Down a starter on each side of the ball for the season after Sunday's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns have some retooling to do.
With Alex Mack out -- he'll have surgery this week; the Browns still hold out some hope he could return late in the season -- one of the NFL's best offensive lines loses a valuable and proven player. Before Mack broke his fibula in Sunday's game, he'd never missed a single snap in six NFL seasons.
John Greco, who'd never really taken game reps at center, slid over from guard and veteran utility man Paul McQuistan did what he was signed to do in being ready to step in at Greco's usual right guard spot. That was the emergency plan all along, and Browns coach Mike Pettine said Monday that the coaching staff will evaluate how to best proceed.
"In the short term, it's probably going to be John (at center)," Pettine said.
The Browns had only been carrying seven offensive linemen on their active roster, so at least one will be added at some point this week.
On the defensive line, Armonty Bryant's season-ending knee injury opens a roster spot when the Browns officially place Bryant on injured reserve. Though the defensive line group is arguably the team's deepest spot, Bryant's injury came in a game that the Browns already had three defensive linemen -- Ahtyba Rubin, Phil Taylor and Billy Winn -- inactive with various injuries. Taylor is out at least a couple more weeks after having a knee scope, and though neither Winn nor Rubin is thought to have a major issue, a timetable is unknown.
The Browns have Desmond Bryant, John Hughes and Winn able to play defensive end and Jaccobi McDaniel on the practice squad, though Bryant's body type and skill set are different from that of McDaniel. Bryant is a pass rusher, and those are hard to find.
The Browns could look to street free agents or other team's practice squads to fill Bryant's spot, though they could use it on an offensive lineman immediately if Rubin and Winn can return in time for Sunday's game at Jacksonville. That backup linebacker Eric Martin was getting rotational outside linebacker snaps in the Steelers game says the Browns were already short on true pass rushers.
"We lost two warriors in (Mack) and Armonty, but when we check the mail, there's not going to be any sympathy cards from around the league," Pettine said. "It's the cliche, but it is truly 'next man up.' We can't feel sorry for ourselves, and I'm confident in the guys that we'll end up either promoting or bringing somebody in. I'm confident that we'll put a functional group out there."
The Browns had four offensive linemen on their practice squad last week including one true center, Braxston Cave. Pettine said Nick McDonald, a July waiver claim who's been working his way back from injury and has been on the team's non-football injury list, is almost set to return to practice. McDonald has three years and 16 games of NFL experience, which assuming he gets medically cleared probably puts him ahead of the practice squad options.
McQuistan had been the only true interior backup. Rookie Joel Bitonio, who's played very well at left guard, is a potential backup tackle along with Vinston Painter, another summer addition who's been listed as a backup tackle on the depth chart.
On the other side, Pettine said the team is hopeful Rubin will return and return to his usual spot at nose tackle. Pettine said Winn may miss another week but until the Browns get into the practice week he won't know for sure.
Players are off on Tuesdays in a standard work week, and on Mondays and Tuesday personnel staffs work out available free agents. It's possible the Browns already had an idea from their emergency available list on how to proceed, or maybe they'll take a look at players Tuesday before making any kind of decision.
Mack would be eligible to be placed on the injured-reserve list with a designation to return. Teams can place one player per season on that list and get that player back after two months.
