The Browns will be making a change on their offensive line.
Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports that coach Rob Chudzinski announced that right guard Shawn Lauvao will have arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle on Friday after injuring it earlier this week in practice. Chudzinski offered no specific timetable for Lauvao’s recovery, but did say that the guard would miss time in the regular season.
That likely means that Jason Pinkston will make his return to the starting lineup. Pinkston, who was the starting left guard last year before developing a blood clot in his lung that ended his season after six games, took over for Lauvao this week -- John Greco is installed on the left side now -- and Chudzinski was pleased with his play on Thursday night.
“I was pleased with Jason’s performance,” Chudzinski said. “He did well along with the group of ones up front, and then he continued and played a little bit more. We wanted him to get him more work and keep working him back into things. But he did a good job. I was pleased with him.”
Lauvao, a third-round pick in 2010, has started the last 32 games for the Browns and his healthy return would give Cleveland solid depth in the interior of the line.