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Surgery possible for Zastudil

By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal staff writer

POSTED: 08:54 p.m. EST, Nov 19, 2009

BEREA: Browns coach Eric Mangini said surgery is ''definitely a possibility'' for punter Dave Zastudil, who was placed on injured reserve Wednesday with a right knee injury.

''I don't think that's been ruled out,'' Mangini said.

Zastudil, from Bay Village, was having a Pro Bowl-caliber season. Besides his 44.7 average (39.1 net), Zastudil ranked second in the league this week with 25 punts inside the 20 after leading in that category for much of the year. He has surpassed 25 inside the 20 only three times in his eight-year career, two of those coming when he played in all 16 games.

''He was having a tremendous season,'' kicker Phil Dawson said. ''To have a 44-yard average and to be leading the league in punts inside the 20, you don't see that very often. To lose a guy who performs at such a high level, that's a blow. He's going to be sorely missed, I can't overstate that enough. But we don't have the luxury or the time to dwell on it. We've got to keep moving forward, just like an injury at any other position.''

Dawson said punter Reggie Hodges, signed on Sunday, will be his holder, replacing Zastudil.

Both Zastudil and Dawson could have paid the price this season for being the only punter and kicker on the roster in training camp. Dawson missed Games 3-7 with a right calf injury, and Zastudil kicked in the first eight games before landing on the inactive list Monday night.

But Mangini doesn't think wear and tear played a part in either Zastudil's or Dawson's injuries.

''No, I don't think that's the case at all,'' Mangini said. ''I've been in a lot of training camps where you've only had the two kickers that you go into the season with.

''We had Mike Nugent last year [with the New York Jets] where he just stepped wrong in the first game and ended up hurting himself. Sometimes it's just how the plant foot comes down or a little bit of a twist. It's such a specific skill set that sometimes those things happen.''

Cribbs back at practice

Receiver/returner Joshua Cribbs practiced on a limited basis after suffering a neck injury on the final play of Monday night's 16-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Cribbs spent Monday night in the hospital and was held out Wednesday.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Ravens defensive end Dwan Edwards was fined $5,000 by the league for his hit on Cribbs. Edwards was not flagged for his forearm under Cribbs' chin on what turned into a hook-and-lateral play.

Officials goofed

Mike Pereira, the NFL's vice president of officiating, acknowledged in a video on the league's Web site that its crew made a mistake that gave the Browns' a fourth timeout in the second half Monday.

''We as a crew failed to record on our cards the [timeout] at the 3:24 mark of the third quarter,'' Pereira said. ''Everybody on the field basically forgot to record the timeout, and the scoreboard did, too.''

But Pereira did not blame the Browns' scoreboard operator.

''All our fault,'' Pereira said. ''It's not the scoreboard operator's responsibility, it's our responsibility to record all timeouts and we're going to initiate a change over these situations. When a team uses all their timeouts, the referee has to go over and tell the head coach. We're going to do the same thing when he's used all his challenges. These types of administrative things should never happen, and we accept responsibility.''

More Quinn-bashing

Browns quarterback Brady Quinn said before practice that he still had not contacted Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, who suffered a sprained right knee on Quinn's low hit Monday and will miss this weekend's game against Indianapolis. Quinn drew a personal foul and was fined a reported $10,000.

Asked by the Baltimore Sun on Thursday if Quinn's hit was a cheap shot, Suggs said: ''I haven't seen it, so I can't really say one way or another. I'm more upset that I'm going to miss this game.''

Another NFL defender ripped Quinn for the hit, this time New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who experienced the same thing from New York Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez in Game 4.

''Brady Quinn is not a rookie, he's a third-year guy,'' Vilma said on his PlayMaker Mobile page. ''He knows right and wrong, he knows fair and foul play. And as much emphasis as there is put on protecting quarterbacks, quarterbacks need to understand they need to do the same thing.''

Low-key meeting

Browns player rep Hank Fraley said the session Wednesday night at a local hotel with representatives of the NFL Players Association did not deal merely with Jamal Lewis' charges of Mangini overworking the team in practice. Fraley said food was available, and players could drop in if they wished.

''It was spur of the moment, but it wasn't like a press-the-issue type thing. It was 'Let's talk about concerns for the CBA,' '' Fraley said. ''It wasn't like everybody's making it out to be, just injuries or practice. They're trying to get ideas around the league, 'What do the players want in the CBA?' ''

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after the 2010 season, and there could be a lockout in 2011. Fraley said the highest-ranking NFLPA official at the meeting was ex-Ohio State Buckeye Scottie Graham, a regional director.

Lewis would not say if he attended.

Brownies

Mangini will sit down with The NFL Today host James Brown for a segment to be broadcast by CBS between noon and 1 p.m. Sunday . . . Mortensen said Wednesday on ESPN's Mike and Mike show that he will ''be a little surprised'' if Mangini isn't fired if the Browns lose Sunday at Detroit. . . . The Browns-Lions game will be blacked out in Detroit. . . . Right tackle John St. Clair (shoulder) practiced on a limited basis after missing Wednesday.

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.

BEREA: Browns coach Eric Mangini said surgery is ''definitely a possibility'' for punter Dave Zastudil, who was placed on injured reserve Wednesday with a right knee injury.

''I don't think that's been ruled out,'' Mangini said.

Zastudil, from Bay Village, was having a Pro Bowl-caliber season. Besides his 44.7 average (39.1 net), Zastudil ranked second in the league this week with 25 punts inside the 20 after leading in that category for much of the year. He has surpassed 25 inside the 20 only three times in his eight-year career, two of those coming when he played in all 16 games.

''He was having a tremendous season,'' kicker Phil Dawson said. ''To have a 44-yard average and to be leading the league in punts inside the 20, you don't see that very often. To lose a guy who performs at such a high level, that's a blow. He's going to be sorely missed, I can't overstate that enough. But we don't have the luxury or the time to dwell on it. We've got to keep moving forward, just like an injury at any other position.''

Dawson said punter Reggie Hodges, signed on Sunday, will be his holder, replacing Zastudil.

Both Zastudil and Dawson could have paid the price this season for being the only punter and kicker on the roster in training camp. Dawson missed Games 3-7 with a right calf injury, and Zastudil kicked in the first eight games before landing on the inactive list Monday night.

But Mangini doesn't think wear and tear played a part in either Zastudil's or Dawson's injuries.

''No, I don't think that's the case at all,'' Mangini said. ''I've been in a lot of training camps where you've only had the two kickers that you go into the season with.

''We had Mike Nugent last year [with the New York Jets] where he just stepped wrong in the first game and ended up hurting himself. Sometimes it's just how the plant foot comes down or a little bit of a twist. It's such a specific skill set that sometimes those things happen.''

Cribbs back at practice

Receiver/returner Joshua Cribbs practiced on a limited basis after suffering a neck injury on the final play of Monday night's 16-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Cribbs spent Monday night in the hospital and was held out Wednesday.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Ravens defensive end Dwan Edwards was fined $5,000 by the league for his hit on Cribbs. Edwards was not flagged for his forearm under Cribbs' chin on what turned into a hook-and-lateral play.

Officials goofed

Mike Pereira, the NFL's vice president of officiating, acknowledged in a video on the league's Web site that its crew made a mistake that gave the Browns' a fourth timeout in the second half Monday.

''We as a crew failed to record on our cards the [timeout] at the 3:24 mark of the third quarter,'' Pereira said. ''Everybody on the field basically forgot to record the timeout, and the scoreboard did, too.''

But Pereira did not blame the Browns' scoreboard operator.

''All our fault,'' Pereira said. ''It's not the scoreboard operator's responsibility, it's our responsibility to record all timeouts and we're going to initiate a change over these situations. When a team uses all their timeouts, the referee has to go over and tell the head coach. We're going to do the same thing when he's used all his challenges. These types of administrative things should never happen, and we accept responsibility.''

More Quinn-bashing

Browns quarterback Brady Quinn said before practice that he still had not contacted Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, who suffered a sprained right knee on Quinn's low hit Monday and will miss this weekend's game against Indianapolis. Quinn drew a personal foul and was fined a reported $10,000.

Asked by the Baltimore Sun on Thursday if Quinn's hit was a cheap shot, Suggs said: ''I haven't seen it, so I can't really say one way or another. I'm more upset that I'm going to miss this game.''

Another NFL defender ripped Quinn for the hit, this time New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who experienced the same thing from New York Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez in Game 4.

''Brady Quinn is not a rookie, he's a third-year guy,'' Vilma said on his PlayMaker Mobile page. ''He knows right and wrong, he knows fair and foul play. And as much emphasis as there is put on protecting quarterbacks, quarterbacks need to understand they need to do the same thing.''

Low-key meeting

Browns player rep Hank Fraley said the session Wednesday night at a local hotel with representatives of the NFL Players Association did not deal merely with Jamal Lewis' charges of Mangini overworking the team in practice. Fraley said food was available, and players could drop in if they wished.

''It was spur of the moment, but it wasn't like a press-the-issue type thing. It was 'Let's talk about concerns for the CBA,' '' Fraley said. ''It wasn't like everybody's making it out to be, just injuries or practice. They're trying to get ideas around the league, 'What do the players want in the CBA?' ''

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after the 2010 season, and there could be a lockout in 2011. Fraley said the highest-ranking NFLPA official at the meeting was ex-Ohio State Buckeye Scottie Graham, a regional director.

Lewis would not say if he attended.

Brownies

Mangini will sit down with The NFL Today host James Brown for a segment to be broadcast by CBS between noon and 1 p.m. Sunday . . . Mortensen said Wednesday on ESPN's Mike and Mike show that he will ''be a little surprised'' if Mangini isn't fired if the Browns lose Sunday at Detroit. . . . The Browns-Lions game will be blacked out in Detroit. . . . Right tackle John St. Clair (shoulder) practiced on a limited basis after missing Wednesday.

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.

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