Cleveland Browns place punter Richmond McGee on IR with herniated disc, sign veteran Brad Maynard
Browns punter Richmond McGee suffered a herniated disc in warmups prior to Sunday's game and played without much feeling in his right leg, agent David Canter said on Tuesday.
McGee was placed on injured reserve by the Browns and replaced with 14-year veteran Brad Maynard, who punted the last 10 seasons with the Chicago Bears, where Browns special teams coach Chris Tabor was an assistant special teams coach from 2008-10.
So the Browns are into their third punter before they've even won a game.
The dominoes started falling when Reggie Hodges suffered a season-ending injury to his Achilles tendon in training camp. McGee, who averaged 46.3 yards on 22 punts in preseason, never punted in a regular-season game until Sunday. He was promptly booed by the Browns' crowd when he shanked his first punt for 20 yards. He also had punts of 28 and 30 yards and finished with a gross average of 36.0 on eight kicks.
McGee's first punt gave Cincinnati field position at the Browns' 41, which led to a Bengals field goal and 3-0 lead. His 28-yard punt in the fourth quarter was downed on the Bengals' 38. That possession resulted in the Bengals' go-ahead touchdown pass of 41 yards to A.J. Green.
Canter said McGee knew something was wrong when he felt a twinge in his lower back in warmups. The Browns could have used kicker Phil Dawson to punt, but McGee gutted it out and kicked with the injury.
"Soon as the game was over, I called him after seeing the numbers and hearing that fans were booing,"
Canter said. "He's devastated by it. He said, 'You don't know what it's like to try to punt without feeling your leg.' Everybody in Cleveland wants to hang the guy. He gave it everything he had."
Canter said McGee will receive a second medical opinion on whether surgery is necessary.
"Hopefully, he'll have the opportunity to come back and punt again,"
Canter said.
The Browns made no mention of the injury after the game or in coach Pat Shurmur's post-mortem meeting with media on Monday.
After 10 seasons in Chicago, Maynard, 37, was released by the Bears on July 25. He signed with the Houston Texans and was released on the final cut. Maynard's gross average of 40.1 yards for the Bears was the lowest among NFL punters last season. His career mark is 41.9 yards. Maynard has spent his entire career kicking for teams based in the north and in outdoor stadiums. That experience should help him here when the weather toughens.
Maynard also is an experienced and reliable holder on placekicks. McGee didn't appear to have any blunders in that regard, but a pair of old hands at the position is always favored by kickers.
Legends named: Linebacker Vince Costello and center Tom DeLeone are the newest members of the Cleveland Browns Legends, the club announced. Costello (1957-66) and DeLeone (1974-84) will be honored during a halftime ceremony at the Sept. 25 game against Miami.
