Former Packers Wide Receiver Charles Johnson Has Torn ACL

The fascinating injury saga of the 2013 Green Bay Packers now has extended its reach out to another NFL team. You'll recall that over the weekend, the Cleveland Browns signed seventh-round draft pick and Packers' practice squad wide receiver Charles Johnson to their 53-man roster. About 24 hours later, the Packers lost starting wideouts James Jones and Randall Cobb to injuries in their game against the Ravens.

Well, now it turns out that Johnson would not have helped anyway, even if he had stayed in Green Bay.

#Browns discovered torn ACL in knee of new WR Charles Johnson during intro physical. Will be placed on non-football injury list.

— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) October 16, 2013

Seriously?

Here's an even more fascinating little tidbit: because the Browns signed Johnson off another team's practice squad, they'll be down a man on their active roster for a while:

#Browns can't add 53rd man to active roster for 2 more weeks because Charles Johnson was signed off Packers practice squad.

— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) October 16, 2013

At worst, this makes the Browns' signing of Johnson moot, at least as far as it would have affected the Packers' active roster. For this author, it calls into question the Browns' personnel and medical practices, however, as Johnson clearly was not given a physical exam before he was signed.

Then again, if the Packers had identified the torn ACL, they could potentially have put Johnson on Injured Reserve and brought him back to compete for a roster spot next spring.