The Sports Xchange

BEREA, Ohio – The Cleveland Browns probably lost more than a football game when they were hammered 24-6 by the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. They might also have lost starting quarterback Josh McCown to a shoulder injury late in the fourth quarter.

McCown was injured with 5:17 left on a strip sack when he was hit on the elbow by Rams defensive end William Hayes. McCown’ s head slammed on the surface of the Edwin Jones Dome for the second time in four minutes, but the pain that would not allow him to continue was in his right shoulder. He was listed as day to day on Monday.

“I’ m not going to get into the results,” coach Mike Pettine said. “We’ re listing him as day to day. We’ ll know a little bit more on Wednesday. I’ m not going to get into his specific MRI results.”

McCown was equally vague in a nearly deserted locker room Monday.

“I’ m getting better – sore, but getting better,” McCown said. “I think disappointment probably outweighs all of that. Just disappointed in how we played. “I’ m not going to comment on whether I can play or my physical status, all that stuff.”

Pettine said Johnny Manziel will start at home against the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday if McCown cannot play. Manziel entered the game in St. Louis in the closing minutes with his team down, 24-6. The Rams were content to give him short passes. He completed four of five throws for 27 yards.

Complicating the issue is the NFL is investigating an incident on Oct. 12 in which police in the Cleveland suburb of Avon responded to 911 calls concerning a roadside argument involving Manziel and his girlfriend, Colleen Crowley.

Crowley can be heard on a police dash-cam complaining “he hit me a couple times.” Manziel, who spent 70 days in rehab earlier this year for an unspecified reason, admitted having “a couple drinks” earlier in the day.

The Browns have been mum on how they disciplined Manziel, but they allowed him to dress as the second quarterback for the game against the Broncos on Oct. 18 and Sunday against the Rams.

The NFL reportedly is expected to interview Manziel this week. The league has declined to report on its investigation.

“If anybody reaches out to me, the NFL, I’ ll cooperate with anything they ask of me, anything they need from me, I’ m not shying away from that,” Manziel said. “I cooperated fully with Avon, everyone in the Browns. It’ s an ongoing situation and I don’ t really want to speak on it much more than that. If the situation does arise, I’ ll fully cooperate.”

Manziel started the second game of the season when McCown was sidelined with a concussion. Manziel threw two touchdown passes to spark the Browns to a 28-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans.

REPORT CARD VS. RAMS

–Passing offense: B-minus. Quarterback Josh McCown fumbled twice when engulfed by the Rams relentless pass rush. Other than that, he took a beating until he just couldn’ t go any more. He completed 26 of 32 passes and finished with a 101.8 passer rating but once again did not put the ball in the end zone. The Browns were 0-for-1 in the red zone and now have just seven touchdowns in 20 red-zone appearances.

–Running offense: C minus. The Browns averaged just 3.4 yards a carry. Their chances of winning are minimal when they don’ t rush for 100 yards as a team. Shifty running back Duke Johnson caught seven passes for 73 yards, but six runs by Johnson netted only 17 yards. The Browns had difficulty getting to the second level of the St. Louis defense as attested by the fact their leading rusher was Robert Turbin with 30 yards.

–Pass defense: B. The Browns held Rams quarterback Nick Foles to 150 yards net passing. Normally that should be enough to win a game, but a 41-yard completion from Foles to wide receiver Kenny Britt set up the touchdown that pushed the Rams ahead, 17-6. The Browns clearly miss injured cornerback Joe Haden (concussion). Haden has missed two straight games with the injury.

–Run defense: D. It is the same story every week; the Browns contain the opponent most of the day but give up chunk yardage that costs them the game. Rookie running back Todd Gurley broke free on a 48-yard run and wide receiver Tavon Austin picked up 21 yards on an end-around. Those two carries accounted for 43.6 percent of the Rams’ rush yardage on 7.6 percent of their carries. The Browns do not do a good job of setting an edge and funneling the ball carrier inside.

–Special teams: C. Special teams didn’ t hurt the Browns, but didn’ t help them, either. Punt returner Travis Benjamin had the chance to return only two of five punts and totaled only four yards in returns. The offense struggles when it doesn’ t get good field position from Benjamin. The Browns did a fine job of minimizing damage from Rams punt returner Tavon Austin. Austin was held under his 17.3 average when he returned two punts totaling 15 yards. Kicker Travis Coons, two-for-two on field goals Sunday, still hasn’ t missed. He is 14-for-14 on field-goal tries.

–Coaching: D. The Browns are undisciplined. Four penalties were called on the offense on one possession – one a false start and three holding penalties. Something isn’ t working properly in the run defense. Whether the players aren’ t getting the message from defensive coordinator Jim O’ Neil or they just aren’ t good enough is difficult to know, but the fact is opponents are running over the Browns at a clip of 151 yards a game. That’ s 9.5 yards a game more than last year despite dedicating the offseason to fixing run defense.