The Cleveland Browns placed quarterback Robert Griffin III on injured reserve Monday after medical tests revealed a fractured bone in his left shoulder.The team said surgery was not required at this time and that Griffin’s shoulder will be re-evaluated in three to four weeks.Under the new injured reserve rules, each team can designate one player to return. Designation does not need to be made until that player is able to return to practice. A player placed on IR is eligible to return to practice in six weeks and must miss a minimum of eight games.”It’s very unfortunate, Robert came in and has worked extremely hard to learn our offense and earn the respect of his teammates,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “This is a tough loss because everyone has seen how invested he has been in this team and his dedication to the work needed to improve his craft.”We all know these are the realities of the NFL, injuries occur and you have to find ways to overcome them so they don’t impede your progress. Robert will do everything in his power to rehab and get healthy.”Josh McCown will start Sunday’s home opener against the Baltimore Ravens.”Josh McCown is on this roster for a reason and we have great confidence in him,” Jackson said. “He is more than capable. His veteran presence has been an asset to our team throughout our process of preparing for the season.”McCown started eight games for the Browns last season. He completed 186 of 292 passes for 2,109 yards with 12 touchdowns, four interceptions and a 93.3 rating.Griffin was hurt in Sunday’s 29-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He was hit by Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills at the end of an 11-yard run with 3:41 left and the Browns down 22-10.”I was trying to get out of bounds,” Griffin said after the game. “He kind of just surprised me there. I feel like I had done a decent job of protecting myself recently. I wanted to continue that. To get hit … kind of surprised me there.”Just an unfortunate play. Just trying to fight for as many yards as we could. Try to go score a touchdown and put us in the best position to try to win the game. It hurt pretty bad.”Griffin stayed in the game as the Browns went for the first down on fourth-and-4. He was in obvious pain as he threw an incomplete pass.Griffin completed 12 of 26 passes for 190 yards and one interception, and said after the game he thought he had suffered a sprained shoulder.At the time, Griffin said he would be fine for Week 2, but he moved slowly in his postgame press conference and admitted he was in pain.”The play happened, and you just got to move on from it,” Griffin said Sunday. “You know, sprained shoulder. Just gotta monitor it and see how it goes.”I can move my left arm. I’m in pain, but it will be OK, just have to monitor it. We’ll see more tomorrow and see how my shoulder is feeling and just move on from there.”Reuters and the Sports XChange contributed to this report
