BEREA, Ohio _ The Browns experienced some semblance of relief Thursday when a hand specialist determined rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman won't need surgery on his fractured right hand and gave the first-round draft pick a timetable of four to six weeks to play again.
Coleman, the 15th overall choice, banged his hand in practice Wednesday but participated fully. It wasn't until afterward that the hand began to bother him. X-rays then revealed a fracture.
"I probably was the most surprised when our medical staff came up to tell me," coach Hue Jackson said Thursday after practice. "I almost fell out of my chair. I told (medical personnel), 'You have to be kidding me' because the guy practiced the whole practice."
Jackson said he didn't know exactly when the injury occurred in practice and explained it was originally thought to be "a jammed finger." The coach said Coleman is frustrated because he's never "had a broken bone in his body. This is new to him."
It's only Week 3, yet the Browns have already lost six starters, including two quarterbacks, to injury. Rookie Cody Kessler will become the third quarterback to start this season for the Browns (0-2) when they visit the Miami Dolphins (0-2) on Sunday.
Jackson, though, insisted his world hasn't been rocked by the misfortune.
"I'm not blinking. ... When you are changing things and you are trying to come from where we've been, these are the things that you have to go through," Jackson said. "(There's a) saying _ 'Without struggle, there would be no progress.' We are struggling, but we are going to get some progress here pretty soon. I promise you that."
Jackson said he'd feel differently if some of the players weren't expected to return this year.
"These guys are going to come back and hopefully come back and hit the ground running where they were," he said. "We hate it, but these things do happen."
Jackson conceded he wouldn't have handled the rash of injuries as well if he were a first-year NFL head coach. He got that experience under his belt with the Oakland Raiders in 2011.
"You all would have been digging me out of the locker room if I hadn't done this before _ somewhere buried deep," he said.
Losing Coleman is a blow, especially because he had a breakout game Sunday in a 25-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens with five catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns. He has seven catches for a team-high 173 yards (24.7 average). His two receiving touchdowns also lead the Browns.
"It's just bad luck," said veteran wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, who will start in place of Coleman opposite Terrelle Pryor. "I have full confidence in all the guys who have to step up."
Rookies Rashard Higgins (fifth-round pick), Ricardo Louis (fourth) and Jordan Payton (fifth) will receive an opportunity to play more with Coleman out. None of them has a catch this season.
"They brought me in here for a reason," Higgins said. "That was to showcase what I can do on the field, and obviously if somebody goes down, then it's my time."
Higgins said during training camp his goal is to score seven touchdowns this season.
"I might get four Sunday," Higgins said. "So you've got to stay tuned."
