The Cleveland Browns’ training camp injury list got longer on Thursday. Offensive lineman Zak Zinter left practice on a cart, becoming the latest Browns player sidelined during the first week of camp.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot was first to report the news.
#Browns Zak Zinter carted into the fieldhouse. The injuries continue to mount.
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) August 6, 2026
The nature and severity of Zinter’s injury has not been announced. The Browns are expected to evaluate him before releasing any official update on his status.
Zinter’s Path Back From a Brutal College Injury
This isn’t Zinter’s first time riding a cart off a football field. The 25-year-old suffered a fractured tibia and fibula during his final season at Michigan, an injury that required surgery and reshaped his pre-draft process. He worked through rehab instead of training for the combine, and Cleveland still took him in the third round of the 2024 draft.
He answered that bet as a rookie. Zinter appeared in 17 games for the Browns in 2024, starting three, and held up as steady depth on an offensive line stacked with veterans. Last season was quieter — five games, no starts — but that came down to his role as a backup, not another injury.
Depending on what Thursday’s injury turns out to be, Zinter projects to stay in that same depth role behind starting guards Zion Johnson and Teven Jenkins.
A Camp Already Short on Healthy Bodies
Zinter is now one of more than ten Browns players dealing with some form of injury or setback through the first week of camp, a stretch that has already forced coach Todd Monken to shuffle reps across multiple position groups. That pileup puts extra pressure on Monken and his staff heading into the preseason opener against the Chicago Bears on August 15.
Cleveland’s medical and training staff will have the next several days to sort out Zinter’s status before that game. According to ClutchPoints, Monken has pushed the team to play fast and physical in camp — an approach that raises the stakes of every injury like Zinter’s.
An official update on Zinter is expected in the coming days. Until the Browns clarify what he’s dealing with, his timeline and any impact on the offensive line rotation remain unconfirmed.
