Browns LT Dawand Jones carted off with an ankle injury that will require season-ending surgery

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Cleveland Browns left tackle Dawand Jones fractured a bone in his lower left leg and was carted off the field wearing an air cast in the first half of Sunday's loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said the injury will require surgery and end Jones' season.

“He knew it right away, and I feel bad for him,” Stefanski said following the Saints' 35-14 win. "I felt he was doing some decent things over there.”

Jones appeared to be telling Browns medical personnel that he thought his ankle was broken while they treated him on the field.

Jones' injury came at a particularly inopportune time for Cleveland.

On Saturday, the Browns downgraded usual first-string offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. to out with a knee injury.

That move came days after Wills said he made a “business decision” by not playing in a game last month against Baltimore because his surgically repaired knee wasn’t right. Stefanski later said Wills, a first-round pick in 2020, used a “poor choice of words” in explaining his decision to sit out.

Wills, who'd been listed on the team’s injury report this week, but as a “full” participant, was replaced in Sunday's lineup by the 6-foot-8, 374-pound Jones, a 2023 fourth-round draft choice out of Ohio State. After Jones went down, reserve tackle Germain Ifedi entered the game.

Meanwhile, Browns defensive back Denzel Ward went to the locker room after a hard hit that caused Saints tight end Taysom Hill's lost fumble deep in Cleveland territory in the second quarter.

The Browns said Ward had a chest injury, but he returned for Cleveland's first defensive series of the second half.

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Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Dawand Jones (79) is carted off the field after an injury in the first half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Dawand Jones (79) is attended to after an injury in the first half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Dawand Jones (79) is carted off the field after an injury in the first half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As soon as it left his hands, Julius Randle knew his winning 3-pointer was going in.

Randle got the ball with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns tied at 117 and 2.1 seconds to play. Minnesota, which battled back from 16 points down, advanced the ball down the court with a timeout to set up one final shot on an inbounds play.

With veteran Joe Ingles coming into the game solely to inbound the ball, he found Randle at the top of the key. Randle took two dribbles, shook defender Josh Okogie, stepped back and fired from 3.

The buzzer sounded just after the ball left Randle's hands. When the shot dropped through the net, the Target Center crowd erupted, and Randle's teammates mobbed him on the court.

"Really the fun part was just seeing how my teammates celebrate,” Randle said. “We’re a very connected group, and we’re going to celebrate each others’ success. So for me, that was the coolest part.”

Randle's 35 points were the most he's scored since joining the Wolves in a deal that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks and also brought Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota.

Making the moment extra special for Randle was that both of his sons were at the game. While Randle said his older son is at most games, his younger son typically isn't. But he was in the building along with 18,977 other fans to witness his dad's shot.

“I think this is maybe his second game he's come to. He hates them,” Randle said of his 3-year-old son. “For him to be here and hit the shot in front of him is pretty cool.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) goes up to shoot a 3-point basket to defeat the Phoenix Suns as time ends in the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)