link Steve McNair will be out at least two to three weeks with a shoulder injury, which means Kyle Boller will be the Ravens' starting quarterback Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. McNair sustained a subluxation of his non-throwing shoulder -- which means it kept popping in and out of joint -- late in Sunday's 21-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, coach Brian Billick announced on his weekly radio show tonight. Boller, who was a three-year starter before the Ravens traded for McNair, is 2-1 as the starter this season. Obviously, Kyle is cranked up and ready to go," Billick said. The injury comes at a point where the Ravens could have been ready to bench McNair. The former Pro Bowl quarterback has reached a self-proclaimed "lowest point" of his career. In six starts this season, McNair has thrown two touchdown passes and committed 11 turnovers (four interceptions and seven fumbles). McNair was pulled from Sunday's loss with 7:33 left in the game after he failed to produce a scoring drive against a Bengals defense that had allowed 30.5 points a game. A day after the loss, the Ravens announced McNair had a shoulder injury. Billick said tonight that McNair was injured on his last hit. According to Billick, McNair will miss a "minimum" of two to three weeks before he can begin practicing. "Initially, it was one of those things where there's a numbness to it and then you wake up in morning and it's, 'Oh my God, what's going on here?,' " Billick said. With McNair sidelined, rookie fifth-round pick Troy Smith will be Boller's backup. The Heisman Trophy winner has not taken a snap during the regular season. "That's going to be a fun challenge for Troy, because now he's been around enough," Billick said. "The focus and attention that he brings to [preparing] is heightened."</p>
I'm hoping for Smithto finally get some minutes now! He needs to give this offense some energy. And maybe Clayton will finally start to heat up now.</p>
I'm glad to hear that McNair is open to the thought of Boller getting to play at the starter. It would suck if we had a QB controversey with Billick at HC. By having Boller start, McNair can mentor Smith and at the same time, be that backup incase Boller goes down with an injury. Definetely good news for me.</p>
