably feels like if he were in the game, one more turnover would've been created. I feel like anyone who was out feels like they could've done something to alter the game for the better."
He said he has to fight the feeling the offense and special teams isn't the same without him. Cribbs is on offense and special teams at least 50 percent of the time.
"It's a feeling that you just have to live with," he said. "You just have to hope that your team can survive without you, and I know they can without me because they did excellent. They did a great job. We just had to find a way to win at the end. This was one of those "what-if" games, and there have been so many of them throughout this whole season."
Cribbs said "if it's pain, I'll push through it. If it's more injury than pain, I'll have to sit myself down and do what's smart. My biggest feat at this point is coming back too early and re-injuring it."