BEREA, Ohio _ Browns two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden revealed Thursday he'll undergo surgery soon after the Jan. 1 season finale to repair the two groin injuries he's pushed through this season.
Haden said he'll have surgery within a week of the season ending. He explained the timetable for recovery is "about a month and a half to two months max."
"I'll be back for offseason workouts for sure," he added. "Be good to go, 100 percent."
Haden suffered a left groin injury in practice before the Browns faced the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 25 and missed the game. Then he suffered a right groin injury in practice before they played the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 16 and missed two games.
He's played despite the pain ever since.
Haden, 27, found out about two weeks ago that he'll need surgery, so why didn't he shut it down in the midst of a winless season?
After all, the Browns (0-14) have just two games left: Saturday at home versus the San Diego Chargers (5-9) and Jan. 1 at the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5).
"I love ball," Haden said. "Last season, it put it in perspective for me big time that it can be gone so fast. I mean this is my seventh season. Next year will be my eighth year. I'm not getting any younger. I love the game. I want to win. I want to win really bad. I want to win with my guys, and I feel like with me out there, it gives us the best chance to do so.
"I don't want to cut them short. I mean everything that we've been through, especially with my rehab and stuff. I'm in a different place. I'm with a different perspective. I just want to be with my dudes. For them to vote me as a captain, I feel like I have an obligation to them to make sure I'm out there and doing what I can do."
After a 2015 season in which he missed 11 games with two concussions and other injuries, Haden was named a Pro Bowl alternate Tuesday. His performance hasn't met his standards, but he hasn't been healthy since September, either.
"I just appreciated that fans, coaches and everybody still respected how I was playing this year, even though it didn't go nowhere near the way I expected it to, being injured and just trying to fight through the season with the wins and losses and everything like that," he said.
"This wasn't the year or season I wanted for myself, but at the end of the day, when you haven't won any games, it makes it a lot easier to pick on everything that's going on. From looking at the film, my season wasn't really that bad."
Haden has started all 11 games in which he's appeared and compiled 38 tackles, 10 passes defensed and three interceptions.
"For him to be nominated (for a Pro Bowl), I don't care what the alternate system is, I know what he has been through from a physical standpoint," Browns coach Hue Jackson said. "For him to still be out there competing, it says a lot to me because it could have been another year when he was not out there competing.
"I am most appreciative of those guys because that is how you build teams because guys, they fight for each other, they fight for their coaches, they are out there together and it does not feel good all the time, but they are trying to get it done."
