D'Onta Foreman debuts with Browns 16 days after scary injury and his first helicopter ride

CLEVELAND — D'Onta Foreman's twin brother, Armanti, happened to be searching the new Browns running back's name on social media and discovered frightening news as it broke Aug. 1.

Foreman had suffered a neck injury while absorbing a blow to the head during a punt coverage drill at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. He felt a sharp pain run down his spine and told medical personnel. He was immobilized on the field and eventually taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital.

“I was scared,” Foreman said Saturday night, speaking to media for the first time since the injury occurred. “I was nervous. But they kept me calm, and they just made sure that I knew that everything was just kind of precautionary.”

Foreman said his brother, mother and agent were panicking until they received word he was stable. He was able to talk to them roughly an hour after they were notified.

Sixteen days later, Foreman made his Browns preseason debut Saturday evening, carrying the ball 10 times for 18 yards (1.8 average) and a touchdown and catching five passes on five targets for 46 yards in Cleveland's 27-12 loss to the Minnesota Vikings .

“I've been through a lot, man, and I'm just thankful to still be here, thankful to still be working and just doing the things I love to do,” Foreman said in the home team's locker room at Cleveland Browns Stadium. “It's bigger than football as well. I'm thankful to just be able to walk around and be myself every day.”

Foreman's family and the Browns are grateful, too. Foreman was released from the hospital the same day he suffered the injury after X-rays and CT scans were negative. He said he was never diagnosed with a concussion, but the pain spread from his neck to lower back. After a week had passed, the results of more testing, including an MRI, showed Foreman would be cleared to play.

“I talked to the doctor, and he showed me all of my pictures, all of my images from everything,” Foreman said. “He told me I was good and told me that I wouldn't probably have much [aftereffects] later on in my life.”

Foreman, 28, reached an agreement in March to join the Browns as an unrestricted free agent. His one-year contract is worth $1.29 million, according to spotrac.com, and the team plans to use him along with Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr. to hold down the fort in the running game while four-time Pro Bowl selection Nick Chubb works his way back from two knee surgeries he underwent last year.

“Wherever they need me at, I'm going to take full advantage of the moment, opportunity and I will excel in whatever role they put me in,” said Foreman, who has played for four NFL teams in the past six seasons and appeared in 54 games, including two in the playoffs.

Foreman scored the Browns' only touchdown in their second preseason game, rushing for a 1-yard score with 7:18 left in the first quarter on second-and-goal.

“Ran very hard,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “That's kind of his game. He puts his weight down and stays low and goes forward, and I thought that's what he did when he got the ball in his hands. Obviously, he had a nose for the goal line.”

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Foreman said he didn't want to think about the injury during the game, but his body reminded him.

“It kind of came back in my mind after I got in the end zone on the first touchdown and I felt my neck,” Foreman said. “It got sore and tight, and I was like, 'Dang!' Because I hadn't really been hit, but it's not nothing I'm worried about. I think I can get that cleared up with some needles and some treatment.”

Football is a brutally violent sport, and Foreman knows he's lucky he can now tell the wild tale of his injury with a smile on his face. He didn't want to ride a helicopter for the first time in an emergency situation, but it happened because of The Greenbrier's remote location and the concerns medical professionals had about him.

“It was crazy because Coach Stefanski, he saw me right afterwards when I came back,” said Foreman, who reunited with the Browns after a four- or five-hour hospital visit. “I ran into him.

“He was like, 'Have you ever been on the helicopter before?' I was like, 'No, this is my first time.' He's like, 'You'll never forget that.' Yeah, I never will.”

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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: D'Onta Foreman debuts with Browns 16 days after scary injury and his first helicopter ride