BEREA — Receiver Mohamed Massaquoi’s left foot and lower leg remained in a cast Monday, and he still hasn’t practiced in training camp.

Massaquoi, expected to be the team’s No. 1 wideout, continued his routine of riding a stationary bike and standing on the sideline during team drills. The Browns have said little regarding the injury, but coach Pat Shurmur said Monday it involves a bone.

“Healing needs to be done,” Shurmur said.

Shurmur didn’t give a timetable for Massaquoi’s return to practice, but president Mike Holmgren indicated on WTAM 1100-AM Monday that he could be back next week. The Browns open the preseason Saturday against Green Bay.

Other notes and observations from practice:

** Linebacker Chris Gocong suffered a stinger and missed the second half of practice. He was replaced by Kaluka Maiava, who missed the final 14 games of 2010 with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

** Shurmur said defensive end Marcus Benard needs to work on his conditioning. Benard gained weight in the offseason to prepare for the switch from 3-4 linebacker to 4-3 end. But Shurmur wants him back at his 2010 weight of 255 for improved quickness in the pass rush.

** Running back Montario Hardesty (knee surgery last year) again worked out on the side with a trainer.

** Cornerback Joe Haden (hamstring), receiver Jordan Norwood (hip) and tight end Jordan Cameron (hamstring) returned to practice.

** The first- and second-team offenses failed to score in the two-minute drill. They needed a touchdown and started at midfield with 50 seconds left.

** Rookie receiver Greg Little dropped at least three passes.

CHECK BACK FOR MORE BROWNS COVERAGE, AND FOLLOW SCOTT PETRAK ON TWITTER.

COPLEY, Ohio — Police today identified the man responsible for shooting and killing 7 people in a rampage over the weekend in this small Ohio town, and a woman who knew him said he was an unpleasant, disliked person who was involved in an estate dispute.

Michael Hance, 51, was named as the gunman in Sunday’s killings in Copley, and he died in a shootout with police.

Robin Hancock came to the police station in this northeast Ohio community today to hear updates on the slayings that left eight dead, including Hance.

“He was quiet and strange,” said Hancock, 53, of Akron.

Hancock was a caregiver for a couple slain in the rampage, and said Hance’s confrontational behavior caused her to leave her job.

One shooting victim who survived was Becky Dieter, Hance’s girlfriend of more than two decades, she said.

Hancock said Hance had become embroiled in a dispute over the will of Dieter’s late parents, and that a next-door couple who were long-time friends with Dieter’s parents had gotten involved.

That couple were among the seven whom police say Hance shot and killed.

Police combed through three homes and searched outside a fourth in a wooded, residential area outside Akron on Sunday, collecting evidence as they tried to piece together what happened during the shootings that shook a quiet neighborhood.

Authorities were withholding the names and ages of those involved until officers could tell victims’ family members, some of whom were out of state, Copley police Sgt. Eric Goodwin said. Autopsies began today.

The tragedy began before 11 a.m. when police say Hance shot his girlfriend in one home, then ran to a next-door neighbor’s house, where he shot her brother and gunned down four neighbors. He then chased four people — two through neighboring backyards — shooting one of them before bursting into a home on a nearby road, where two others had sought refuge.

Police said he shot his eighth victim in that home and left, only to get into a gunfight outside with a police officer and a citizen who had been a police officer.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Cleveland Indians knew they were in for a tough stretch when they opened a seven-game road trip against division leaders Boston and Texas on Aug. 1.

Reliever Joe Smith walks off the field after a disastrous eighth inning Sunday at Texas in which the Indians gave up five runs and lost a 3-0 lead. Smith allowed three runs on three hits and failed to record an out in the inning. (AP photo.)

Considering the strength of the competition, manager Manny Acta said there was no shame in going 3-4 on the trip after a 5-3 loss to the Rangers on Sunday night.

“We knew when we started this road trip that it was a tough one that could make us or break us,” Acta said. “Despite four heartbreaking losses, these guys kept their heads above water. We had a chance to win every one of them. It’s better than being buried.”

The Indians seemed in good shape to take two of three from the Rangers when they carried a 3-0 lead into the eighth. But Elvis Andrus drove in the tying and go-ahead runs with a two-run single in Texas’ five-run eighth.

Texas came back twice against the Indians in Friday night’s 8-7 win in 11 innings. After Cleveland rallied for a 7-5 victory Saturday night, the Rangers pulled off their second comeback of the series.

Indians starter Josh Tomlin shut out the Rangers over seven innings, but the 25-year-old right-hander walked Mike Napoli leading off the eighth and gave up a single to Mitch Moreland, his final batter.

“In that eighth inning, I’ve got to do a better job of going after hitters,” Tomlin said. “I didn’t get the job done. I can’t walk the leadoff guy with a 3-0 lead.”

Sidearm right-hander Joe Smith (2-3) came in, giving up an infield single to Yorvit Torrealba to load the bases.

David Murphy delivered an RBI single to make it 3-1, and Smith walked Ian Kinsler to force in a run.

Andrus followed with his two-run single to center to put the Rangers in front, and Josh Hamilton’s RBI groundout against Rafael Perez made it 5-3.

Smith didn’t record an out, allowing three runs and three hits.

“(Tomlin) threw seven great innings, and I came in and didn’t get the job done,” Smith said. “I blew it, I was terrible.”

Michael Young, Texas’ career hits leader, reached 2,000 with infield singles in the fifth and seventh.

Michael Brantley homered and drove in two runs for the Indians, who went 1-6 against Texas in the season series that concluded with Sunday’s loss.

The Indians stayed four games behind Detroit in the AL Central after the Tigers’ 4-3 loss to Kansas City.

Tomlin, a Texas native pitching in front of a contingent of family and friends, allowed two runs and four hits with four strikeouts and three walks in his first career appearance against the Rangers.

The Indians got their offense started on Lonnie Chisenhall’s sacrifice fly in the second. In the fifth, Ezequiel Carrera singled and scored on Brantley’s triple to make it 2-0.

Brantley’s sixth homer made it 3-0 in the eighth.

Choo to begin rehab tonight at Lake County

Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo will begin a rehab assignment with Class A Lake County of the Midwest League today, the next step in his return from a broken left thumb.

Choo was examined Saturday by team medical personnel in Cleveland, and he was cleared to start playing again.

Choo has been on the disabled list since June 25. He’s been taking batting practice, and is now ready for full baseball activities.

Notes

• The temperature at first pitch Sunday was 102, four degrees cooler than Saturday night’s record heat for Rangers Ballpark.
• Tomlin has lasted at least five innings in all 35 big league starts.
• According to data provided to the Indians by Elias Sports Bureau, 2B Jason Kipnis is the first Cleveland player with five homers in his first 13 major league games since Luis Medina in 1988. The last player on any team with five homers in his first 13 big league games was Texas’ Taylor Teagarden in 2008.

Next up

• Who: Cleveland vs. Detroit
• When: Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.
• Where: Progressive Field
• Pitchers: Masterson (9-7, 2.63 ERA) vs. Fister (4-12, 3.29)
• TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

Through nearly four months of the season, the Indians, surprisingly enough, looked like contenders for their first Central Division title since 2007.

Now, they just look like posers.

Yes, Cleveland entered Saturday trailing the first-place Tigers by just four games in the standings, which technically qualifies them as a contender. But this is not a playoff team — and far from a championship-caliber one.

The pitching that has carried them for much of the year, has deserted them — even in a top-shelf bullpen, where previously impenetrable relievers Chris Perez, Vinnie Pestano, Tony Sipp and Rafael Perez have all stumbled as of late.

The starting staff has been bolstered by the addition of right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, but outside of Justin Masterson, the rest of the arms in the rotation have been inconsistent at best.

Josh Tomlin, who looked like a Cy Young candidate over the first two months of the season, is scuffling, with opposing teams appearing to figure out what he’s bringing to the mound as they’ve seen him more often, and producing the expected results — bad ones for Tomlin and the Indians.

Carlos Carrasco has been disgraceful over the last month and could be headed to the minors after serving his six-game suspension for throwing at the head of Kansas City’s Billy Butler because he couldn’t get anybody out.

One-time ace Fausto Carmona? The Indians are pleased when the right-hander works a mediocre outing, since the majority of his starts this year have been bad ones. This from a pitcher that finished fourth in Cy Young voting four seasons ago.

The defense, which had been solid for much of the year has been atrocious as of late. If the ball isn’t hit to shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera or third baseman Jack Hannahan — when he happens to be in the lineup — look out.

It would figure that an offense that has held the team back for the majority of the season would start to produce right about now. But it isn’t going to last, not if the Indians keep running out the same anemic lineup that has taken the field the past month or so.

Shin-Soo Choo is coming back soon and Grady Sizemore might return before the season is complete. In most years that would be cause to celebrate, but both players have failed to produce up to expectations during an already injury-filled season for both.

The downward slide began in earnest during Cleveland’s first homestand of the second half, when the Indians went 2-6 and dropped three straight series to the White Sox, Angels and Royals — yes, the last-place Royals.

Most recently, the Indians bounced back to show some mettle in hanging with Boston for a split of a four-game series at Fenway Park.

They will point to the pair of one-run losses the Red Sox hung on them as a positive, since both were close games. But those are the games that contenders win — at least one of them.

Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury beat the Indians with game-winning hits in each. Did you know Cleveland took outfielder Trevor Crowe before Ellsbury in the 2005 MLB Draft? The Tribe also selected pitcher Jeremy Sowers before Angels AL All-Star starter Jered Weaver in the 2004 draft.

Just sayin.’

For once, the Indians made some noise at the trading deadline as buyers, not sellers, but they didn’t purchase enough — Jimenez and Kosuke Fukudome — to turn them back into contenders. Jimenez is a great addition for the future, but the Indians needed offense and Fukudome isn’t nearly enough of it now.

It’s all going downhill at this point and the Indians don’t have enough talent to stop the slide, even in a suspect division such as the Central.

Better luck next year, Wahoos.

Power Poll

1. Philadelphia Phillies: With the starting staff these guys have, they aren’t going away for a long time.

2. New York Yankees: Even without A-Rod, the Bronx Bombers have climbed back to the top of the AL East.

3. Boston Red Sox: BoSox are probably still the best overall team in the American League.

4. Atlanta Braves: Second-place to the Phillies in the NL East, the Bravos would be leading every division in baseball, save the AL East.

5. Milwaukee Brewers: Red-hot Brew Crew is starting to put some distance between themselves and the Cardinals in the NL Central race.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.