Cleveland Loses Brown to Injury

Courtney Brown was put on injured reserve Wednesday by the Cleveland Browns, the latest blow to the injury-plagued defensive end who was the first overall pick in the 2000 draft.

Brown, who has struggled through a season of injuries and ineffective play, will have knee surgery today.

Coach Butch Davis said Monday that Brown appears to have cartilage damage -- but no ligament damage -- in his left knee.

Brown bruised the knee during Cleveland’s 24-15 victory over New Orleans on Nov. 24. He played Dec. 1 against Carolina but sat out the last two games.

Brown started 16 games as a rookie. But in 2001 he sat out 11 games because of knee and ankle injuries, and ended the season on injured reserve.

When healthy, Brown has shown he could become the standout he was projected to be. Against Chicago last season, he had three sacks and returned a fumble recovery 35 yards for a touchdown.

He had only two sacks this season.

*

Kansas City running back Priest Holmes’ season may have ended because of a hip injury.

“I would say there’s a good chance it’s over,” Coach Dick Vermeil said after talking with doctors.

Holmes is definitely out for Sunday’s game against San Diego, Vermeil said. As for the regular-season finale at Oakland a week from Saturday, Vermeil said, “I think it’s doubtful.”

Vermeil will not automatically place Holmes on the injured reserve list because specialists in Kansas City, New York and Florida have agreed there is a possibility Holmes could return this season.

Holmes left Sunday’s game against Denver when he was pulled down awkwardly after a 56-yard run that boosted his rushing total for the season to a franchise-record 1,615 yards, passing Miami’s Ricky Williams for the league lead.

*

Former UCLA running back Skip Hicks signed with Carolina.

To make room for Hicks, the Panthers put Lamar Smith on injured reserve. Smith was charged with drunken driving last month and has been on a leave of absence since his arrest.

Hicks spent last year with the Tennessee Titans, who released him before this season. He has played in 38 games in four years, rushing for 1,109 yards and 13 touchdowns.

*

Houston offensive lineman DeMingo Graham was suspended by the league for four games for using a banned substance. He will sit out the last two games this season and the first two next season....Miami guard Jamie Nails had surgery on his left Achilles’ tendon and arthroscopic surgery on his knees to relieve swelling and other problems....Cornerback Jason Bostic was put on the Buffalo Bills’ injured reserve list after having surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right knee.

*

Former Jacksonville offensive lineman Jeff Novak accepted a $2-million settlement in his malpractice lawsuit against a former team doctor.

The settlement was reached Aug. 6, according to the Florida state department of health.

Novak was awarded a $5.35-million judgment against Stephen Lucie in July, but a judge threw out the verdict days later, saying Novak did not prove he received negligent treatment for a bone bruise in 1998 that allegedly led to infections that ended his career.