Chris Gocong Returns to Practice, Tony Pashos Still Up in the Air

When you project a team's strengths heading into the regular season, things often look pretty optimistic. And then, the injury bug hits you. Starting right tackle Tony Pashos was still in a walking boot on Wednesday, and Shurmur said the team would have to see how things go for him over the next couple of days. "He is still in the boot," said Shurmur. "They are trying to get that foot to settle down a little bit.  We will kind of diagnose where he is at probably tomorrow and see where we go."

According to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal, the Browns were rotating backups Oniel Cousins and Artis Hicks at right tackle during Wednesday's practice. Shurmur still wouldn't commit to a starter at left guard either, but given the situation at right tackle, he might be forced to stick with rookie Jason Pinkston. "We haven’t finished deciding [about left guard], but right now we have Jason in there working."

The good news of the day was the fact that several Browns, including linebacker Chris Gocong, were expected to return to practice. When asked about Gocong's status for the game this Sunday, Shurmur said, "He is practicing today and that’s the first step, so we will see how he responds to today’s practice as we go through tomorrow and then Friday." The other players who practiced Wednesday were tight end Benjamin Watson and safety Usama Young. According to Ulrich, Eric Hagg had some limited work but backup linebacker Titus Brown was still in a walking boot.