Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy will start vs. Patriots

[BernietheKid]

Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy will start vs. Patriots; Wallace ruled out as starter but questionable

Published: Saturday, November 06, 2010, 1:45 AM Updated: Saturday, November 06, 2010, 1:51 AM

Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer


The Plain Dealer
Colt McCoy will start Sunday vs. the Patriots, his third straight start in place of Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme.

BEREA, Ohio — Browns rookie quarterback Colt McCoy will start Sunday against the Patriots, but coach Eric Mangini said Friday there's an outside chance QB Seneca Wallace will be active for the game.

Wallace and QB Jake Delhomme sat out all week of practice, but Wallace is listed as questionable, meaning there's a 50-50 chance he'd be able to play. Delhomme is listed as doubtful, meaning there's a 25 percent chance he'd be available to play.

"I still think Seneca's got a shot for this week, but I'd say it's an outside chance [for] being active, not starting," Mangini said.
Is it possible Wallace will be the No. 2 behind McCoy?

"I don't really know, it would really depend on what it looks like," Mangini said.
Wallace has been working out on his own all week. On Friday, he wore cleats and threw the ball.

"Functioning and doing the things that a quarterback needs to do, I felt good practicing [Friday]," Wallace said. "But you don't know if an injury is going to get aggravated from a tackle or something like that. I'll be ready if they need me."
PD
Quarterback Seneca Wallace is still not 100 percent after suffering a high-ankle sprain last month against Atlanta.

Meanwhile, McCoy is gearing up to face the team with the best record in the NFL (6-1) after making his pro debut against the Steelers and following that with a game against the defending Super Bowl champion Saints.

"I embrace it," McCoy said of the strong competition. "I really think it's cool to play my first three games against quarterbacks who have won six Super Bowls combined -- Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady.

"The cool thing is that those guys had to do exactly what I'm doing. They were rookies once, too. I see it as, 'What an opportunity.' Let's go out there and play."

McCoy, who's 1-1 with one touchdown and two interceptions, is also intrigued by opposing a defensive wizard in the Patriots' Bill Belichick. The Patriots' defense ranks 28th, but the Browns know numbers are not the whole story.

"He is a genius," McCoy said. "The coaches here have even said it. He's a great football coach and I grew up around the game. I've heard Bill Belichick's name forever.

Again, what an opportunity it is to go out there and play and have some fun and know that you're playing against one of the greatest coaches ever and a great defense."
Mangini isn't afraid he's throwing McCoy to the wolves.

"No, he's been in a couple tough arenas here," he said. "Going to Pittsburgh for your first game -- that's about as tough as it gets, so he's walked down that path before."
He acknowledged that McCoy's tough first two assignments were a good tune-up for this game.

"With each experience, you recognize some things better," Mangini said. "You get more comfortable adjusting on the sideline. The week before, against New Orleans, that had game-plan specific elements as well. That was a good introduction to it."
He said he been encouraged by McCoy's performance.

"I've been pleased with his poise and his confidence," he said. "It's not false bravado. It's legitimate. This is his third shot and I feel good about him going into this game."
The task for offensive coordinator Brian Daboll will be not to overwhelm McCoy.

"There's a lot of stuff going through his mind already and you just kind of take one or two things from each scheme they run to help him identify where to go with the football," Daboll said. "It's been very enjoyable to meet with Colt. He's a competitive kid. I know it's important to him. He understands football and relishes it."

Daboll said McCoy displayed his competitiveness during the bye week when he missed a throw by 6 inches and slammed his helmet. Later, he looked over and saw McCoy running the play 16 times to get it right. "That's pretty good to see," Daboll said.
McCoy said that after playing on the road twice, "I am excited about being able to come home, playing in front of our crowd especially for the first time in a game."

After going against one of his idols in Brees, McCoy squares off against another idol in Brady, whom he's studied a lot on film.

"A lot of things we do are from New England, so it's Tom Brady over and over," McCoy said. "He's a tremendous quarterback. One of the things I've studied is his pocket presence. You can't coach that. Just to be on the field, to play with him, to see him, it's going to be awesome.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy will start vs. Patriots; Wallace ruled out as starter but questionable | cleveland.com

[BernietheKid]

Browns’ McCoy primed for Pats

By Steve Doerschuk
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Nov 05, 2010 @ 01:47 PM
Last update Nov 05, 2010 @ 01:48 PM

BEREA —
Colt McCoy is fired up about getting the ball again.

Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini indicated Friday that McCoy will get his third straight start, this time against the Patriots.

This is a heady run for the rookie from Texas, in that his duels have been against Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees and now Tom Brady.

“I embrace it, really,” McCoy said after today’s practice. “I think it’s cool.

“To think that my first three games were against three players who have won six Super Bowls ...”

McCoy lost at Pittsburgh and won in New Orleans. Now he must try to beat a team with an NFL-best 6-1 record, coached by defensive mastermind Bill Belichick.

“He is a genius,” McCoy said. “Our coaches here have said that. He’s one of the greatest coaches in the NFL, ever. What a challenge.”

Wideout Brian Robiskie said McCoy has won the team’s confidence.

“He does what the coaches ask, and he does a great job of preparing himself,” Robiskie said. “Colt has done a great job with that every week.”

Browns

[nickers]

I love Colts attitude,Hes very dedicated obviousely and I hope the whole team does well. Im still not nor ever buy in that Belichicl is some genius...Its easy to be a genius when you have LT and Tom Brady making you look good. I still think hes a lucky dumb mother fucker. A coach that has to spend hours and hours trying to coook up game plans cant be all that smart,whatever.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Originally Posted by nickers

I love Colts attitude,Hes very dedicated obviousely and I hope the whole team does well. Im still not nor ever buy in that Belichicl is some genius...Its easy to be a genius when you have LT and Tom Brady making you look good. I still think hes a lucky dumb mother fucker. A coach that has to spend hours and hours trying to coook up game plans cant be all that smart,whatever.

+1

It's what sold me on Colt initially as well, and I am glad this team is giving him a chance to play against the best teams the NFL has thrown against us this year. It's giving us a good scope of where he is at right now. This is great because we won't have to play a lot of "Well what about Colt?" games coming into the end of the season had Colt not played a few games.

It doesn't matter who starts, who ever Mangini feels will give this team the best chance to win will be the QB and if that's Colt, great if it's not Colt, whatever.

I agree that Tom Brady is probably one of the biggest reasons the Patriots have had the success that team has had. They've also have had some solid defenses to help keep games in control for them.

I am excited for our team to play the Patriots and I hope Colt can have a big game but if we have another game where the defense dominates and Colt plays a safe game that will be good as well. We have improved in a lot of areas as a team and I think the Browns can win this game. Colt having a strong game will be a big help in getting a W sunday. It would also help Colt dispel some doubts that surround him.