Cleveland Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has been sidelined since the middle of the 2024 season after suffering a neck injury against the Baltimore Ravens.
While obviously scary, there was hope that JOK would make it back to the field for the 2025 season and regain the form that sent him to the Pro Bowl in 2023. That hope proved fruitless when the Browns placed him on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list in May of 2025, and he then subsequently missed the entire 2025 season.
Cleveland general manager Andrew Berry was able to fill some of the void with the selection of linebacker Carson Schwesinger in the 2025 NFL Draft, and Schwesinger would go on to win Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
That sparked renewed optimism that JOK would be back this season and, paired with Schwesinger, would provide a boost to an already talented Cleveland defense.
Sadly, once again, that does not seem to be on the horizon, as cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot is reporting that it now appears Owusu-Koramoah’s NFL career is over:
Owusu-Koramoah, who suffered a serious neck injury in a violent collision with Ravens running back Derrick Henry on Oct 27, 2024, is doubtful at best to ever make it back to the playing field, a league source tells cleveland.com.
It is an unfortunate end to what was a promising start to JOK’s career after the Browns selected him in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft. In 49 games, Owusu-Koramoah amassed 308 tackles, eight sacks, 14 quarterback hits, and 40 tackles for loss.
He also continued to make an impact off the field, most notably through an annual football camp in Accra, Ghana, through his Natural Knowledge Wisdom Advancement (NKWA) foundation, which seeks to provide equal opportunities and education to student-athletes while emphasizing the importance of a well-rounded mind, body, and spirit.
In addition to the work he does through his foundation, Owusu-Koramoah has also been an active participant in NFL Africa: The Touchdown, a league-sponsored initiative that includes a talent identification camp, fan events, and a flag football clinic.
If this is truly the end of his career, Owusu-Koramoah will be missed by the Browns and their fans. But his continued community service to the game of football and his ancestral home mean that the NFL has not heard the last of him.