Quarterback Colt McCoy was back in the saddle after a one-day bout with stomach flu. Now all he has to do is prepare for the Baltimore Ravens defense.
View full sizeColt McCoy will be on the lookout for Ravens safety Ed Reed on Sunday. BEREA, Ohio — Quarterback Colt McCoy, sporting a new goatee, returned to practice Thursday after a 24-hour bout with stomach flu or food poisoning.
He'll make his first appearance against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, completing his first tour of AFC North rivals. McCoy lost to Pittsburgh, 28-10, on Oct. 17, and to Cincinnati, 19-17, on Sunday.
"Obviously, their defense is one of the best, if not the best," McCoy said. "They've got great playmakers, great leaders who've been there a long time. I'm excited to play against them. It's a huge challenge for us."
McCoy knows the challenges for him will be to deliver the ball before Baltimore's complex pressure schemes get to him, to use his feet to make plays when needed and, above all, to identify the location of ballhawk safety Ed Reed at all times.
"Sometimes you watch film and he'll line up in the middle of the field and at the snap he'll be playing all the way across the field or in the box," McCoy said. "He's somebody you have to be constantly aware of. For me, that's huge this week, knowing where he is."
Eight of Reed's 50 career interceptions and three of his seven career returns for TDs have come against the Browns.
View full sizeBrowns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.Ryan unplugged: Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's weekly news conference was moved up a day because of the holiday week. The highlights:
• He said if the coaching staff is not retained "it would be dumb as hell. . . . Eric [Mangini] is a great coach and this team believes in him."
• He said quarterback McCoy "is phenomenal. He's going to be a superstar in this league."
• On the run defense's failures in Cincinnati, he said the Browns challenged 14 occasions of the Bengals holding that were not called and the league agreed with nine of them.
This guy likes football: Tyler Clutts, a do-it-all utility player signed this week to the Browns' practice squad, has had quite a year.
He's already played in the Arena League and the United Football League.
"And I got married in February, too," Clutts said.
Clutts also played in the Canadian Football League from 2007 to '09. He finally made it into an NFL locker room at age 26.
"It's been a dream of mine since I was 4 four to make it to this level," Clutts said. "My journey, in my mind, is just beginning. I've got to earn a spot and continue playing. It's hard to get here. It's even harder to stay. I just love the game and I'll do anything here to keep playing."
Clutts, who is 6-2 and 245 pounds, played defensive end, outside linebacker and middle linebacker at Fresno State. In the CFL, he played defensive end, H-back, middle linebacker and learned to long snap. In the UFL, he got his first exposure to fullback and "as much special teams as I could."
Mangini said: "For a practice-squad player, he's great to have. He's a big guy, is in real good shape. Looked like he had good hands in the workout. Sometimes at this time of year you're bringing guys in that have traits and give him chances. A guy like him appreciates the opportunity so much. Obviously his desire to play football is high."
Scoop on Harbaugh: About the only mystery left in the college football season -- other than the BCS championship winner -- is whether Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh will join Michigan, where he played, or jump to the NFL.
"I guess Ohio State fans probably don't want to see him at Michigan, do they?" said his older brother, John, the coach of the Baltimore Ravens.
"I don't know what he's going to do. He just had a baby, little Katy, and that's kind of taken up his attention. I'm just assuming he's going to stay at Stanford. He really likes it there. He loves those players."
Still, Harbaugh admits that Jim, a former NFL quarterback who coached quarterbacks at Oakland for two years, is destined for the NFL.
"I'd like to see him [in the NFL]," John said. "I just want to see him in the NFC. I don't want to see him in the AFC. I don't think my mom could take that. That would be rough. Got to get him in the other [conference] so we only see him every four years."
Brownie points: The Browns signed defensive lineman Ko Quaye to the active roster from Buffalo's practice squad. Quaye, 6-1 and 305 pounds, originally was signed by Jacksonville as an undrafted free agent from South Dakota. . . . Running back Peyton Hillis (knee) returned to practice Thursday on a limited basis, as did defensive lineman Shaun Rogers (hip, ankle).