Cleveland Browns Preseason: No Need To Panic Over Montario Hardesty Injury

Cleveland Browns fans are, in my not so humble opinion, the greatest fans of any team in sports (of course, I may be slightly biased, being one myself).

But we are also the biggest group of drama queens when it comes to our team.

With every new piece of news, we jump to the most outlandish and extreme interpretation of the event.

When we sign a new mid-level starter, "We're super bowl bound." But when a rookie who's never contributed a single statistic to a regular season game gets hurt, "The season's over."

I may be exaggerating this a little, but we all know it's true. I, myself, am just as guilty as anyone else, so I know it's true. No point in denying it. But sometimes in our melodrama, we miss some key points that we should be focusing on.

I've read several articles and comments that have all focused on the knee injury Montario Hardesty sustained in Thursday's preseason game with the Chicago Bears, as well as others that have focused on perceived shortcomings in rookie quarterback Colt McCoy's game. But I think there are many much more important bits of knowledge that can be gleaned from our teams preseason performance.

So instead of concentrating on the injury to Hardesty, here are a couple things that I took away from the same game that we should be pleased with.

1. While Hardesty has gone down with an injury, our other second-round draft choice with an injury history has played admirably and has stayed healthy.

Of course I'm talking about TJ Ward.

Ward appears to be well on his way to being an excellent starter for us for years to come, so one out of two ain't bad.

2. Despite all the criticism Colt McCoy has faced for having a weak arm (from myself as well as others), he has shown steady improvement throughout the preseason.

After the fumbled snap on the first play, it appeared that something finally clicked for him. It seems to me that he has had a bad case of "the jitters" all preseason, but after that fumble, it seemed like his nerves finally calmed down and he was able to play some pretty good football.

A 100 percent completion percentage is nothing to scoff at.

I'm not saying he's arrived, I'm just saying we should be encouraged by his performance. What else can you ask of a guy but to show improvement every week?

3. James Davis finally started to show why many of us felt like he could be the next big thing in Cleveland before he got hurt last year.

He produced over 100 yards of offense. He showed the ability to be a factor in the passing game. If Harrison struggles this year, he very well may get his chance to show his stuff this season.

Now that preseason is over, I've seen knee-jerk reactions left and right. "Should we sign Antonio Bryant? Should we trade for TJ Houshmandzadeh? Should we try to sign another running back since Hardesty's out for the year?"

Everyone, calm down.

What we have now is pretty much the same as what we thought we were going to have. In fact, with the emergence of a decent passing game and receivers who seem to actually be able to hold onto the ball, I'd say we're a little bit ahead of where I thought we were going to be heading into training camp.

Hardesty's injury means a few different things. First, it means that Jerome Harrison is definitely going to start the season as our featured back. Second, it means that James Davis is going to have to step up his game, because he's probably going to get some meaningful carries this year. And third, it means that Peyton Hillis is going to have a more meaningful role in the offense than I previously thought he would.

I don't see any of things as particular negatives.

What if Harrison falters? Well then, Davis and Hillis will get a chance to shine. If our passing game continues to be effective, I actually think that having Hillis getting a lot of carries could be a huge positive. The guy is a beast, and it will definitely take eight men in the box to keep him from running people over for four to five yards a pop with ease.

What I'm basically saying is that everyone is rushing to judge the choice to trade up to draft Hardesty as some kind of monumental error in judgement on the part of the front office.

Maybe it will turn out not to have been the best move. They took a couple of risks in this years draft. But just because one of those risks is starting to look like a mistake, doesn't mean the sky is falling.

This is still a team in rebuilding mode, and there are going to be some hiccups along the way.

But overall, I'm ecstatic with the progress I've seen this team make, and I look forward to a brighter future for the Cleveland Browns, and the greatest fans on earth.