Browns’ Mingo doubtful for Dolphins opener

Akron Beacon Journal

CHICAGO

Cleveland Browns rookie outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo is unlikely to play in the regular-season opener Sept. 8 against the Miami Dolphins, but he’s probable for the Sept. 15 game against the Baltimore Ravens.

ESPN says Mingo is scheduled to undergo a CT scan Monday. The test should help the Browns decide Mingo’s status for Week 1.

Mingo, the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft, hasn’t practiced or played since the first quarter of the Browns’ preseason win over the Detroit Lions on Aug. 8 and was subsequently diagnosed with a bruised lung.

He did not travel to the preseason finale on Thursday against the Chicago Bears or the “dress rehearsal” exhibition game last Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts.

Browns coach Rob Chudzinski has repeatedly told reporters that no definitive timeline has been established for Mingo’s return.

Mingo has been working out on a stationary bike since last week. He did some running Tuesday and went through a weight-room workout Wednesday, a team spokesman said.

Medical personnel began examining Mingo on the sideline against the Lions because he said he was spitting up blood and experiencing shortness of breath. Mingo was taken to the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus before the game ended and spent two nights in the hospital.

Mingo insisted he did not suffer any broken ribs. Mingo said he believes his lung was bruised during the opening kickoff against the Lions, but neither he nor the Browns have been able to identify one specific hit as the culprit.

Still, Chudzinski said Sunday that the diagnosis for Mingo is a bruised lung.

Chudzinski was asked Tuesday whether the regular-season opener is a realistic target date for Mingo’s return.

“We have no timetable,” Chudzinski said. “We just have to see how he progresses and how he heals. It’s really just an individual thing. It’s from individual to individual on how quickly they heal.”

Positive review

ESPN analyst Jon Gruden has seen Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden progress during the preseason, and he believes the organization should let Weeden continue to improve before deciding the upcoming season is a make or break one for him.

Eighteen quarterbacks have started for the Browns since their rebirth in 1999. On Sept. 8, Weeden will become the fourth one to start consecutive season openers during the expansion era.

Like almost all of the Browns’ starters, Weeden did not play against the Bears.

“I don’t know what direction Cleveland would go,” Gruden said. “It’s easy to say it’s make or break, but who are you going with next year? I mean they’ve changed quarterbacks more than any team in NFL history in the last 20 years since they’ve been back in Cleveland.

“What’s the alternative? I think they have to try to build around Weeden. Maybe improve the receiving corps [and] let him work himself through this new offense. I’m confident he’s going to be a good pro quarterback. But if it doesn’t work out, coaches and quarterbacks don’t last long. I know that.”