The Cleveland Browns have placed 33-year old TE Steve Heiden on the Injured Reserve List ending his season with a ankle injury.  Heiden played in 7 games for the Browns this season and he caught 10 passes for 73 yards (7.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  This hurts the Browns a little bit as Heiden was one of the few players on the team that actually can catch the football when it’s thrown to him.  This injury could end Heiden’s time in Cleveland.  If it does he has been a decent player for the Browns.  He has played 8 years now for the Browns appearing in 106 games in which he has caught 187 passes for 1,602 yards (8.6 avg) with 12 TD grabs. 

With the Browns down 16-0 with just seconds left in the game Brady Quinn threw a short pass to Joshua Cribbs in which he caught.  He then pitched the ball just before he was hit hard right around the head area causing him to spend last night in the hospital with a concussion.  He will likely miss at least 1 week and he is the player the Browns could least afford to lose.  Cribbs has played in all 9 games for the Browns this season and he has carried the ball 25 times for 164 yards (6.6 ypc).  He has also caught 12 passes for 71 yards (5.9 avg) for the Browns.  They will miss him most on special teams however as he has returned 34 kickoffs for 923 yards (27.1 avg) with 1 TD return and 23 punts for 313 yards (13.6 avg) with 1 TD return.  Cribbs also is great as a gunner on the special teams as he has 5 tackles this season.  It could take as many as five players to replace what Cribbs does for the Browns so they need him to get well soon.

UPDATE:  Cribbs left the hospital on Tuesday Morning and it’s quite possible that he could play this week as doctors said he didn’t have a concussion.

The Browns have signed 27-year old punter Reggie Hodges.  Hodges played in 4 games earlier this season for the Titans in which he punted the ball 22 times for 868 yards (39.5 avg).  He placed the ball inside the opposing 20 yard line only 1 time (4.5%) so far this season and he has 2 touchbacks (9.1%).  Hodges has now played in 24 games in his 4-year NFL career and he has punted the ball 107 times for 4,287 yards (40.1 avg) with 9 touchbacks (8.4%) and he has pinned the opposition inside their 20-yard line 24 times (22.4%).  Hodges will be a huge dropoff for the Browns as Dave Zastudil will miss at least one game with a right knee injury.  He has played in 8 games for the Browns this season and he has punted the ball 49 times for 2,188 yards (44.7 avg).  Zastudil has only 5 touchbacks this season (10.2%) and he has pinned the opposition inside their 20-yard line 25 times this year (51%).  The Browns better hope this injury is not serious as Zastudil is one of the best players on the team.

UPDATE:  The Browns have placed Dave Zastudil on the Injured Reserve List with his knee injury which was way more severe than anyone led on.  That means that Reggie Hodges will be the punter for the Browns the rest of the year.  This injury really hurts the team as Zastudil was probably the second most productive player on the Browns outside of Joshua Cribbs.

The Browns have lost starting inside linebacker Eric Barton for the remainder of the season due to a bulging disc in his neck.  Barton played in 8 games for the Browns this season and he made 58 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he has defensed 2 passes.  With both Barton and D’Qwell Jackson out for the season running backs will be padding their stats the rest of the year against the Browns.

The Browns have lost starting inside linebacker D’Qwell Jackson for the rest of the season due to a serious shoulder injury.  This is a huge blow for a Browns’ D that already stinks.  Jackson played in all six games for the Browns this season and he had 59 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 2 passes defensed.  In four years with the Browns, Jackson has played in 49 games in which he has made 407 tackles, has defensed 11 passes, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble and he had 4 interceptions.  The Browns will likely replace Jackson with rookie Kaluka Maiava or Jason Trusnik.  Maiava was a 4th round pick in last April’s NFL Draft out of USC.  He has played in all six games for the Browns this season and he has 10 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  The thing that worries the Browns the most about using Maiava full time is his size as he is 6′0″, 229 pounds.  25-year old Jason Trusnik came over from the Jets in the Braylon Edwards trade.  Trusnik has played in 2 games for the Browns since coming over from the Jets and he has 7 tackles, 1 sack and 1 tackle for a loss.  Trusnik offers more size at 6′4″, 250 pounds but he has been nothing more than a special teams player to this point in his career.  Losing Jackson was a major blow to the defense of the Cleveland Browns.

UPDATE:  Jackson actually has torn pectoral muscles in addition to a bum shoulder.