BEREA, Ohio _ Browns starting free safety Jordan Poyer remained hospitalized for observation Monday after suffering a lacerated kidney that could end his season.
"Obviously a kidney is a serious thing," coach Hue Jackson said Monday. "I hope we can [get Poyer back this season], but if we don't, I do understand that too, because that's something that's very serious."
Jackson said he exchanged texts with Poyer and hoped he'd be released from the hospital soon.
"He wants to be back with his teammates, battling with those guys," Jackson said. "Like most of our players do, they feel like when they're not around these guys like they're letting them down. He's not. He took a major hit. Obviously that's going to take some time for him to heal."
As Poyer ran down the field on punt coverage Sunday in a 28-26 loss to the Tennessee Titans, running back Antonio Andrews blasted him in the midsection, chest and face mask.
Poyer writhed on the ground and remained there for several minutes after absorbing the hit with 6:33 left in the second quarter. He eventually walked to the sideline with medical personnel who checked him for a concussion and carted him off the field from the sideline. Jackson said he doesn't know whether Poyer suffered a concussion.
Poyer was taken to St. Thomas Midtown Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., before halftime and stayed there overnight.
Jackson said Poyer was in high spirits when they communicated.
"He was playing good, too," Jackson said. "And he had probably, in my opinion, one of his best weeks of practice, and I think he was looking to have a tremendous game and that's a blow because he's one of our better players. But we want to wish him well, a speedy recovery."
Andrews was penalized for an illegal blindside block, but Jackson didn't criticize him for delivering the devastating hit.
"It's football," Jackson said. "You have an assignment. You have a guy to block, and the guy's clearly in your sights. ... I don't think the player was intentionally trying to hurt him. I think he was trying to do his job, which was block him, and he did. He blocked him. He might've led with his head a little bit, but that's what he got flagged for. That's part of this game."
