Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown is reportedly in “excruciating pain” after suffering a shoulder injury on Sunday. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, he’s set for an MRI to determine the damage suffered on Tuesday.
#Browns QB Josh McCown, in excruciating pain, will undergo an MRI today on his left shoulder. Cody Kessler is the only other QB on the 53
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 19, 2016
After Week 2’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, news broke that the Browns were bracing for bad news regarding McCown’s injury status. One day later, it seems inevitable.
He went down hard early in the game Sunday, went into the locker room and shortly came back out again to complete the game. It’s likely he received a pain-killing shot.
After McCown returned to the game, he was drilled more than a few times, which explains why he’s suffering so much the day after.
Rookie Cody Kessler will almost certainly start in Week 3 when the Browns hit the road to face the Miami Dolphins. But as Rapoport noted, there isn’t another quarterback on the roster at this time.
This presents quite the interesting problem for the Browns. Robert Griffin III is already on injured reserve and could miss the entire season. If McCown suffers a similar fate, then Cleveland will have to bring in another quarterback.
The problem is that there just isn’t a huge selection right now of quarterbacks that could play with any semblance of competence. We compiled the rather short list when discussing the problems facing the New England Patriots right now, and the same list applies to the Browns (read here).
Already in an 0-2 hole to start the season, Cleveland is well on its way to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.