Zastudil, from Bay Village, says he'll always be a Brown, even though his five-year contract expires this season. Meanwhile, Floyd Womack is out for the rest of preseason with a knee injury.
Punter Dave Zastudil will miss the rest of the season while recovering from off-season knee surgery.BROWNS TRAINING CAMP LOG: AUG. 17
What happened: Punter Dave Zastudil was placed on injured reserve with a right knee injury and the Browns re-signed tight end Joel Gamble. Guard Floyd Womack underwent arthroscopic knee surgery, a source said, and will miss the rest of the preseason. Rookie guard Shawn Lauvao is excused for the week for personal reasons and is headed home to Hawaii, a source said. Players were given practice off Wednesday for a good showing.
TDs aplenty: The offense scored TD pass after TD pass in situational drills Tuesday night, including red zone, goal line, fourth down and the like. Highlights included five-yarders on fourth down from Jake Delhomme to tight end Evan Moore, and Seneca Wallace to Bobby Engram. Engram had a great night overall, also catching a 20-yard TD from McCoy and a 40-yarder from Wallace. Practice ended on a 2-yard TD pass from Wallace to Jake Allen.
Turnover machine: Cornerback Sheldeon Brown, who recovered a fumble in the Green Bay game, picked off Delhomme twice on Tuesday, once in the morning at the end of a two-minute drill and once at night on a fourth-down pass in the end zone intended for Ben Watson.
Injury update: The following players were idle Tuesday; RB James Davis, WR Mohamed Massaquoi, CB Brandon McDonald, RG Lauvao, LB David Bowens, RG Womack, RT Tony Pashos, RT John St. Clair, OL Joel Reinders. RB Peyton Hillis returned to action.
Wednesday’s schedule: No practice. Final day of camp is Thursday, from 8:45-10:45 a.m. and 5:45-7:45 p.m. Call 877-6BROWNS for updates.
— Mary Kay Cabot
BEREA, Ohio -- Dave Zastudil said the hardest part about going on injured reserve for the season with a knee injury is knowing that his career with his hometown team could be over.
A native of Bay Village, the veteran punter is in the final year of his five-year deal with the Browns. He was placed on IR Tuesday after his surgically repaired patellar tendon in his right knee flared up on him at the start of camp.
"Obviously, it was tough contract-wise, the timing of it, because I love Cleveland," said Zastudil, who signed in 2006 as a free agent who had played in Baltimore. "I'm from Cleveland. I love the fans in Cleveland. I'll always be a Cleveland Brown. When my career is over, I'll still be going to Cleveland Browns games. That's one of the hardest things for me, is knowing that there's a chance I may not be here and how much I love the city and how much I love the fans."
Zastudil, 31 and a ninth-year pro, said he intends to play again next season.
"My No. 1 goal is to get healthy," he said. "My No. 2 goal is to get back on the field and do what I love to do. I'm going to do everything I can to come back and try to help a team somewhere."
Zastudil, who eight games last year before being sidelined, had surgery in December after enduring the tendon issue for about two years. He said he wishes now that he would've gone on the physically unable to perform list at the start of camp, which would've enabled him to return sometime in late October or early November.
"But at the time, I got cleared," he said. "I did my running test and I was punting. We all felt it was time for me to keep progressing through camp and go right into the season. Sometimes you have these setbacks that you're very unprepared for and not happy about."
Zastudil said the knee flared up after a couple of days of training camp. That's when he flew out to Colorado to see his surgeon, Dr. Richard Steadman, who told him he needed more rest and rehab.
"The organization obviously has to make a decision and I just can't give them a time frame of when I'll be ready," he said.
"He did a good job last year," said Mangini. "Not only did he a good job punting, but he did a good job as a holder, which is also another critical job for the punter to take care of. We had him in New York as well. I think Mike [Holmgren] had him in Seattle in their camp for a while so we've all kind of known him for quite some time and seen his development professionally. He had an extended chance to punt last year and took advantage of it."
Zastudil was in the midst of a career season last year. He was leading the league with 25 punts inside the 20 and had a phenomenal game in Buffalo, booming a career-high seven inside the 20, tied for third-highest in the NFL. Three were downed inside the 5 and he had a long of 57 to earn AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Zastudil is one of three hometown players who signed in 2006 to help return the Browns to glory -- only to suffer serious knee injuries. The other two were center LeCharles Bentley and Joe Jurevicius.
Womack scoped: Right guard Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack underwent arthroscopic knee surgery, but could be back by the opener in Tampa, a source said. Mangini said he'll miss at the least the rest of preseason "and then we'll take it from there."
If not, there's a good chance third-round pick Shawn Lauvao will get the nod. Lauvao was excused Tuesday for the rest of this week as he went home to Hawaii for a personal reason. But Mangini said it's nothing to be concerned about.
"There's nothing physically wrong with him," said Mangini. "He and I talked a long time and we all have these things that come up in our lives. I expect him back in a couple of days or early next week. He did a really, really good job for his first opportunity against a high level of competition being thrust into the starting lineup. That's not easy to do."
The right side of the line is in a state of flux, with right tackle John St. Clair sitting out Tuesday and projected starter Tony Pashos missing his second week with a shoulder injury. At right guard and right tackle Tuesday were Billy Yates and Scott Kooistra.
Mangini said St. Clair should be back Thursday and Pashos is close to returning.
Lawson back: Defensive back Gerard Lawson left midway through the morning session to attend his court hearing on DUI charges, but returned for the evening practice. He pleaded no contest to the DUI, and three other charges including hit-skip were dropped.
Lawson will most likely also be entered into Phase I of the NFL's substance abuse policy, which includes possible testing and counseling.