Cleveland Browns Place Tony Pashos, Robaire Smith on IR; Sign Two Players

Just before the half-way point of the season, the Cleveland Browns placed two starters on the injured reserve -- RT Tony Pashos and DE Robaire Smith. It's unclear what type of injury Pashos suffered, but he'll likely be replaced by John St. Clair soon. As far as Smith goes, he had a back injury and the move was somewhat expected given the reports over the past few days.

With two roster spots open, the Browns quickly filled them with the following two players:

• WR Yamon Figurs:By signing Figurs over a guy like Sam Aiken, it tells me that Figurs will probably return kicks this week against the New Orleans Saints (with Joshua Cribbs then being inactive). If he sounds familiar to you, he should -- he returned kickoffs and punts for the Baltimore Ravens from 2007-2008. He hasn't done much over the past two seasons, as he floated between the rosters of the Raiders, Lions, and Buccaneers. If Cribbs can play, he's still wide receiver depth behind the concussed Mohamed Massaquoi.
  
• OG Paul McQuistan: He was a third round draft pick for the Raiders in 2006 (69th overall). He played with them for three seasons. In his rookie year, he played 6 games at right guard before being benched. In 2007, he played right tackle and started six games there. He was placed on the injured reserve in 2008, and then spent last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He'll serve as depth at right tackle with Pashos gone.