Montario Hardesty expects to be ready for the Browns' opener at Tampa.
Montario Hardesty, the Cleveland Browns rookie running back, broke his silence with a confident statement today: “I’ll be ready way before the opener,” according to Mark Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer.
The Browns open the regular season at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sept. 12. Hardesty, who has been silent all throughout training camp, closed out rookie camp with a bone bruise on his right knee. He has already undergone reconstructive surgery on that knee following an ACL tear in 2005.
The Browns pegged Hardesty as a top contributor from the beginning. They shuffled their draft picks by trading a third-round pick and two fifth-round picks to acquire the Tennessee product in the second-round.
Hardesty and head coach Eric Mangini are both confident in the rookie’s ability to bounce back and make an impact from the get-go. Although the injury has slowed the running back down during the preseason, Hardesty said he will still perform to the best of his ability. ”I set my standards high,” the rookie said, and he has every hope he will meet those standards.