Steinbach Out 'Indefinitely'

[peeker643]

Awesome.

@MaryKayCabot Browns guard Eric Steinbach has a disc problem in his back and is out indefinitely.
16 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[gotribe31]

As someone who has a disc problem, I can tell you that this sucks. I started with a mildly herniated disc, turned it into a severely herniate disc, had 2 discectomy surgeries and now have to have the disc removed and the vertebrae fused. Hopefully Steinbach has a bulging disc rather than a herniation, but if it's herniated, with all of the stress that an o-lineman puts on his back...he could miss the season. This sucks.

[motherscratcher]

[peeker643]

As someone who has a disc problem, I can tell you that this sucks. I started with a mildly herniated disc, turned it into a severely herniate disc, had 2 discectomy surgeries and now have to have the disc removed and the vertebrae fused. Hopefully Steinbach has a bulging disc rather than a herniation, but if it's herniated, with all of the stress that an o-lineman puts on his back...he could miss the season. This sucks.

He's 31 yrs old too. This does not bode well and propelling yourself into or holding off 330lbers isn't the occupation you need to be in if walking upright is a goal at 50 yrs old.

[gotribe31]

As someone who has a disc problem, I can tell you that this sucks. I started with a mildly herniated disc, turned it into a severely herniate disc, had 2 discectomy surgeries and now have to have the disc removed and the vertebrae fused. Hopefully Steinbach has a bulging disc rather than a herniation, but if it's herniated, with all of the stress that an o-lineman puts on his back...he could miss the season. This sucks.

He's 31 yrs old too. This does not bode well and propelling yourself into or holding off 330lbers isn't the occupation you need to be in if walking upright is a goal at 50 yrs old.

Having just turned 30 and scheduling my 3rd back surgery to go along with my 1 shoulder surgery, I've been saying for the past 6 months or so that my kid will be the best golfer ever. I'm sure I'll relent and let him play football, but the 18 months of constant pain are enough to make me think twice.

[Prosecutor]

I think the Browns had an inkling this was coming. They drafted Pinkston, resigned Yates, and traded for John Greco. They should be OK. It's not like Steinbach played all that great last year. Still, sorry to hear he has a disk problem. At his age it could be a career ender.

[mattvan1]

They should be OK. It's not like Steinbach played all that great last year.

Gotta disagree. Browns gained a lot of yards off the left side last year, and not because Joe Thomas is an awesome run blocker. OL is a single unit. It needs familiarity to build cohesion. Plug and play doesn't work, especially 2 weeks before the season.

Only saving grace - the scheme is new this year. Still, I believe this is a much bigger loss.

[peeker643]

I think the Browns had an inkling this was coming. They drafted Pinkston, resigned Yates, and traded for John Greco. They should be OK. It's not like Steinbach played all that great last year. Still, sorry to hear he has a disk problem. At his age it could be a career ender.

Yates walked out of camp and retired as well about a week ago.

Pinkston looks like a raw rookie. May be up to Pinkston to learn really fast.

[motherscratcher]

Definitely sucks for Browns fans. But if I was Steinbach I'd retire immediately. Better a little too soon than a little too late.

[hiko]

Definitely sucks for Browns fans. But if I was Steinbach I'd retire immediately. Better a little too soon than a little too late.

Yeah, but if he's on the roster come Week 1, he gets the new lifetime healthcare plan. Which it looks like he'll need.

[bookelly]

I'm not saying we were superbowl bound this year but this is a critical loss. Historically teams that have good/great seasons maintain health along the front five.

[Erie Warrior]

Big loss. The push from that side of the line was the Brown's saving grace in the run game.

He usually did a great job of getting to the backside linebacker, those other guys are place holders at best.

[SoulDawg74]

Big loss. The push from that side of the line was the Brown's saving grace in the run game.

He usually did a great job of getting to the backside linebacker, those other guys are place holders at best.

SD:

So far Pinkston's strength has been defined with his abilities in the run game , the pass protection part is a work in progress.

If anything with his 317 lb presence vs Steinbach barely tipping 3 the run game could improve this year on that side.

I'm writing Steinbach down as an early IR candidate with more to follow , possibly Jackson whose toe is worse than advertised.


SoulDawg

[DrPoove]

Out for the year.

In the immortal words of Gilbert Gottfried:

"This... is not good."

[hiko]

We'll see.

At the very least, he's way more replaceable than Colt McCoy or Peyton Hillis or Joe Haden.

[peeker643]

Out for the year.

In the immortal words of Gilbert Gottfried:

"This... is not good."

AdamSchefter Adam Schefter
Browns coach Pat Shurmur said Cleveland will place OL Eric Steinbach, who had back surgery Tuesday, on injured reserve.
47 minutes ago

[peeker643]

We'll see.

At the very least, he's way more replaceable than Colt McCoy or Peyton Hillis or Joe Haden.

Still hurts.

Your thumb is more valuable than your index finger but you don't really need to be losing that index finger either.

They have to be keeping a close on league cuts the next two weeks you'd think, no?

[hiko]

We'll see.

At the very least, he's way more replaceable than Colt McCoy or Peyton Hillis or Joe Haden.

Still hurts.

Your thumb is more valuable than your index finger but you don't really need to be losing that index finger either.

They have to be keeping a close on league cuts the next two weeks you'd think, no?

I agree about the thumb thing and I'd certainly think they'll be scouring cuts.

Pinkston could very well be in their plans as starter no matter what. Why not get him a year's starting experience? This team ain't Super Bowl bound regardless.

What really takes a hit is depth. Let's be generous and assume Pinkston is a quality backup at probably several positions. Now he's starting. That's one less quality backup. They'll need another decent backup or two for sure (and I'm not sure that guy that Baltimore shat out counts).

In all fairness, the Browns have been flirting with replacing Steinbach for years. This probably accelerates the change by a year. Get the growing pains out of the way now.

[peeker643]

We'll see.

At the very least, he's way more replaceable than Colt McCoy or Peyton Hillis or Joe Haden.

Still hurts.

Your thumb is more valuable than your index finger but you don't really need to be losing that index finger either.

They have to be keeping a close on league cuts the next two weeks you'd think, no?

I agree about the thumb thing and I'd certainly think they'll be scouring cuts.

Pinkston could very well be in their plans as starter no matter what. Why not get him a year's starting experience? This team ain't Super Bowl bound regardless.

What really takes a hit is depth. Let's be generous and assume Pinkston is a quality backup at probably several positions. Now he's starting. That's one less quality backup. They'll need another decent backup or two for sure (and I'm not sure that guy that Baltimore shat out counts).

In all fairness, the Browns have been flirting with replacing Steinbach for years. This probably accelerates the change by a year. Get the growing pains out of the way now.

If Steinbach is on the downside (and I think we all agree he is) having him hurt and paying him to be hurt isn't the way to accelerate the growth of what was once your depth. That's why I think they were far more comfortable with Steinbach protecting the blindside than a raw rookie. And Steinbach is still serviceable in the run game.

What we know about Pinkston is that we don't know about Pinkston. And finding out in actual game situations with not much behind him makes me uneasy. That's all I'm really saying. That it's in no way ideal.

[hiko]

If Steinbach is on the downside (and I think we all agree he is) having him hurt and paying him to be hurt isn't the way to accelerate the growth of what was once your depth. That's why I think they were far more comfortable with Steinbach protecting the blindside than a raw rookie. And Steinbach is still serviceable in the run game.

What we know about Pinkston is that we don't know about Pinkston. And finding out in actual game situations with not much behind him makes me uneasy. That's all I'm really saying. That it's in no way ideal.

Don't think for one moment that I'm saying this is a good thing.

I'm just saying that in the grand scope, Steinbach is not likely to be starting much longer anyway, and this is probably a good season to find out what we have in Pinkston since this isn't a Championship-Push type year.

Thus, as far as the long-term is concerned, I'm not overly worried about Pinkston replacing Steinbach (even if I know that Pinkston has almost no chance of being as good this season as Steinbach would have been... if he's 85%, then the experience is a win).

What I am worried about is the now paper-thin depth on the O Line, which I understand is probably your primary concern as well.

[mattvan1]

I know I was one of the folks who wrote JT had a down year, so maybe this is a case of pot kettle black, but I just don't see how Steinbach was on the way out and/or was somehow not a good run blocker. Weight means nothing - it's about leverage and the dude had it to go along with smarts and the right attitude. Not wanting to run around yelling "the sky is falling" but this is a HUGE loss IMO.

[hiko]

I know I was one of the folks who wrote JT had a down year, so maybe this is a case of pot kettle black, but I just don't see how Steinbach was on the way out and/or was somehow not a good run blocker. Weight means nothing - it's about leverage and the dude had it to go along with smarts and the right attitude. Not wanting to run around yelling "the sky is falling" but this is a HUGE loss IMO.

It's really hard for me to say how good/not good Steinbach is b/c, honestly, I don't pay much attention to him. It's a lot easier to see how Tackles are performing as opposed to Guards, who are buried in the scrum in the middle.

I just remember rumors the last 2 years that Mangini was looking to replace Steinbach or that Steinbach might not start (which obviously never panned out), and when O Linemen get into their 30's, it's inevitable that teams start looking for their replacements.

Do I remember Steinbach getting pushed around on pass coverage last year? Sure. But that happens to all Guards during pass protection.

All I really know about Steinbach is that none of the people "in the know" were voting him to Pro Bowl or All Pro teams and that coaches were looking to find his replacement. To me, that sounds like a guy who is - at least mostly - replaceable. A HUGE loss to me would be Joe Thomas, b/c who the F is his backup?

Guess we'll have to see what Pinkston brings for a couple games before we can even speculate.

[mattvan1]

I know I was one of the folks who wrote JT had a down year, so maybe this is a case of pot kettle black, but I just don't see how Steinbach was on the way out and/or was somehow not a good run blocker. Weight means nothing - it's about leverage and the dude had it to go along with smarts and the right attitude. Not wanting to run around yelling "the sky is falling" but this is a HUGE loss IMO.

It's really hard for me to say how good/not good Steinbach is b/c, honestly, I don't pay much attention to him. It's a lot easier to see how Tackles are performing as opposed to Guards, who are buried in the scrum in the middle.

I just remember rumors the last 2 years that Mangini was looking to replace Steinbach or that Steinbach might not start (which obviously never panned out), and when O Linemen get into their 30's, it's inevitable that teams start looking for their replacements.

Do I remember Steinbach getting pushed around on pass coverage last year? Sure. But that happens to all Guards during pass protection.

All I really know about Steinbach is that none of the people "in the know" were voting him to Pro Bowl or All Pro teams and that coaches were looking to find his replacement. To me, that sounds like a guy who is - at least mostly - replaceable. A HUGE loss to me would be Joe Thomas, b/c who the F is his backup?

Guess we'll have to see what Pinkston brings for a couple games before we can even speculate.

I hear ya. The guy was great down field but he did get pushed around sometimes in pass pro. For me it's more of a continuity thing with the OL as a unit. It's not like I have a closet full of Steinbach jersey's or anything, and in the long run you are correct - 3 years from now he would not be in the mix. I'm just worried about Colt getting killed in the interim. Where's Pork Chop when we need him?

[peeker643]

I know I was one of the folks who wrote JT had a down year, so maybe this is a case of pot kettle black, but I just don't see how Steinbach was on the way out and/or was somehow not a good run blocker. Weight means nothing - it's about leverage and the dude had it to go along with smarts and the right attitude. Not wanting to run around yelling "the sky is falling" but this is a HUGE loss IMO.

It's really hard for me to say how good/not good Steinbach is b/c, honestly, I don't pay much attention to him. It's a lot easier to see how Tackles are performing as opposed to Guards, who are buried in the scrum in the middle.

I just remember rumors the last 2 years that Mangini was looking to replace Steinbach or that Steinbach might not start (which obviously never panned out), and when O Linemen get into their 30's, it's inevitable that teams start looking for their replacements.

Do I remember Steinbach getting pushed around on pass coverage last year? Sure. But that happens to all Guards during pass protection.

All I really know about Steinbach is that none of the people "in the know" were voting him to Pro Bowl or All Pro teams and that coaches were looking to find his replacement. To me, that sounds like a guy who is - at least mostly - replaceable. A HUGE loss to me would be Joe Thomas, b/c who the F is his backup?

Guess we'll have to see what Pinkston brings for a couple games before we can even speculate.

I hear ya. The guy was great down field but he did get pushed around sometimes in pass pro. For me it's more of a continuity thing with the OL as a unit. It's not like I have a closet full of Steinbach jersey's or anything, and in the long run you are correct - 3 years from now he would not be in the mix. I'm just worried about Colt getting killed in the interim. Where's Pork Chop when we need him?

Mmmm....pork chops....

What?

[Prosecutor]

If Pinky starts he'll be between Thomas and Mack so that will help. They'll shepherd him along. And I expect Shurmur may tweak the game plan a little more toward the running game the first couple of weeks, especially with MoMass behind in his preparation.

I can also see the Browns signing a vet after the final cuts on Saturday if they'll not sure about Pinkston. Wish Yates hadn't retired.