Browns Start 2012 With Another Close Loss

When you come down to it, the Cleveland Browns lost their first game of the season to the Philadelphia Eagles in a most predictable way. They couldn’t run the ball when it counted, and they couldn’t stop the run either.

You could make the argument that if Eagles’ coach Andy Reid had not been so stubborn about throwing the football, the visitors would have won rather easily.

Philadelphia averaged five yards per carry running the football, yet had QB Michael Vick throw the ball 56 times. His four interceptions kept the Browns in the game, and his last resulted in a touchdown return by LB D’Qwell Jackson which gave Cleveland a 16-10 lead.

The Browns ran for 99 yards and a 4.5 per carry average, but here is where statistics are meaningless. 35 yards came on a double reverse by rookie WR Travis Benjamin and 25 more came on QB Brandon Weeden’s 25 yard scamper as the first half ended. On the other 2o attempts to run to ball, Cleveland gained just 49 yards.

After the pick which gave the Browns the lead, the Eagles ran for 44 of the 52 yards they gained to set up a field goal try of 45 yards, which Alex Henery missed giving the home team the ball back with a six point lead on their own 35 yard line and 9:01 remaining in the game.

It was time to run some time off the clock and shorten the game, but in the end Cleveland could only run about two and a half minutes off the timer, and gave Philadelphia and all their weapons the ball back with over six minutes left.

Cleveland ran two running plays and a short pass to pick up one first down, but on the next play, rookie RB Trent Richardson was stuffed for a one run loss, and then Weeden threw two incomplete passes, which of course stopped the clock.

The Eagles then converted the next drive for a touchdown with 1:18 remaining and it took only one play for Weeden to throw his fourth interception of the game and seal the deal for Philly.

The rookie passer has a dreadful day, hitting just 12 of 35 throws for 118 yards, and could not get Cleveland into the end zone.

Of the four pick offs, two were bad. The one that virtually ended the game, and a deep sideline route for his third turnover.

The first was a beautiful throw that WR Greg Little couldn’t hold in the red zone, and the second was a deep throw on third and ten which amounted to nothing more than a punt.

The rookie did fumble twice, which is beginning to be worrisome. He simply has to hold on to the football.

And he was overthrowing a lot. He missed several wide open targets because passes were fired ten yards over their heads.

Richardson had his moments, like when he ran over Philadelphia S Kurt Coleman, resulting in the Eagle’s helmet flying off, but it was curious that offensive coordinator Brad Childress never had the rookie running wide all day. Pretty much all of his carries were between the tackles.

Several people have hammered on Pat Shurmur about not going for two after Jackson’s TD and make it a 17-10 game. However, you can’t assume they will get the two points. If it fails, the score is 15-10, and a touchdown alone beats you. Plus, the Eagles then would have definitely gone for two, which would have meant a field goal would send the game to overtime.

Defensive coordinator Dick Jauron deserves credit for a great game plan, and S T.J. Ward and CB Joe Haden had fine games. Ward caused a fumble and Haden had an interception, both of which resulted in Phil Dawson field goals.

And rookie free agent LBs, L. J. Fort and Craig Robertson both had interceptions as well. Guess the coaching staff was right in not being worried about playing either guy.

The Browns almost won, and losing another close game is tough to swallow. However, remember this team has 15 rookies and nine second year players. They will no doubt get better, and Weeden will play better next week.

As much as it is difficult, you have to keep the big picture in mind.

Defense Will Be Key for Browns

The highest profile additions to the 2012 Cleveland Browns were on the offensive side of the football. And after watching the team’s play last season, that definitely is where the management should have focused on.

Most of the talk in the off-season has been about rookies RB Trent Richardson, QB Brandon Weeden, T Mitchell Schwartz, and WRs Travis Benjamin and Josh Gordon. That’ s a lot a new faces in the skill positions for Pat Shurmur’s crew.

However, fans have forgotten about the other side of the football, and if the Browns have any success this season will depend on how a very, very young defense performs this season.

A look at the defensive line shows that two rookies (DT John Hughes and Billy Winn) will get a lot of playing time, and one of them will start next to veteran Ahtyba Rubin. Another 2nd year player, Jabaal Sheard, starts at DE, and after a good rookie year, he will have to deal with how offensive coordinators around the league game plan for him.

He wouldn’t be the first defensive end to have a good rookie season, and fizzle the following year because he doesn’t have a secondary move to get to the quarterback.

Behind the defensive line is a very young corps of linebackers around vet D”Qwell Jackson. Rookie James Michael Johnson is injured and will likely miss the first one or two regular season contests, so that means a lot of playing time for Kaluka Maiava, who’s suited more for special teams, and undrafted free agents L. J. Fort and Craig Robertson, and rookie Tank Carder, who was just picked up yesterday.

That’s an awful lot of young players to be depending on.

It doesn’t mean the Browns defense is doomed to failure. The young players who made the roster have shown a lot of athleticism and speed, something last year’s defense lacked, particularly at linebacker. So, it’s very possible the defense will show improvement. They definitely will get better as the season goes on.

Remember, one of the biggest problems for the Browns since 1999 has been the failure to stop the run. So, if the defensive line doesn’t play well early in the season, the potential “stars” added by GM Tom Heckert will have a difficult time getting on the field.

That’s why the key players early in the season will be Hughes and Winn. If they can team with Rubin to stop opponents from going through the Cleveland line like a hot knife through butter, the Browns can compete early in the campaign.

Really, it’s another reason that Richardson is the key rookie from an offensive standpoint, besides the fact that he was the third overall pick in the draft.

If he’s as good as advertised (we haven’t seen him play yet), then he takes a lot of pressure of fellow rookie Weeden, and a strong running game controls the tempo and clock, and doesn’t leave a young defense on the field too long.

What we are most anxious about as the regular season starts a week from today is whether or not the Browns have corrected the two areas that have plagued them for many years, the ability to run and the ability to stop the run.

In both cases, Shurmur and Heckert are depending on very young players. If they are right, the foundation could be set for extended success for this franchise.

A Day of Decision for Browns

The fourth preseason game in the NFL is the least meaningful of all the meaningless games that predate the regular season.

Unless, of course you are one of the players who is trying to make the final 53 man roster on a particular NFL team, then it is anything but meaningless.

There will be more talk today as to who will make the final roster for the Cleveland Browns than last night’s 28-20 loss to the Chicago Bears. The Browns finish exhibition play at 2-2, narrowly missing out on the preseason playoffs.

The most high level roster battle is the position of back up quarterback between Colt McCoy and Seneca Wallace, but other spots are probably far more important, because if Brandon Weeden stays healthy, neither McCoy or Wallace, or third stringer Thaddeus Lewis may never see the field.

If coach Pat Shurmur picks his reverse QB based on last night, Wallace is going to get the gig.

Last night, McCoy showed off all the weaknesses people point out when saying he’s not a starting quarterback in the NFL. His first pass hung out WR Greg Little to dry, allowing him to take a vicious hit, then on a 3rd and 7 play, he threw a check down pass to Travis Benjamin for four yards.

Perhaps that was the play call from upstairs, but it didn’t look good.

On his second series, he threw an interception which led to Chicago’s first touchdown. He wound up hitting just 2 of 5 throws for 16 yards.

By contrast, Wallace looked decisive in moving the Browns to their only first half touchdown, a toss to WR Rod Windsor.

To be fair, Wallace had the benefit of being on the field with RB Brandon Jackson, who showed why he should be the starter in week one if Trent Richardson is not ready to play. The former Packer gained 48 yards in seven carries, and hit the hole hard once he got the ball.

Which is why he should get the nod over Montario Hardesty, who could have a problem making the final roster. Hardesty was tentative early, but finally attacking on a couple of decent runs, the longest being 14 yards. He wound up with 24 yards on six attempts.

Josh Cribbs did a nice job of hooking up with Wallace on the touchdown drive, grabbing two passes for 34 yards. The talk of Cribbs possibly getting cut is flat-out ridiculous. He’s still dangerous with the ball in his hands, and even though he doesn’t run great routes as a wide receiver, if the passer gets him the ball, something good will usually happen.

The other negatives, in addition to McCoy’s poor game, was an injury to LB James Michael Johnson, who is counted on to be a contributor right away this season. Hopefully, a reported injury to his oblique isn’t serious and he can play on September 9th against the Eagles.

There was concern about the special teams having two punts blocked in the last two games, but the guess here is the players out on the field for those blocks will not be here when the games start to count.

The big news will come tonight at 9 PM when the rosters have to get down to 53 players. Will there be surprise cuts? It wouldn’t be shocking to see players like Hardesty, Mohammed Massaquoi, and even Ben Watson being let go.

It’s no secret the Cleveland Browns are getting young, and if the plan is to get this team in a position to make some noise in 2013 and beyond, you may just see some veterans looking for a new team come tomorrow.

Young Browns Need More Time on Field

Traditionally, the third preseason game in the NFL is the dress rehearsal, the game which most simulates a regular season contest. However, because the Cleveland Browns opponent last night is the same one they will open the season with in two weeks, it was a little different atmosphere.

At least, that’s what they are telling themselves on Saturday. The Browns were manhandled by the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 on the lakefront.

Rookie QB Brandon Weeden looked good early, hitting on his first four throws, but with the Browns in the red zone, the Eagles turned up the heat defensively and the starting unit couldn’t handle it.

Weeden fumbled the ball away there, and later did it again deep in Cleveland territory, making it the third time he’s done that in three games. This isn’t to say he will do this throughout the regular season, but the coaching staff needs to work with him on ball protection.

A more troubling matter is the lack of ground game when Montario Hardesty is in the game. The third year man from Tennessee carried eight times for 12 yards and fumbled again, his second game in a row where he put the ball on the ground.

He seems to wait and dance before hitting holes which gives the defense time to react and close them up. It was a contrast to Brandon Jackson, who hits the hole quickly.

Hardesty may need a good performance against the Bears to make the final roster. In the meantime, hurry back Trent Richardson.

And the lack of a quality ground game doesn’t help a rookie quarterback.

On the plus side, rookie WR Josh Gordon looked good, catching three passes for 50 yards including a beautiful grab to beat Nnamdi Asomugha.

Defensively, CB Joe Haden played well after being tossed out of practice earlier in the week for too much aggressiveness, getting an interception and making a nice play on a wide receiver screen.

However, Sheldon Brown had a tough time with a fast receiver, which is becoming a norm as he gets older. He may be better suited to being a nickel back in favor of Buster Skrine and/or Trevin Wade, but with a suspension looming for Haden and an injury to Dmitri Patterson, coach Pat Shurmur and defensive coordinator Dick Jauron may not have that luxury.

The tackling was also poor for the Cleveland defense, which a great deal of Eagles yardage coming after contact. This too, must be corrected before the September 9th game against Philadelphia.

Still, keep in mind that this is what happens with a young football team, and the Browns are certainly that, with perhaps as many as six rookie starters come opening day.

There will be ups and downs, the young players will look great at times, and on other plays look like they are right out of high school. The hope for Shurmur and Tom Heckert, is that they will grow up quickly, and the learning curve won’t last very long.

Even with all the mistakes, the young Browns show enough flashes to give the front office and fan base hope.

That’s why, even though many NFL teams won’t put starters on the field in the last preseason game next week, Shurmur should give his young guys a little time on the field, perhaps a quarter. It will help them get more acclimated to the speed of NFL football, and could pay dividends in the season opener.

That’s when the rookies real first test will take place.

What Are Browns Fans Worrying About Now?

For the most part, the Cleveland Browns have had a pretty successful training camp. They’ve won both of their preseason games, and it seems a lot of their young players look to be players.

That doesn’t mean Browns’ fans have nothing to worry about. In fact, if the team ever won the Super Bowl, many supporters would be concerned about repeating the following year.

That’s just the way it is.

Anyway, here are some comments on what is weighing on the minds of fans of the orange helmet.

Colt McCoy. While it is clear that Brandon Weeden will be the starter when the Eagles visit on September 9th, who will be the back up quarterback?

Most think the Browns will deal McCoy for a low round draft pick, but should they?

The only reason for doing so would be so that if Weeden struggles, the crowds at Cleveland Browns’ Stadium can’t start chanting his name.

And that seems silly, but it’s tough on a rookie to have a divided fan base.

McCoy is probably better than veteran Seneca Wallace, and probably gives the team a better chance to win if something happens to Weeden.

Plus, McCoy seems to be more engaged in the games than Wallace, who hasn’t been seen wearing a headset during exhibition play.

GM Tom Heckert and president Mike Holmgren will likely deal McCoy after the last preseason game next week, but it’s for the wrong reasons.

It’s an emotional decision rather than a football one.

Playing the Eagles twice in three weeks. The answer here is that the Browns need to do what is good for the Browns, and they can’t worry about injuries and showing the opponents too much.

This is not to say Pat Shurmur should use the same game plan he is going to use on September 9th this Friday against the Eagles, but it shouldn’t affect anyone’s playing time.

The rookies and young veterans on this squad need playing time and need to be prepared to play four quarters when the opening bell rings.

Use a basic offense and defense and keep the starters in for three quarters. That’s what is beneficial for the Browns.

New Owner Jimmy Haslam. After Randy Lerner’s ownership, a guy like Larry Dolan might look like Redskins’ meddling owner Dan Snyder, which Browns fans are fearing Haslam may turn into.

Why? Because he’s gone to a few practices? He’s had the audacity to be seen at games?

Those are things most owners in the NFL do.

Now, if Haslam starts standing on the sidelines during games, like the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, then it’s time to be a little concerned.

If he starts sitting in the war room on draft day and tells Heckert who to pick, then Browns’ fans should be worried.

If he goes over the GM’s head and starts spending huge amounts of cash on marginal free agents, then he’s turning into Snyder.

So far, he hasn’t done any of that, he’s just watching the team he paid one billion dollars for practice. And in that regard, he’s the same as the thousands who attend training camp in Berea everyday.

If Haslam learned anything from his partnership with the Steelers, it should be to let his football people do their job.

If he wants to truly be a part of the city and become one with the fans, he’ll start to worry about insignificant things.

Young Browns Show Improvement

Let’s not get carried away.

We say the same thing whether the Cleveland Browns win or loss one of these pre-season games. They don’t count in the standings so no one should overreact.

Each team approaches these contests differently. Look at Packers’ coach Mike McCarthy. He obviously used the game to find out if he needed a back up to Aaron Rodgers. And he does.

So, the score doesn’t matter.

Still if you are a fan of the Browns today, you have to shelve some of the venom being spewed toward the youngsters after the first exhibition game against the Lions.

They are rookies. They will get better with experience, but they will have ups and downs on the way.

Not to discount the defense, but it is difficult to judge their performance last night because Rodgers played only three series. He had a short field on his first drive because of Montario Hardesty’s fumble and quickly converted into a touchdown.

The defense did force a turnover on Green Bay’s second possession and held them on downs the next time the Packers got the ball.

Rookie CB Trevin Wade continued to impress, playing the slot receiver with the starting unit. He defended the pass on the last Rodgers’ throw and was right on his man.

But the fears surrounding QB Brandon Weeden should be allayed at least for one week (remember, we are in Cleveland folks). He completed 12 of 20 passes for 118 yards.

The only concern is the offense still seems to be the conservative one run by Pat Shurmur last season, filled with short throws under coverage. Weeden has a big arm, so why not allow him to show it off.

However, it is the preseason. Perhaps the offense isn’t installed it is entirety as of yet, or maybe the coaching staff doesn’t want future opponents to see that aspect of the offense yet.

Rookie T Mitchell Schwartz was not the turnstile he was criticized for being in his debut. He did a much better job in his second game, which objective fans figured he would.

So, the talk of this year’s draft being horrible will have to be delayed at least until the Browns play the Eagles next weekend on the north coast.

Among the veterans, Hardesty had 12 carries for 45 yards, but fumbled once, and Brandon Jackson toted the ball 14 times for 35 yards. However, the longest run by a Cleveland back was a whopping nine yards.

The offense needs the big play capability of Trent Richardson, who is still rehabbing his knee.

It’s tough to score points consistently in the NFL relying on 12 play, 80 yard drives. There has to be some big play capability. They need to mix in an occasional 40 yard gain.

Again, it may just be Shurmur and new offensive coordinator Brad Childress keeping it vanilla during the preseason, but the Browns will need to have the ability to strike quick when the regular season starts.

In the meantime, the local panic can be abated just a bit. GM Tom Heckert didn’t draft the worst players imaginable in last April’s draft.

Remember, the Cleveland Browns are playing and relying on a lot of very inexperienced players. They will have highs and lows. They should get better each and every game they play in.

You have to admit there was much improvement from the first game in Detroit last week.

Browns’ Fans Need to Chill

The Cleveland Browns have many knowledgeable fans, they just don’t seem to be very vocal.

How else can you explain the reaction to last Friday nights ~~exhibition~~, er, pre-season game, a game in which Cleveland ended up winning!

What was viewed as a very good draft by GM Tom Heckert is now relegated to horrible, based on one quarter of the Browns first game that doesn’t count.

How ridiculous is that.

Let’s look at the first few picks made by Heckert last April:

Trent Richardson, the third overall pick, had a “hangnail piece of cartilage” removed from his knee last week, so he is referred to as a bust who will never, ever be healthy. We aren’t doctors, but it sounds like a very minor procedure and it shouldn’t keep Richardson out of the season opener against Philadelphia.

The team’s second first round pick, QB Brandon Weeden didn’t complete every pass he threw, and didn’t lead the Browns to touchdowns in the three possessions he played, so now fans are looking forward to getting the first pick in the 2013 NFL Draft so they can pick USC signal caller Matt Barkley.

It didn’t help Weeden that Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck looked impressive in his first start against the St. Louis Rams, who had the second worst record in the NFL last season. The Lions, by the way, made the playoffs.

Second round pick T Mitchell Schwartz was shaky against a pretty good Lions’ pass rush, led by All Pro Ndamukong Suh. So, he’s another rookie labeled as a bust, despite playing a half in his team’s first pre-season contest.

Supplemental pick WR Josh Gordon didn’t catch four passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns, so he stinks. Of course, no one allows that he hasn’t played a meaningful game of football on any level for over a year.

Detroit ran the ball very well last Friday, so third pick DT John Hughes certainly will never become even a decent NFL player.

The complaints go on and on.

The truth is these guys are rookies. This was their first game played at that speed, the professional speed. It would be very odd if they played great right out of the gate and stayed at that level for the rest of their careers.

It just doesn’t work that way.

Luck was regarded as the most NFL ready passer to enter the league since Peyton Manning, who’s been in the NFL for more than ten years. That’s how infrequently players like that come along. So, it’s not fair to Weeden to expect he plays at a high level right from the get go.

It will be interesting to see how all of the rookies play Thursday night at Green Bay. Will they take the lessons learned in the first game and make corrections.

Even if they don’t, it’s still crazy to proclaim them busts until they’ve played at least an entire NFL season.

As for Richardson, from many reports, he could have played with the soreness his cartilage fragment generated, but he and the team figured it was better to get it taken care of now.

If after four games, all of the rookies are struggling, then fans can be concerned. And concerned only. No panic, no proclamations of a horrible draft.

The more comments heard after the Detroit game, the more you have to think about former GM Phil Savage’s comments about Browns’ fans. They have a “woe is me” mentality.

Browns Are Young, They Will Make Mistakes.

The Browns first pre-season game was a success, at least from the standpoint that they won, defeating the Detroit Lions 19-17.

However, it’s tough to judge what occurred during the game because of the people Pat Shurmur had sitting out due to injuries and/or rest.

For example, the run defense was not good. This is something that has plagued the franchise since returning to the NFL in 1999. But without Ahtyba Rubin and D’Qwell Jackson playing, you really can’t point to this as being a weakness right now.

Neither player is expected to miss any regular season time, so both will be back in there next week.

Of course, everyone wanted to watch the rookies on the offensive side of the ball, particularly QB Brandon Weeden.

The first year passer from Oklahoma State played like, well, a rookie. He hit on 3 of 9 passes for 62 yards, making some good throws (the sideline shot to fellow rook Travis Benjamin on the first series), and some poor ones. He was picked off once, and should have had another, although Bernie Kosar blamed that one on Josh Gordon, yet another rookie, not running a crisp enough route.

He also was charged with a fumble, but that was the result of poor pass protection. That’s not to exonerate the rookie, but he’ll learn when to it’s better to take a sack than risk a turnover.

Look, even though he’ll be 29 years old during the season, he’s an inexperienced NFL quarterback. He will get better the more time he spends on the football field. This was one game. If improvement isn’t made next week, and the week after next, then people can question the Browns’ decision. It’s silly to do so now.

It was encouraging though to see some downfield throws, something not seen often last year. In fact, it was telling on Colt McCoy’s first possession at the helm that he threw a completed six yard pass on 3rd and nine.

McCoy played well statistically, hitting 6 of 8 for 88 yards, the bulk of those a 42-yard strike to TE Jordan Cameron that he had to wait on. Still, Cleveland only mustered a field goal in his quarter of play, against the Lions second team defense.

As for the rookies, 2nd round pick Mitchell Schwartz struggled with the speed of the NFL game, but again, it was his first game and he will likely get better.

Benjamin looked good at WR, catching two passes for 46 yards, and flashed the great speed the Browns talked about when they drafted him. Josh Gordon looked raw, like he hasn’t played in a while, which he hasn’t.

The other rookie that stood out was CB Trevin Wade, drafted in the 7th round this spring. Granted, he wasn’t out there covering Calvin Johnson, but he’s a guy that merits watching throughout the rest of the pre-season.

There could also be a problem going forward with WR Mohamed Massaquoi, who may have suffered another concussion on the first play of the game, a 12-yard reception.

It the diagnosis is correct, it would be his third injury of this type in three seasons, and could put his career in jeopardy. The front office spoke highly of his potential all off-season long, so it was be a tough blow to lose the veteran.

Reserve DT Scott Paxson also went out with a knee injury, as did CB Dimitri Patterson. The Browns are already thin at both positions, so these could be key injuries.

It’s still pre-season, so it’s just step one in the evaluation process. Remember, the Cleveland Browns are a very young football team. They will make mistakes, but if they eliminate them going forward, that’s how they should be judged.

Wonder How Long Haslam Has Been Involved?

It was a shock to all sports fans in Cleveland today to find out the Browns are in the process of being sold to minority Steelers’ owner James Haslam III, the CEO of Pilot Corporation.

So, one of the three professional sports teams will have new ownership. Unfortunately, it’s not the team most fans wish, as many would prefer the Indians be sold.

It likely will mean the departure of Mike Holmgren as team president because he was brought in to run the team on a daily basis, mostly because Randy Lerner didn’t want to do the job.

The rumors are that former Eagles president Joe Banner will become involved with the Browns as part of the Haslam ownership. That would seem to make Holmgren superfluous.

GM Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur have worked for Banner before, so they should remain safe, at least for now.

One thing to ponder is how long have these negotiations been going on because there is no way this deal happened in the last couple of days. In fact, a little over a month ago, Philadelphia radio personality Howard Eskin reported the Browns were for sale, which of course Berea denied immediately.

If Haslam and Lerner were talking since the end of the season, for example, it’s likely that the new owner signed off on the drafting of Trent Richardson, the trade up in the draft move to get QB Brandon Weeden, and using a supplemental second round pick to get WR Josh Gordon.

It also may answer the question as to why the Browns were not very active in free agency. The Steelers are rarely involved in the process either, and perhaps the new owner feels if it’s good enough for Pittsburgh, it will work here as well.

It may be that the good feelings that have revolved around Cleveland’s football team this off-season started when Lerner made a decision to get out of the NFL business. We know he didn’t like it because he sent Holmgren to most of the league’s ownership meetings.

If Haslam has been the driving force behind the scenes of the team he is hoping to purchase, then he should be off to a good start with the fans. Playing time will tell, but it appears for the first time in a long time, the Browns have some playmakers on offense and the makings of a solid offensive line as well.

If Haslam was not involved in these moves, let’s hope he lets things play out this year, before making any decisions on front office personnel. If the team shows some improvement this year, it would not be good to start all over once again.

Browns’ fans are all too familiar with the constant rebuilding process that has cursed the franchise since 1999. Now that it seems like things are looking rosier, it would be a shame to halt the momentum.

For fans hoping for a more active owner, they have their wish. For those who said Lerner didn’t care about the Browns, they no longer have that to complain about.

Now if only someone would pop out of the woodwork to buy the Indians.

McCoy Trying to Get Out of Cleveland

By and large, fans of the Cleveland Browns have Colt McCoy’s back. He is the kind of athlete people on the North Coast like.

He’s works hard, seems like a good guy, etc.

They even want to believe that McCoy’s problems as an NFL quarterback come from the poor performance of the offensive line, a lack of a solid running game, and wide receivers that drop the football.

The Browns front office didn’t make the decision to draft Brandon Weeden in the first round because they wanted to sell more jerseys in the team shop. The coaching staff obviously saw things in practice and game films to show he can’t and won’t ever be able to succeed as a starting QB in the league.

Team president Mike Holmgren alluded to this in his press conference last week when asked about the Browns’ receiving corps, saying they were open more than you think. A not so veiled reference to the fact that McCoy couldn’t get the ball to them when they were open, maybe because he was already in check down mode, or maybe because he felt he didn’t have the arm strength to get the ball there on time.

Regardless, the organization has played it the right way, saying there would be an open competition for the starting spot, and speaking about McCoy’s toughness and his ability to grow with experience.

However, it is fairly clear that McCoy is trying to orchestrate his way out-of-town, and he is doing it through his family, which although they don’t want to admit it, is one of the reasons the Browns soured on him.

Last year, when the quarterback suffered his concussion against the Steelers, McCoy’s father, Brad McCoy went public with negative comments about the Browns training staff, and was upset that his son was sent back into the football game.

He was naturally upset that his son suffered an injury, which is fine, he should be, but he should have kept his beef out of the media and handled it privately.

He didn’t do Colt any favors, either. Here he is trying to be a leader of a professional football team, and his daddy is taking up for him in the newspapers. It probably started giving Holmgren and Pat Shurmur ideas that he didn’t have the toughness required to handle the sport’s toughest position.

Now, McCoy’s younger brother, Case, a quarterback at the University of Texas, commented on Twitter that his brother will go someplace else and the Browns will go downhill. The guess here is that the younger McCoy didn’t make that up out of thin air. His sibling is frustrated about losing his job, and although there is nothing wrong with that, once again, he’s not handling it correctly.

It appears that McCoy isn’t the naive young man his fans feel he is. There are still a good portion of Browns’ fans who feel the passer received a raw deal from the team. This is exactly the reason, GM Tom Heckert has to send him elsewhere.

The Browns can’t afford to have a substantial group of fans calling for McCoy the first time Weeden has a bad game. Which, if you listen to the McCoy zealots, will be exactly what happens.

On the same hand, McCoy has figured it would be best for him to change teams as well. That’s why he’s using his family to force Holmgren and Heckert’s hand.

All of this means that fans can pile their McCoy jersey on top of those of Brady Quinn, Kelly Holcomb, and Tim Couch. He’s probably thrown his last pass as a Brown. Here’s hoping the next team that employs McCoy gets just him and not his entire family.