BEREA, Ohio - Desmond Bryant knew he had to make some major changes to his lifestyle. Air Force 1 Online . Really, he had no choice or there could be devastating consequences. "A heart surgery will make you kind of realize you need to start doing things right, especially diet wise," Bryant said. "Ive really cleaned things up a little bit. So far, so good." Bryants comeback from a major health scare continued Wednesday when the Browns defensive lineman returned practiced for the first time since having a procedure in December to fix an irregular heartbeat — a condition he has had for years — that led to him having his first season with Cleveland cut short. On Dec. 6, Bryant underwent a cardiac ablation, an operation that involves a catheter being inserted to destroy a small area of bad heart tissue. The 6-foot-6, 310-pounder had at least two episodes last season when his heart raced out of control, including once during an Oct. 3 game against Buffalo. Bryant was hospitalized overnight and the 29-year-old had a recurrence two months later following a home loss to Jacksonville. It was then that Bryant, who was forced to leave a 2012 game for Oakland with a fast heart rate and light-headedness, was advised to undergo the ablation. "I felt like after I experienced what I did on the field that it was finally time to do something to fix that," Bryant said. "So while it was a trying time, I was also excited to get this procedure done and put this behind me. Since then, Ive been training and feeling real well. "Im back. Im healthy." Bryant missed the first minicamp practice on Tuesday for personal reasons, but joined his teammates for their second workout, which was held inside again because of rain and wet grounds. Bryant was welcomed back by everyone, including linebacker Quentin Groves, who also had a heart ablation in 2008. Groves condition was first diagnosed when he was in college but he didnt decide to have the procedure until it was spotted again at the NFL combine. "Its kind of scary not knowing what it is," Groves said. "The way it was explained to me when I had my procedure, the doctor told me one day you could not wake up. I was like, Well, OK, if I was your son, what would you do? He said, I would have the procedure done. "Anytime someone plays with your heart, youre kind of scared." Groves spoke with Bryant before he had the operation, and joked that he had to comfort his big teammate. "Des is a big baby. I have to rock him to sleep at night. No, Im just kidding," Groves said. "I just told him, Its a fairly simple procedure. I recommend you get it done. Im proud that you got it done before it became a problem for you." Bryant wasnt anxious about the operation. He was most fearful during the episodes when his heart raced. "I would feel like I had a fast heart rate and the next thing I know I was going to the hospital," he said. "That was the only real scary thing." Bryant was one of the biggest off-season acquisitions in 2013 by the Browns, who signed him to a five-year, $34 million free agent contract. Bryant had an immediate impact, recording two sacks and a career-high 10 tackles in the opener against Miami. He was Clevelands best defensive lineman through four games, but his production fell off sharply following his hospitalization. He finished with 3 1/2 sacks in 12 games. Bryant, though, doesnt know if theres a direct correlation between his drop-off and heart ailment. Hes excited about the new defensive scheme brought in by coach Mike Pettine. "Theyve got a few wrinkles here and there that kind of switch things up that really make it challenging for offences," he said. "I cant wait to continue to grow and learn in this system and see where this will take us." Does he fit in it? "Absolutely," he said with a smile. "Im a good fit for any defence." NOTES: TE Keavon Milton worked out with the offensive linemen for the first time. The 6-foot-4, 293-pounder wore No. 63 after wearing No. 83 on Tuesday. ... After briefly considering a name change, Browns safety Donte Whitner will not drop the W and go by Hitner. "I didnt want to go through changing my credit cards, mortgages and cars," he said. "I cant do all of this paperwork. For one letter change? Id rather not." ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Air Force 1 High Outlet . Observant Muslims avoid food and liquids from dawn to dusk during Ramadan but can, and often do, skip it if travelling or doing hard physical labour. Some devout Muslim athletes choose to fast during training or competition, but it can create selection difficulties for the coaches in team sports. Air Force 1 Womens Outlet . The club says Fridays surgery was successful. Holiday, a former Eastern Conference All-Star acquired from Philadelphia last summer, has not played because of the shin injury since Jan. https://www.cheapairforce1outlet.com/air-force-1-off-white-outlet/ . -- Athletics manager Bob Melvin is already starting to run out of superlatives to describe Scott Kazmir.Despite a stunning late-season collapse that cost the Toronto Maple Leafs a playoff spot, general manager Dave Nonis believes Randy Carlyle is still the right man to lead the club. The Maple Leafs handed their embattled head coach a two-year contract extension on Thursday, while at the same time announcing that assistants Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon will not be back. "It was important for us to make it clear that Randy has the support needed to move forward," Nonis said on a conference call. "He has done a lot of good things for us and we expect him to continue that with some new assistants." There had been rampant speculation that Carlyle would pay with his job after a disastrous end to the most recent campaign saw Toronto tumble out of post-season contention thanks to an embarrassing 2-12-0 finish. Instead, Nonis and new Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan gassed Carlyles staff in hopes that some new voices can help the 58-year-old get the most out of Torontos underachieving roster. "If youve seen it being done before with most of the same players, or a lot of the same players, and with that coach leading that group, I know it can happen," said Nonis. "I know it has happened with this group before. I know that (Carlyle) has reached them before, reached them at times this year. "For me its not that were guessing whether or not he can have success or he can get through to them. Weve seen it. I know that its there and we feel he is the guy that can get through to this group." Carlyle -- who led the Maple Leafs to their first playoff appearance since 2004 in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season -- had Toronto sitting second in the Atlantic Division this year before the wheels fell off in mid-March. "We feel that this group can continue to grow into a higher level of a hockey club," said Carlyle. "We just have to find and continue to push for a little bit more from the individuals and we are going to do everything we possibly can to change some of the things that are happening with our group." Despite calls from fans and media alike in Toronto for Carlyles dismissal, Nonis said he wasnt swayed by how the decision might play in the hockey-mad city. "If youre worried about optics in this market, its going to be a disaster," said Nonis. "I think you have to make a decision based on what you think is the best decision for the organization, and this in our minds was clearly the best option. "He was a guy we believe can get the job done for us. Whether optics are that its the wrong thing to do or not doesnt really matter to us. If youre looking at trying to please people, youre probably going to make some poor decisions." The Maple Leafs started the 2013-14 season on a 10-4-0 run, but Carlyle worried at the time that his team was getting away with sloppy play in the defensive zone. Going into and coming out of the Olympic break, the Leafs were rolling despitte being badly outshot on most nights. Air Force 1 Blue Outlet. When they beat the Kings in Los Angeles on March 13, they were in second place in the division. But starting goaltender Jonathan Bernier aggravated a groin injury that night, and though it was not considered serious at the time it proved to be devastating. James Reimer lost five straight and was pulled March 23 against the New Jersey Devils before Bernier returned and lost three more. The final night of that losing streak, March 29 against the Detroit Red Wings, was effectively the death knell for Torontos playoff hopes. "This hockey club has proven at times to be able to compete to a higher level," said Carlyle. "The consistency of our compete in our defensive zone coverage was the area of concern right from the opening month of the season. We harped on it, harped on it, harped on it, yet we were winning with it." Nonis made it clear that it was managements decision to clean out the assistant coaches. Carlyle had worked with Farrish since their days with the Anaheim Ducks, winning a Stanley Cup together in 2007. "Its a tough day and those are tough ones," said Carlyle, who also played junior hockey with Farrish. "The game of hockey is a great game, but the business side of hockey is an awful one. This is an awful day in our life, for our relationship between Dave Farrish and myself." Nonis said that Carlyle would be consulted on the new assistant coaches, but added the decisions will be a collaborative effort. Carlyle led Toronto to the playoffs last spring, but that run ended in disaster when the Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals after blowing a three-goal, third-period lead in Game 7. "I think that we showed for periods as a group last year and the year before that what the team is capable of it -- that we have the ability to compete with top teams," said Nonis. "Why we got away from that at times, I think thats something were going to focus on over the course of the summer to put some answers there." Carlyle replaced the fired Ron Wilson in March of 2012, months after the Leafs previous coach signed a new contract extension. He went 6-9-3 to finish out that season and then 26-17-5 in 2013 season. In parts of three seasons with Toronto, the Sudbury, Ont., native has a combined record of 70-62-16. Nonis said its easy to blame a coaching staff and management when things go south, but added that the players also have to take a lot of the responsibility for a season that went off the rails so dramatically. "Our players have to be committed to do the things we did the year before that made us successful. The blame has to be spread around all of us," he said. "I think that were going to come back in the fall and the players are going to know that this coaching staff is committed to doing the things that we need done to be successful and they are going to have to perform." ' ' '