BEREA, Ohio — Being placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list as a professional player is never an ideal situation, but returning to the field after an injury is a “phenomenal” feeling for Cleveland Browns WR David Bell.
“It feels phenomenal to be back, to be back on the field with the players most importantly now,” he said. “Being able to finally be out there and be in the offense and being able to run the routes so I can be more familiar with it.”
Bell was placed on the PUP list on July 22 after feeling pain in his foot, which he just “woke up” with one morning.
“I just really woke up one day and it was just aching a little bit, so I just went here. I had to get an X-ray and the X-ray just showed what happened,” he said. “We got a plan together to just get back as soon as possible.”
#Browns David Bell said he's been working overtime to get up to speed to start the season.
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) August 7, 2022
"Been staying after with Josh Dobbs pretty much since the start of training camp going over the plays, making sure I know what to do if I'm called outside or inside."
After recovering from what turned out to be a stress fracture, giving trust to the spot that just healed can be questionable. However, Bell says he has “full confidence” in his foot.
"I think once you get back out on the field and know, because we do a lot of things to prepare me to get back out on the field,” he said. “So even before I was on the field, I was also doing stuff with the training staff to make sure once I stepped on there, it's 100% go. I have full confidence in my foot that it's going to hold up the whole season."
The rookie out of Purdue University was the 90th pick overall in the 2022 NFL Draft for the Browns.
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