Browns Rookie WR Vince Mayle to Have Surgery on Thumb

Cleveland Browns rookie WR Vince Mayle will have surgery on a broken thumb, according to head coach Mike Pettine during an interview with the media today.

"We’re going to address it after this camp. It should not be an issue in the fall. We wanted him to come out, just see how it was, test it. Found out real quick yesterday that there’s still some lingering pain there. So, we’re going to go ahead and get it corrected."

Mayle, a fourth-round selection, was the team's only wide receiver taken out of 12 draft picks. Mayle first suffered the injury at the Senior Bowl, but did not know it was broken under the NFL Combine. The injury has lingered for four months now, and as Pettine said above, it quickly became apparent to them that Mayle will need to undergo surgery.

Pettine said that they expect Mayle to be back and ready for full action by training camp. I had my doubts that he would be anywhere higher than fifth on the depth chart at wide receiver, and with this injury likely to keep him from catching passes throughout all of OTA's and minicamp, it'll be an even tougher road for him to show coaches whether he's ready for an elevated role or not.