Tackle Mark Tauscher, placed on injured reserve last week, will have surgery on his right shoulder on Tuesday. "This was clearly a medical decision," McCarthy said. "Mark made a lot of progress week to week. It just got to the point where it was in Mark's best interest to have the surgery. I don't think we would have been able to get Mark to the point where he would have been able to play with the harness. He made a lot of progress. Give Mark a ton of credit for trying to play with the injury. ... We asked him to stay a part of it in the meetings and travel with the team and so forth. ... Mark Tauscher is still a big part of our football team. ... We felt it was in Mark's best interest to have the surgery. It's part of the game. Mark has had a tremendous career. ... It's also the path of our season. Injuries do occur. At some point, careers do come to an end."