Browns DE Chad Thomas Carted off on Stretcher After Neck Injury at Practice

Cleveland Browns defensive end Chad Thomas suffered a neck injury at practice Monday and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher, according to Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today.

"He's at the hospital getting further testing, but he's moving all of his extremities," head coach Freddie Kitchens told reporters after practice. "It was just precautionary. Just making sure everything is OK. Any time something happens like a stinger or anything dealing with any issues like that, you want to be more cautious than anything and that's what we're doing."

A number of Browns players spoke on the injury after practice concluded:

Thomas, 23, was a third-round pick by the Browns in the 2018 NFL draft. He appeared in four games for the team during his rookie season, though he didn't register any stats.

This summer, he's been battling for a backup spot at defensive end behind Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon.

Thomas also has a burgeoning music career as a producer and rapper under the name Major Nine. In 2017, he produced Rick Ross' "Apple of My Eye" on the album Rather You Than Me. The song also featured Raphael Saadiq.

He spoke about the opportunity to collaborate with Ross with Master Tesfatsion:

"I was too happy. It dropped a week after my mama's birthday, and I wanted to surprise her with it. I couldn't even wait until the day of the album. I just told my mom I made a beat for Ross, and it's going to be on his intro. I told my daddy, and he said we've gotta print the check stubs and frame that. We've gotta go buy the hard copy.

"It made me drop a tear. The song really touched me. It spoke my life. Then to think that I made the beat, just to come from where I'm from in Miami in Liberty City, a lot of people don't get opportunities like this. When they do, they either mess it up or somebody messes it up for them. I felt blessed for that opportunity."