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Shawn Lauvao will undergo arthroscopic surgery today on his ankle and will miss some time in the regular season. (Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns starting right guard Shawn Lauvao is expected to be out about six weeks after undergoing arthroscopic ankle surgery Friday, meaning he could miss the first two to three weeks of the season, a league source said.

Lauvao, the Browns' third-round pick in 2010, had a piece of loose cartilage removed the ankle, and also suffered a high ankle sprain. Jason Pinkston, working his way back after being out of football for seven months following a blood clot in his lung, is expected to start in Lauvao's place.

"He'll miss some time early in the season, but I don’t have any definitive dates and times on that,'' head coach Rob Chudzinski said on a conference call. "We'll just have to see how that goes from the results of the scope and how he’ll progress over the next few weeks.''

Lauvao, who's started the past two seasons, was injured Monday in practice during a one-on-one blocking drills with massive nose tackle Phil Taylor. Taylor got underneath Lauvao's pads and Lauvao buckled. He knelt, winced and grabbed the ankle. He was then carted into the fieldhouse and hasn't been seen at practice since.

Pinkston, who missed the final 10 games of last season after leaving the Cincinnati game Oct. 14 with what proved to be the life-threatening blood clot, started Thursday night against the Rams and played into the second quarter.

"I was pleased with Jason’s performance,'' said Chudzinski. "He did well along with the group of ones upfront. Then he continued and played little bit more. We wanted to get him more work and keep working him back into things and he did a good job. I was pleased with him.''

Heading into the game, Pinkston admitted that not only is he still getting his football legs back, but that moving to the right side has been an adjustment. Before the bloodclot, he started 22 straight games at left guard, and was replaced by John Greco, who has taken over the position.

Chudzinski has no plans to switch the two, but won't rule it out.

"I like where they're at right now,'' Chudzinski said. "Greco's been playing solid ball. (Pinkston's) a good athlete, and he had played right guard earlier in his career, then moved to left guard. I think we'll work it this way for a little while here. I know that John has flexibility being able to play on the right side as well. But I think the guys play next to each other and then they start to develop a little chemistry, so I'd like to see how that evolves with Jason staying on the right side."

The Browns also have rookie guards Garrett Gilkey, Caylin Hauptmann and Aaron Adams and a second-year pro in Jarrod Shaw who will get practice time and perhaps preseason game reps at right guard. Oniel Cousins, primarily a tackle, can also play guard.

"We've been focusing (Gilkey) mostly at left guard but he will get right guard reps along the way,'' said Chudzinski. "Anybody that's in that position as a backup needs to be able to play multiple positions and play on both sides.''

He said Gilkey fared well in his rookie debut against the Rams, a 27-19 victory.

"He was pretty solid in there in his protections and his effort was really good finishing blocks,'' said Chudzinski. "He showed some physicality and I'm pretty sure no mental mistakes so I think he did a good job.''

Fortunately for the Browns, they had three starting-caliber guards vying for the three spots in Greco, Lauvao and Pinkston.

“It’s good that we had those guys and Jason has had experience there and has played there and been effective there,'' said Chudzinski. "So that’s definitely a high hope for us.”