BEREA: Browns rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman was in such a good mood Monday that he knocked on ’Wood instead of just wood.
Coleman has an optimistic outlook about his chances to rebound from the broken right hand he suffered in Wednesday’s practice, and the first-round draft pick’s playful demeanor reflected his glass-half-full mentality.
As Coleman explained he had never previously broken a bone in his life, he knocked on his wooden locker to avoid jinxing himself. Then he doubled down by knocking on the head of locker-room neighbor and rookie wide receiver Rashard Higgins, whose friends sometime shorten his nickname of Hollywood to ’Wood.
“Knock on wood,” Coleman said with a smile.
Coleman, though, wasn’t upbeat when the injury first occurred. The setback happened three days after he had a breakout game with five catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns Sept. 18 in a 25-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
“I was mad and sad because I really wanted to play, but everything happens for a reason,” Coleman said, speaking for the first time since he was injured. “So I’m going to be good. I’m going be back healthy and full speed.”
A hand specialist examined Coleman on Thursday, determined he won’t need surgery and gave him a timetable of four to six weeks to play again.
“That’s a blessing that I don’t have to have surgery,” said Coleman, the 15th overall selection. “Now it’s just waiting time.”
Coleman’s hand is in a cast, which he expects to have removed in a week or two.
“I still win in Madden,” Coleman said of his video game prowess.
Coleman said he was hurt when he ran a dig route, caught the ball and took a hit from a safety. One of his fingers got caught against the defender’s pads and bent.
“He didn’t try to hurt me or anything,” Coleman said. “It was a freak accident.”
But Coleman continued to practice and finished the session because he thought he had suffered a jammed finger or a sprain. The medical staff monitored the situation and later X-rayed the hand, whereupon the fracture was revealed.
“I was shocked,” said Coleman, who pointed to the middle of the back of his hand when asked where it’s broken.
Coleman, who caught seven passes for 173 yards (24.7 average) and two touchdowns in his first two games, said he expects the timetable of four to six weeks to hold true.
“Whenever the trainers and doctors say it’s best for me to come back, that’s when I’ll be back,” Coleman said. “I’ll do everything I can and make sure I’m doing everything right on my part to get back.”
Off-field trouble
Browns offensive lineman Alvin Bailey was arrested early Monday morning in North Royalton and charged with operating a vehicle impaired.
“We are aware of the incident and have spoken to Alvin to express our displeasure and extreme disappointment,” Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said Monday night in a prepared statement. “This is a matter that must be taken very seriously, and we will comment further at the appropriate time.”
Bailey, 25, is subject to discipline from the NFL under its personal-conduct policy. The league has been made aware of the incident.
A free-agent acquisition from Seattle, Bailey started Sunday at right guard. His first start of the season was a result of John Greco moving from right guard to center in the starting lineup with Cameron Erving (bruised lung) sidelined.
Citing a police report, the Royalton Post reported Bailey was exiting his pickup truck in a Cleveland Metroparks parking lot when an officer spotted him at 12:57 a.m. Bailey said he was letting air out of the truck’s tires.
He repeatedly ignored the officer’s orders to go back inside the truck, according to the report. He later told police he had been drinking at a business on Pearl Road and also had consumed “several whiskeys” on the Browns’ flight back from Sunday’s game in Miami.
Drinking on the plane would be a violation of team and NFL rules, so Bailey would be subject to discipline from the Browns. Their charter flight landed in Cleveland at about 8:45 p.m. Sunday.
Police arrested Bailey after he performed poorly on sobriety tests and tested above the legal limit on a portable breath test, per the report. When police searched his truck, a substance believed to be marijuana was found.
He was cited for failure to comply, drug abuse, drug paraphernalia, speeding and having a vehicle with a cracked windshield deemed to be unsafe, according to the report. He has a court date scheduled for Thursday.
Bailey was in the locker room Monday afternoon at Browns headquarters. The team is still gathering information about the arrest, so it remains to be seen whether it’ll cut Bailey.
Injury updates
Coach Hue Jackson said he expects two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden back in action after he was inactive against the Dolphins with a groin injury suffered in Thursday’s practice.
“It was a true game-time decision,” Jackson said. “I think it was the right thing to do for Joe and his long-term health and for the health of our team as we continue to move forward. I expect Joe to be back and playing.”
Jackson said outside linebacker Nate Orchard will be out for a while with a high left ankle sprain and cornerback Tramon Williams is day-to-day with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder.
Extra points
• Jackson on the everlasting narrative that the Browns are tanking this season: “We are not tanking a season. If that was the case, then we wouldn’t be trying as hard as we are. I’m not after a first pick. I’m not after any of that. I don’t think our organization is after that. We are trying to win as many games as we can win. It would make no sense to tank a season. If that is what I thought we were about, I wouldn’t be sitting here today.”
• Will Jackson expand his use of quarterback-turned-wide receiver Terrelle Pryor in the Wildcat? “You never know,” Jackson replied. “We will see.” Pryor added, “Whatever it takes to win.”
• Defensive lineman John Hughes, a 2012 third-round draft pick of the Browns whom they cut last week, signed with the New England Patriots. Hughes thanked Browns fans on Twitter. “Cleveland always in my heart but on to helping the Patriots win their next Super Bowl!!!”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.