The sophomore jinx has struck again in Cleveland.
Browns defensive tackle Phil Taylor is on the mend from surgery to repair the torn pectoral muscle he suffered lifting weights earlier this month. Taylor is projected to return In 2012, but his second season in the league has been compromised. After starting all 16 games as a rookie, Taylor joins a long list of Browns players to encounter trouble in Year 2.
Here's the trail of tears, courtesy of The Canton Repository:
• Quarterback Tim Couch (No. 1 overall draft pick, 1999): In 2000, his second season, Couch injured his throwing hand in practice, missing the final nine games of the year. The team finished 3-13.
• Defensive end Courtney Brown (No. 1 overall, 2000): In 2001, "The Quiet Storm" missed the first six games with a knee injury. He returned to play five contests before he was lost for the season with an ankle injury. Quiet, indeed.
• Running back William Green (No. 16 overall, 2002): After a solid start in 2003, Green entered an abyss. The back was suspended for violating the NFL's substance-abuse program. Then it got weird: In November, Green's fiancée, Asia Gray, was arrested for stabbing him in the back -- literally. He missed the rest of the season.
• Tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. (No. 6 overall, 2004): KW2 missed all but two games of his 2004 rookie season with a broken right fibula. The following May, Winslow crashed his motorcycle in an Ohio parking lot. Goodbye, 2005.
• Receiver Braylon Edwards (No. 3 overall, 2005): Edwards was faster than the rest of the bunch, suffering a season-ending knee injury with four games to go in his rookie campaign.
• Quarterback Brady Quinn (No. 22 overall, 2007): His first start came in Week 10 of the 2008 season. He threw for 239 yards and two touchdown against the Denver Broncos. One week later, Quinn broke a finger against the Buffalo Bills.
