Thursday night's preseason finale against the Bears is a chance for rookie quarterback Colt McCoy to get some much-needed game experience for down the road, while players on the bubble try to impress coach Eric Mangini before the final cuts on Saturday.
The Browns must trim 22 players to reach the limit of 53 by 6 p.m. Fortunately for McCoy, he doesn't have to sweat out the cuts. Sources have told The Plain Dealer that the Browns have assured him he'll make the final roster and that this year was all about learning from the day he was drafted in the third round of Texas.
But he'll see his most extensive action of the preseason and would like to show some progress. Starter Jake Delhomme and backup Seneca Wallace will sit out, leaving McCoy and Brett Ratliff to play two quarters each. It's Ratliff whose roster spot is uncertain.
"I'm excited to play," said McCoy, the winningest QB in NCAA history. "I'm really looking forward to it. To be able to know you're going to go into a game and play a good bit of time, it's going to be fun. When you're on the field awhile, you can kind of get in synch, get in the flow. At least I hope to."
So far this preseason, McCoy has completed 15 of 26 attempts for 101 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions for a 34.3 rating. He showed improvement Saturday in Detroit, going 10-of-14 for 76 yards, with no TDs or interceptions for a respectable 84.2 rating. But he was strip-sacked once and then made back-to-back poor decisions on the final two plays, failing to throw it out of bounds on the first play to stop the clock with 26 seconds remaining, and then throwing it out of bounds instead of the end zone on the final shot. At other times, he's thrown it into the end zone when he shouldn't.
"Colt has shown growth, I think he was 10-for-14 last game," said Mangini. "I think there were a couple decisions, again, that he needs to improve on, but he improved on the decision-making from the earlier games. We're not where we need to be, but it's been better than what it was. That's going to keep coming with time and experience."
Delhomme, who's spent much time mentoring McCoy, said the rookie has done OK considering his opportunities.
"Let's be honest, Seneca and I have gotten the majority of the snaps," said Delhomme. "He started all through high school and college and it's very difficult for a young guy when you're not getting reps. You're getting mental reps, but it's nothing like game reps and practice."
The good part, Delhomme said, is that McCoy isn't getting discouraged.
"He's still getting here early and staying late," said Delhomme. "He's going to be fine. I'm not saying that just try to soothe things over."
McCoy said he's still having fun, studying all he can and learning from the other quarterbacks.
"Improvement -- that's the mentality I have every day before I go to practice," he said. "I make sure I'm working on something that's going to make me better today than I was yesterday. Obviously I've got really high expectations for myself, so do a lot of people on this team, my coaches and probably outside of here. I'd like to go out there and play the best I can and get something going offensively that we can put on tape and be proud of."
The game also marks the preseason debut of rookie running back Montario Hardesty, whom the Browns had penciled in as a feature back this season. Hardesty (right knee) said he's ready for anything despite practicing only two full days.
"He's a kid we thought very, very highly of in the spring," said Delhomme. "He picked up the offense extremely quickly. He's very intelligent. Obviously playing in the SEC last year, you get battle-tested, especially as a running back. It'll be nice to have him out there. He can really help us."
The Browns have a lot of other tough decisions to make at running back and linebacker. Running back James Davis, who showed so much promise last year, is iffy as is Chris Jennings, who rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown against Pittsburgh last season. Linebackers such as David Bowens and David Veikune are uncertain because of the surplus there.
"David's going to get plenty of opportunities to play this weekend and he's made a lot of strides," said Mangini. "He did pretty well last game. He's played both inside, outside as a rush end, and he made a couple of tackles on special teams. All of those things are positive. He'll get a lot of chances here this weekend and I expect him to do a good job."
Mangini said the game can either help or hurt the bottom-tier players.
"The other thing that comes in to play is that there's going to be quite a few guys available that aren't right now," he said. "They're not only competing on our roster, but [that of others]."
