Man down in Cleveland

It’s beginning to look more and more like the Cleveland Browns will be without Joe Jurevicius when the season begins. Jurevicius underwent a simple knee scope back in January and now will most likely start the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. This is a big blow to a team with very high hopes as Joe is a stud in the slot position, and is coming off the best season of his career.

“It’s been pretty frustrating for everybody because this started as an innocent knee scope back in January, and it’s morphed itself into multiple procedures,” GM Phil Savage said in the radio interview Thursday. “Obviously every time he’s taken a step forward, it’s been two steps back. So it’s a bit up in the air right now & He’s going to be looked at again obviously next week before we get started and probably will start on that PUP list.”

Savage had an interview at Cleveland radio station WTAM admitting that Jurevicius has an operation on June 30th on his knee and miss an extended amount of time. The interesting thing about that is the team only acknowledges two operations. So basically the team doesn’t include anything related to the staph infection as an operation. Guess the team doesn’t want to admit their health care facilities suck.

The team went on a spending spree and drastically improved their defense, while adding some more weapons to the offense. Even so, the decision to put Joe on the PUP will really hurt a team that has a chance to go far in a very competitive AFC.

The person this hurts the most thou is Jurevicius. Jurevicius, 33 years old, had his best season in 2007 catching 50 balls for 614 yards and 3 touchdowns. Even with that, the rumor is that he’s been privately saying he won’t be able to play in 2008, in what was supposed to be his final NFL season. Joe signed a four-year deal back in 2006 and actually has been contemplating retirement for a while. Only reason why he’s played last year, was because he wanted to try and help lead his hometown team to the playoffs.

I’ve always been a big fan of Jurevicius ever since his days with the New York Giants. Even if placed on the PUP list, he’ll be eligible to play for the Browns in 2008 but not till after the 6th week. I’m hoping he gets his knee taken care of and comes back as productive as he left.

The Browns look to be a pretty exciting team regardless thou, on both sides of the ball. They’ve got a legitimate chance to win a VERY competitive NFC North division. Get your tickets now, starting as low as $22!!! The games should be a lot of fun.

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Tags: Cleveland Browns, NFL