Suspended Browns RB Hunt undergoes sports hernia surgery

CLEVELAND (AP) — Browns running back Kareem Hunt will spend part of his NFL suspension rehabbing after surgery.

Hunt, who will serve an eight-game ban for two physical off-field altercations in 2018 while he played for Kansas City, had a sports hernia operation Thursday — hours before the Browns played Detroit in their exhibition finale.

Hunt had been expected to play in what would have been his last game until his ban ends in November. The Browns said the 24-year-old is expected to be fully recovered by the time he’s eligible to return to their roster for the Nov. 10 game against Buffalo.

On Wednesday, the league said Hunt is not allowed inside the team’s facility during his suspension, which goes into effect Saturday at 4 p.m. The Browns had asked for an exemption so Hunt could be around his teammates while serving his penalty.

Hunt, who is from the Cleveland area, will now have to rehab his injury elsewhere.

The Browns signed the league’s 2017 rushing leader in February on the recommendation of general manager John Dorsey, who drafted Hunt in the third round in 2017 while he was Kansas City’s GM.

Hunt was punished by Commissioner Roger Goodell for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy following an investigation into the two incidents, one in which he shoved and kicked a woman during an argument in a hotel hallway in Cleveland where he was staying.

The Chiefs released him in the final weeks of their playoff push last season. The team was upset that Hunt had lied to them about his involvement in the incidents.

Hunt gained 1,327 yards rushing as a rookie. He had 824 yards rushing and 378 yards receiving in 11 games in 2018 before the Chiefs cut ties with him.