Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton has admitted that his side will be hurt by the loss of linebacker Barkevious Mingo.
Mingo suffered a bruised lung during his side's 24-6 pre-season win over the Detroit Lions, an injury that could see him miss the opening game of the season against the Miami Dolphins on September 8.
Horton stressed that his squad has plenty of strength in depth, but admits that losing Mingo would hurt his side as he is one of their strongest players.
"We have a lot of players at a lot of positions who can play for us," Horton told the The AP.
"Depth is a key for us. We have quality players at a lot of quality positions. A lot of people use the mantra, 'next man up'. We believe in that philosophy that it doesn't matter who the starters are, it is give me 11 guys who want to go out and play and can play.
"He is one of our 11, so will it hurt our team? Yeah, it will hurt our team because of our depth, but we will get him back soon and we will plug him right back in."
Mingo, 22, was discharged from hospital earlier today having spent two nights recovering from the injury.
Barney Corkhill
