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.