BEREA, Ohio -- There may be a partial explanation for the early struggles this season of Cleveland Browns linebacker Barkevious Mingo.

Browns coach Mike Pettine said Mingo has been playing since the opener with a harness on his right shoulder to protect an undisclosed injury.

“He’ll probably have to end up having to wear it all year,” Pettine said Thursday.

Mingo said there is nothing structurally wrong with his shoulder, indicating no tear or displacement, but he admits playing with the harness does affect him even though he wears it to protect himself from further injury.

“It limits the range of motion,” he said. “Tries to keep me out of the positions that irritate it.”

He added he would not use it as an excuse; it’s just something he has to play through.

The protection didn’t fully work against Pittsburgh, as Mingo had to go to the sideline in pain at one point due to an obvious hit on the shoulder.

Harnesses are commonly designed to keep a player from overusing a seriously bruised shoulder. Often, they do not let a player raise his arm over his shoulder; Mingo wouldn’t get into it, but it appears that is the case with his harness.

That might explain some of why Mingo isn’t producing the way he was in preseason when he was healthy -- he has just 12 tackles and no sacks so far this season.

He started the opener but missed the second game with the injury and has been playing -- with limitations -- since.

"“When you get hurt early in the season or injured early in the season in football, it’s not going away until the offseason," defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil said. "It’s really not. It’s something that you’ve got to learn to play with. It’s something that you’ve got to learn to manage and deal with throughout the course of the season.

"It’s just too violent of a sport to ever get healthy, especially at the position he plays at. He’s done a great job managing it. I’m sure it gives him problems at times throughout the course of the game. You’ll have to ask him, probably, if it’s bothering him at times or if it doesn’t. What we’re asking him to do, he’s able to execute it and get it done.”