Asdrubal Has Five On It
August 13, 2008More Mo Williams Talk
August 13, 2008Browns rookie Tight End Martin Rucker has a torn meniscus, which will require surgery and keep him out of action for 4-6 weeks. I for one was very impressed with the 6’4″, 260 pound Missouri Tiger both in the Jets game, and at camp. Rucker was getting plenty of reps with the first and second teams with Winslow, Heiden and Cieslak all nursing injuries. In fact, what was a position of strength for the Browns is slowly disintegrating.
Speculation here, and elsewhere had the Browns fishing for a CB by dangling one of the TE’s. Rucker’s play was making guys like Darnell Dinkins and Brad Cieslak expendable. Now, it may be tougher to trade Dinkins away, knowing that Rucker won’t be able to go until after week 3 of the regular season. While Rucker was doing well and picking up on the offense, he certainly needed all of the preseason games to ready himself if he was to play ahead of Dinkins when the games count. This injury will set back his development quite a bit. Like Beau Bell, Rucker might find himself only contributing on special teams this season, and starting fresh next summer.
Interesting reaction from James Walker on the injury-
For a team that does minimal contact, I’m always baffled by the amount of injuries the Browns suffer in training camp annually. Rucker joins a long list of ailing players that include receiver Braylon Edwards (foot), receiver Kevin Kasper (hamstring) and linebackers Antwan Peek (ankle) and Beau Bell (knee).
Two questions from this- Do the Browns do less contact in practice than other teams? Is our injury rate higher than most? We know our staph infection rate is higher than most…
Photo credit- The OBR
2 Comments
I think when it comes to “camp” injuries, we’re up there with the tops in the league. Especially when it comes to lineman…
Can we not mention the St#ff word?