Cleveland Browns lose RG3 for at least 8 weeks to shoulder injury
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns will be without Robert Griffin III for the next eight games after the quarterback suffered a broken bone in his shoulder.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III will miss at least the next seven games after suffering a fractured coracoid bone in his left shoulder during Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
While the team does not believe that surgery will be required, the Browns placed Griffin on injured reserve on Monday. Under the new injured reserve rules, Griffin must now miss a minimum of eight games and is not eligible to return to practice for six weeks.
“It’s very unfortunate, Robert came in and has worked extremely hard to learn our offense and earn the respect of his teammates,” head coach Hue Jackson said. “This is a tough loss because everyone has seen how invested he has been in this team and his dedication to the work needed to improve his craft. We all know these are the realities of the NFL, injuries occur and you have to find ways to overcome them so they don’t impede your progress.
“Robert will do everything in his power to rehab and get healthy but Josh McCown is on this roster for a reason and we have great confidence in him. He is more than capable. His veteran presence has been an asset to our team throughout our process of preparing for the season. We look forward to him assuming the role of the starter and leading our offensive unit.”
In what is the latest “Only in Cleveland moment,” Griffin’s injury marks the second consecutive year that the Browns lost their starting quarterback to an injury in the season’s first game.
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According to WebMD, the acromion and coracoid processes are bony bumps found on the upper part of the scapula, or shoulder blade, and they function to connect the scapula to the collarbone.
The shoulder blade is rarely broken – it only makes up 1 percent of all fractures – but when it does break it is result of a blunt trauma, which is what Griffin encountered when he ran chest first into Philadelphia defensive back Jalen Mills.
Griffin’s injury means that the Tim Couch will remain the last Cleveland quarterback to start 16 games in a single season, a feat that Couch accomplished in 2001.
The silver lining in this is that the offense won’t be any worse with Josh McCown running the show. McCown started eight games for the Browns in 2015, throwing for 2,109 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The downside is that McCown has his own history of season-ending injuries, so relying on him to make it through the next 15 games in one piece is as much of a pipe dream as thinking Griffin was going to make it through the season.
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That means the Browns are just one play away from having to put in rookies Cody Kessler or Kevin Hogan, or going back to the dregs of free agency to find a quarterback.
Welcome to Cleveland, coach Jackson.