Colt McCoy says he's confident and excited about making his NFL debut Sunday in Pittsburgh and will rely on his teammates to carry him through the day.
View full size"On the road at Pittsburgh, yeah, all the odds are stacked against us," likely starting QB Colt McCoy said Wednesday about leading the Browns offense against the Steelers. "But if we do what we can do, we have a chance. We're fired up. Let's go play ball."QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL
These are the players who have started at least one game for the Browns at quarterback since they returned as an expansion team in 1999, listed in chronological order, with total starts and record:
1. Ty Detmer (2): 0-2 .000
2. Tim Couch (59): 22-37 .373
3. Doug Pederson (8): 1-7 .125
4. Spergon Wynn (1): 0-1 .000
5. Kelly Holcomb (13): 4-9 .308
6. Jeff Garcia (10): 3-7 .300
7. Luke McCown (4): 0-4 .000
8. Trent Dilfer (11): 4-7 .364
9. Charlie Frye (18): 5-13 .278
10. Derek Anderson (34): 16-18 .471
11. Brady Quinn (13): 4-9 .308
12. Ken Dorsey (3): 0-3 .000
13. Bruce Gradkowski (1): 0-1 .000
14. Jake Delhomme (1): 0-1 .000
15. Seneca Wallace (4): 1-3 .250
Total: 60-122 .330
THREE’S A CROWD
This will be the fourth year since 1999 the Browns have needed to start a third quarterback in a season. It’s also the earliest they’ve burned through their first two quarterbacks. In 2008, the Browns wound up starting a fourth quarterback, too:
2000: Tim Couch (started season), Doug Pederson (Game 8), Spergon Wynn (Game 14)
2004: Jeff Garcia (started season), Kelly Holcomb (Game 11), Luke McCown (Game 12)
2008: Derek Anderson (started season), Brady Quinn (Game 8), Ken Dorsey (Game 13), Bruce Gradkowski (Game 16)
2010: Jake Delhomme (started season), Seneca Wallace (Game 2), Colt McCoy/Brett Ratliff (Game 6)
— Tony Grossi
BEREA, Ohio -- To get a jump on preparations for his presumed first NFL start Sunday in Pittsburgh, Browns rookie quarterback Colt McCoy jokingly asked Jake Delhomme to sit with him and watch film of the Steelers to share some wisdom from his 12 years in the league.
"He said, 'I haven't played them,'" McCoy recounted, laughing. "Nobody in our locker room has, of the quarterbacks."
Sad, but mostly true.
Seneca Wallace did appear in the fourth quarter of a 2007 game in Heinz Field won by the Steelers, 21-0.
And so Delhomme and Wallace, expatriates of the NFC in regions unfamiliar to the rough-and-tumble AFC North, will be of little help to McCoy as he prepares for the cauldron aside the confluence of the three rivers.
At least Brett Ratliff, who rejoined the team to serve initially as McCoy's backup, has experienced a Browns-Steelers game from the sidelines. He was the Browns' inactive third quarterback in Pittsburgh last season.
But, like McCoy, Ratliff has never played in a regular-season NFL game -- much less a Browns-Steelers game.
Sometimes what you don't know won't hurt you.
"In '99, we went into Three Rivers Stadium and won, and I kicked the game-winner and I had no clue about the rivalry, or the history, or the intensity of the game itself," said kicker Phil Dawson. "I just went out there and kicked the ball around."
The chances of McCoy going out there and throwing the ball around would appear to be slim. The Browns undoubtedly will carve an offensive game plan around running back Peyton Hillis -- who is expected to play despite sitting out practice Wednesday -- their offensive line and their tight ends.
"We know who we are and what we can do," McCoy said, referring to the team's smash-mouth identity on offense.
"I think our guys have full confidence in the coaches and it's our job to go out and execute. I've watched their defense the last two days, a lot. They're really fast, fly around the ball, they're physical. One of their big things, they move around, walk around, and try to get a rusher free that's not accounted for.
"As a team, we have to execute together. It's not me having to play an outstanding game. It's all of us."
Who'd have thought, after the regime change to Mike Holmgren and the rapid-fire flushing out of Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn, that this 2010 season would be tainted by more quarterback drama?
Despite the best efforts of Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert, this will be the fourth time since 1999 that the Browns have the need to start a third quarterback. But this is by far the earliest they've had to go to that well.
In 2000, Chris Palmer didn't have to call on his third quarterback until Game 14. In 2004, interim coach Terry Robiskie tabbed rookie Luke McCown in Game 12. In 2008, Romeo Crennel tried to win with Ken Dorsey in Game 13, and then started a fourth QB, Bruce Gradkowski off the street, in Game 16.
"I know this is not where we wanted to go at this point in the season," McCoy said, surrounded by reporters while his teammates razzed him for taking center stage. "Coach Holmgren said at the very beginning ... that I was going to watch and learn.
"But you know what? I've prepared like I was the starter since the first game. I worked hard in the meetings, in the film room, studied with Jake and Seneca. I've been doing that the last five weeks. I understand what we're doing offensively. I understand our game plans. Now it's just go out and do it."
Coach Eric Mangini said McCoy will get the bulk of the first-team reps in practice, but he has not ruled out starting Ratliff in Pittsburgh. Ratliff, who spent four preseasons in Mangini's offensive system -- two in New York and two here -- was signed off the New England practice squad. Ratliff said he was offered the same deal by the Patriots to stay on their regular roster, but he elected to return to the Browns because he felt it presented a greater opportunity for him to play.
Mangini said, "Brett does have those built-up reps, but Colt has been with us throughout the whole season and he's gotten quite a few reps with the ones and with the offense in general. I think both are facing some challenges of lack of game experience and both have some advantages."
Mangini said he and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll won't necessarily "scale back" the offense as much as "cater" it to McCoy, or Ratliff.
McCoy's reps in his first training camp were squeezed by the need of the coaches to acclimate newcomers Delhomme and Wallace to a new system. McCoy struggled in his first three preseason games, sometimes having to run plays for the first time without practicing them. In the final preseason game against Chicago, he fumbled his first snap, but regrouped and completed all 13 of his passes for 131 yards.
"The preseason games were my practices," he said, "so I went in and made my mistakes then I went in the last couple games and did some real good things. That obviously helped. It helped around the locker room. It helped around my coaches. So I've got a lot of confidence."
He said he doesn't feel he has something to prove and is not daunted by the thought of making his debut in Pittsburgh.
"On the road at Pittsburgh, yeah, all the odds are stacked against us. But if we do what we can do, we have a chance. We're fired up. Let's go play ball," McCoy said.