The Cleveland Browns choose FS Derrick Kindred as the No. 129 overall pick in round 4.
On playing an entire season with a broken collarbone:
“At TCU, we have great staff around us. Our strength and conditioning coach, he did a great job of keeping me healthy rehab-wise and our trainers did a great job keeping me healthy throughout this whole season, monitoring me and keeping me in rehab.”
On if the collarbone injury required surgery and if he had to adjust his tackling style with the injury:
“No sir, I didn’t even have to get surgery on it. They gave me a couple options. Either I had surgery and sat out the whole year; get surgery, put a plate in there and sit out eight weeks or I could play the whole season with it. At the time, I felt like the team needed me to step up and be a leader out there so I took the risk and took the chance of playing through it with it hurt.”
On the level of pain and if he felt it with every tackle:
“Every time I made a tackle, I kind of didn’t feel it because of all the padding I had on there. I had some gel padding. I had extra padding on my shoulder pads. I really didn’t feel it during the game because of adrenaline and things like that, but after the games, it was hurting a lot. I was in pain and had to take pain medicine for it and things like that. As far as having to switch up my tackling style, I really did try too much not too think about it, but if I led with my left shoulder, then it just happened. I had to get the guy down. Most of the time, I tried to go with my right (shoulder).”
On if playing through the broken collarbone taught him anything about himself:
“I always knew I was tough. I kind of made the decision to play through it myself. Coach P (TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson), he already had in his mind that I was going to sit out and redshirt, but I walked in the room and told him that I was going to play. As far as the toughness part, I already knew I was pretty tough. It was just another stepping stone of showing my abilities and getting better from there.”
On making the decision to not take a redshirt year and play through the injury:
“It was very difficult. It happened two days before the season opener against Minnesota. I was so ready to play the game. It was a difficult decision on my part. It could’ve either gotten worse or it could’ve gotten better throughout the season, which it did.”
On if he will need surgery in the future and risk for injury:
“No sir. It’s fully healed right now. I took the time out during training through the pro day and the combine, and I wasn’t doing bench pressing or anything like that until the week before my pro day. I still had a majority of my strength there. Over time, just getting it back stronger and it’s already pretty strong but getting it back stronger than how it was. I’ll be fine.”
On if his first game was the most painful playing with the injury:
“Yeah, it was my first game playing with it. I actually led with that shoulder to make the forced fumble on the goal line. I didn’t feel it after that. They brought me over to the sidelines and was like, ‘You know you led with your left shoulder?’ and I was like I didn’t even realize it. On the plan ride back from Minnesota, I was in a lot of pain. I couldn’t go to sleep on the plane or anything like that. Then I got home and it was just aching me. I couldn’t sleep or anything.”
On his interaction with the Browns before the draft:
“I just talked to them at pro day. They were just telling me that I was on the radar and I looked forward to talking with them more throughout this process. They kept their word and I really appreciate that.”
On how he sustained the collarbone injury:
“I broke the collarbone defending the play. It was our perfect Thursday, so we’d just go practice with helmets on and I tripped over a guy and landed right on it. From there, I felt it snap and I knew something was wrong with it because that was my first serious injury out of my whole career playing football.”
On if he views himself as more of a free safety or a strong safety:
“As for being a free or strong safety, I’m good at playing both. I can be a strong safety and be on the line of scrimmage and make the big plays or I can be at the back end playing the deep ball.”
