A good sign

Training camp is the scariest part of the season for professional football teams. The glow that emerges with all 32 teams on day one of camp can be extinguished just like that.

All it takes is one major injury to a key player and poof, Plan B suddenly comes into focus. Monday in Berea arose such a situation that has what appears to be on the surface, a good ending, eliciting a huge sign of relief among the denizens of Browns Nation.

Middle linebacker Anthony Walker walked -- reportedly limped -- off the field after sustaining a knee injury. Day three of camp and here we go again. Hasn't this franchise had enough devilishly bad news early in camp over the last two decades? 

The club declined to talk about it other than to say Walker, who is counted on to be one of the major pieces -- the defensive signal-caller -- of a total revamp on that side of the football, will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. 

My most immediate thought, of course, given the history of such an occurrence with this club, Walker is gone for the season. That's my pessimistic gene out of control. And why not? Wouldn't be the first time it was correct.

So when word filtered down Tuesday that the MRI revealed no damage and that Walker would miss anywhere from one to two weeks, my initial reaction was that the good fortune this team experienced last season was a precursor to more of the same this season.

It is a sign that it's going to be different in 2021. The bad news that annually clobbered this franchise early in the season since its rebirth in 1999 has seemingly taken a turn for the better. How refreshing.

After resting the dinged knee, Walker is expected to be as good as new, or as good as any player should feel after playing a game where collisions are not only inevitable, but the norm. He is expected to be ready for the regular-season opener on Sept. 12 in Kansas City.

The argument can be made that the middle linebacker, especially someone as savvy as Walker, is the most important player on that unit. He is the connector between the plug uglies in front him and the secondary behind him. Losing him for the season would have been a significant blow. 

Look for defensive coordinator Joe Woods to lean heavily on his young veteran to make certain the execution of the defense runs smoothly and correctly. No blown assignments, which last season occurred way too often, forcing the offense to simply outscore the opposition.

That won't be the case this season. And Walker will be one of the major reasons why.