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Damn.

The Browns announced today that Braylon Edwards did in fact tear the ACL in his right knee Sunday, prematurely ending his rookie season while also jeopardizing some or most of next year.

Kellen Winslow, Sean Jones, Edwards…what’s up with the string of awful luck Browns rookies have run through the past couple of years? Let’s hope this doesn’t affect Braylon’s long-term outlook, because with the Droughns/Frye/Edwards offensive combo, I was just starting to get excited about the team’s future. Now, you’ve got no idea what to expect from Braylon and Winslow going forward.

The biggest news from this Browns loss is that Charlie Frye is for real, and should start. This game had the feel of Bernie Kosar’s first start…the spot is his, and he’s never giving it back. In a game in which he got the rookie’s-first-start pass rush pummelling treatment from the league’s #2 pass defense, he delivered a great first half, and hung in there in the second, with style and flair. I cannot imagine a scenario that would justify starting Trent Dilfer next week outside of injury to Frye. Crennel is being coy.

Let’s assume Crennel is just trying to force the Bengals to prepare for both Frye & Dilfer, but that little trick is only gonna work one more time.

This is gonna sound terrible, but a torn ACL might be the best medicine for Braylon Edwards.

If that’s the case, Edwards’ recovery could take up to a year, meaning he could miss a fair amount of the 2006 season…If Edwards, the No. 3 overall pick this year, sustained something less serious than a torn ACL, such as a torn medial collateral ligament, the recovery time would be a lot shorter.

I’m hoping for the latter, so we get him back next year. But there’s nothing quite so humbling as fate, is there?