Browns General Manager Tom Heckert defended his decision to draft Montario Hardesty despite the running back's injury history, but he admitted it was a little risky. Hardesty suffered a torn left anterior cruciate ligament in the final preseason game against the Bears and is on injured reserve for the season. He will undergo surgery, then embark on an estimated 9- to 12-month rehabilitation process. "Was it riskier than a guy that had never been injured?" Heckert said Sunday on a conference call. "Yeah, but we felt comfortable when we took him that he was going to be OK. We obviously brought him in for physicals and we spent a lot of time with our doctors, and we felt comfortable doing that." He could not confirm several reports that Hardesty was flagged during the draft because of microfracture surgery on his right knee. Microfracture involved drilling small holes in the knee to spur the growth of a cartilage-like substance. "I'm not real sure," he said. "I'd have to go back and look. But I really don't want to get into what surgery he had or didn't have."
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