Rookie cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, a seventh-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in May, is likely to miss the 2015 season as he continues to recover from a knee injury that he suffered in college, head coach Mike Pettine told the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Wednesday.
The Browns had placed Ekpre-Olomu on the active/non-football injury list last Wednesday, and he had not been expected to contribute much this season.
A first-team All-American at Oregon, Ekpre-Olomu, 22, was considered a potential first-round pick before he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and dislocated kneecap during a practice in December leading up to the Ducks' appearance in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual against Florida State.
The Browns drafted him in the seventh round with the 241st overall pick.
Pettine said the team knew Ekpre-Olomu would probably sit out this season.
"Players that have had this injury before, it's rare that you would return that season," he said. "Given our depth, we're very comfortable with him sitting out. That's just one that we felt it was a low-risk, high-reward move when we took him in the seventh round. There's no reason to rush it back given the depth in that room now anyway."
Among the cornerbacks on Cleveland's depth chart are Tramon Williams, K'Waun Williams, and Justin Gilbert, who was the team's first-round pick last year.