26-year old DE/OLB Marcus Benard was riding his motorcycle home after practice yesterday when he was involved in an accident.  He wound up breaking a hand in the accident.  No other details have been released about when he will return to action or if he suffered any other injuries.  Benard has played in 4 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 3 tackles and 1/2 a sack.  Benard has now played in 25 games in his first three years with the Browns and he has 45 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 2 passes defensed and 1 tackle for a loss.  The Browns are hoping that Benard won’t miss too much P.T. as he is a solid pass rusher.

UPDATE:  (10/12/2011) – The Browns have placed Marcus Benard on the non-football injury list and he is officially done for the season.

The Cleveland Browns have placed 28-year old punter Richmond McGee on the Injured Reserve List due to a back injury.  McGee played in the season opener for the Browns against the Bengals and he punted the ball 8 times for 288 yards (36.0 avg).  He also had 1 touchback (12.5%) and he didn’t pin the Bengals inside their own 20-yard line even once.  This is not a big loss for the Cleveland Browns as McGee was horrible in the season opener as he was shanking punts left and right.

The Browns have lost 31-year old starting RG Eric Steinbach for the entire 2011 season due to surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back.  Steinbach played in 16 games (all starts) for the Browns last year.  He has played in 62 games (all starts) in his first four years with the Browns as he was a very dependable and solid player.  Rookie 5th round pick Jason Pinkston looks like he will be the starting left guard for the Browns in 2011.  Hopefully, LT Joe Thomas and C Alex Mack will be able to help Pinkston on the left side.

23-year old WR Carlton Mitchell and 21-year old rookie safety Eric Hagg are going to miss a few weeks apiece do to injury.  Mitchell had finger surgery last Friday.  Mitchell played in 5 games as a rookie for the Browns last year but he didn’t catch any passes.  Mitchell also carried the ball 1 time for 9 yards last year.  This is a bad break for Mitchell who was having a pretty good training camp for  the Browns.  Eric Hagg will undergo “minor” knee surgery this week.

The Cleveland Browns will be without 29-year punter Reggie Hodges for the 2011 season as he has torn his Achilles tendon.  Hodges played in all 16 games for the Browns last year and he punted the ball 78 times for 3,424 yards (43.9 avg).  He had 5 touchbacks (6.4%) and he pinned the opposing team inside their own 20-yard line 29 times (37.2%).  Hodges also had a very memorable 68 yard run last year in the Browns’ huge upset of the Saints last year.  Hodges has now played in 24 games in his first two years with the Browns and he has punted the ball 123 times for 5,213 yards (42.4 avg).  He has 8 touchbacks (6.5%) and he has pinned the opposing team inside their own 20-yard line 44 times (35.8%) with the Browns.  The Browns are going to miss Hodges as he was playing the best football of his NFL career for them.

UPDATE:  (8/4/2011) – The Browns have signed 28-year old punter Richmond McGee.  McGee has never played in a game in the NFL but he has been in camp with the Bears the last three years.

The Cleveland Browns have placed 25-year old TE Evan Moore on the Injured Reserve List with a hip/groin injury.  Moore played in 12 games for the Browns this year and he caught 16 passes for 322 yards (20.1 avg) with a TD grab.  He has now played in 17 games in his first two years with the Browns and he has caught 28 passes for 480 yards (17.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Browns will need Robert Royal to step up in Moore’s absence.

The Browns have placed 31-year old linebacker Scott Fujita on the Injured Reserve List with a knee injury, ending his season.  Fujita played in 9 games for the Browns this year and he had 51 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 pass defensed, 1 interception and 2 forced fumbles.  The linebacking unit has missed Fujita’s toughness and playmaking.

The Cleveland Browns have placed 25-year old CB Eric Wright on I.R. ending his season due to a knee injury.  Wright played in 13 games for the Browns this year and he had 42 tackles, 9 passes defensed and 1 interception.  He has now played in 59 games in his first four years with the Browns and he had 249 tackles, 47 passes defensed, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles and 9 interceptions (0ne returned for a TD).  It will be interesting to see if the Browns keep him around for 2011 as he was simply awful for them this year.

The Browns have signed 28-year old linebacker Eric Alexander.  Alexander played in 4 games earlier this season for the Jaguars and he had 3 tackles.  Alexander has now played in 48 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has 51 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  Alexander was pretty much signed to replace LB Blakc Costanzo on special teams as he has been placed on I.R. with a groin injury.  Costanzo played in 10 games for the Browns this year and he had 7 tackles.  In two years with the Browns, Costanzo has played in 26 games in which he has made 21 tackles and he has forced 2 fumbles.  Alexander is capable of replacing Costanzo on special teams.

The Browns have lost 31-year old linebacker Scott Fujita for a while with either a sprained MCL or PCL.  Fujita has played in 9 games for the Browns this year and he has 51 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 pass defensed, 1 interception and 2 forced fumbles.  Fujita will be replaced in the starting lineup by 33-year old David Bowens.  Bowens has played in 8 games for the Browns this year and he has 11 tackles, 3 passes defensed and 2 interceptions which he returned for TDs against the Saints.  The Browns will miss Fujita who is one of the leaders of the defense so they hope Bowens will step up like he did against New Orleans.