It’s mid-August, and the familiar dropping of flies has hit Berea. Tweaks, dings, bumps: the shorthand euphemisms for sprains, tears, soft tissue damage, concussions, and the like.
Most noteworthy this week is the attrition in the linebacking corps. When the Official $ite features Chaun Thompson, the all-but-forgotten Butch-era reach now entering the last year of his rookie contract, you know something’s up.
Matt Stewart is gone for the season with a torn labrum. Willie McGinest had back surgery and will miss at least six weeks. And Antwan Peek has been limited by a hamstring injury. According to Romeo’s first depth chart, that leaves slow-developing pass-rusher David McMillan and special-teams demon Jason Short as the only other outside LBs to complement Gumby.
No wonder Chaun is being moved back outside. I’ve even heard that Andra Davis has taken a few practice reps at OLB recently.
My point is not to bemoan injuries or suggest that there is a severe depth problem at OLB. Other positions are far thinner.
Rather, I see a tough decision coming with regard to McGinest. Six weeks, the best-case scenario, would take us to Week 3 of the regular season. It’s more realistic to assume that he would not be ready to play at a level that significantly improves the team until after the Week 7 bye.
We all know that the first month of the season, with home games against each division foe, is absolutely crucial to the direction of the franchise. Can the team afford to hold an active roster spot open for a 35-year-old linebacker coming off disc surgery?
“We’re going to try and get him ready to play the rest of the season, but backs are fickle sometimes,” quoth Romeo on Thursday.
When healthy, McGinest certainly remains capable of contributing to the run defense, a chronically weak area. But which bubble player will need to be cut in order to hold a spot for his uncertain return? Or put it this way: which rookie draft pick will not even make the team so that an injured veteran might contribute down the road?
In the face of the front-loaded schedule and the need to develop emerging talent, putting Willie on injured reserve before final cutdowns seems advisable. And given the team’s favorable salary cap situation this year, if his recovery doesn’t go well, it would be worth pursuing an injury settlement to ensure that he is not a financial liability going into 2008.
This issue may prove to be yet another point of contention between Romeo, who often favors vets and has a long history with McGinest in particular, and GM Phil Savage, who would understandably want to give his own draft picks — guys like CB/PR Brandon McDonald and DE Chase Pittman — as many opportunities as possible.
It’s unfortunate, because I had high hopes a year ago that McGinest would be an impact player and leader on an emerging defense, and things have gone sour. Many Browns fans are downright hostile toward the man, but I’m not close enough to judge whether Willie’s problems in Cleveland have been purely physical.
Ultimately, it’s Phil’s call, and if he shelves McGinest — and even “liberates” him from the final year of his deal in ’08 — I wouldn’t argue a bit.
