BROWNS PREVIEW Patriots will test new-look Browns

Cleveland's optimism is on the rise as post-Davis era begins on Sunday.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Stressed out and under fire, coach Butch Davis quit the Cleveland Browns and walked away with $12 million. The players aren't as lucky.
But in the wake of Davis' sudden resignation, there's a freshness around the Browns after weeks of gloom and doom.
And in the first game of the post-Davis Era, the Browns will also have a new coach, possibly a new quarterback, a new atmosphere at home and a new attitude.
Oh, and a New England.
How's that for a buzz kill?
The reigning Super Bowl champions (10-1) aren't likely to be very sympathetic visitors Sunday when they face the battered Browns (3-8), who have lost five straight and might have to baptize rookie quarterback Luke McCown under a steady stream of Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel and Co.
It shapes up as another easy victory for the Pats, who have won 22 of their last 23 regular season games.
Coach warns team
Bill Belichick, though, is wary. New England's coach figures the Browns, with nothing to play for but pride this season and their jobs for next year, will be loose and unpredictable. Maybe even a little scary.
"I think it's a situation that really makes the Browns extremely dangerous," Belichick said.
"From the limited experience that I've had in a situation like that, it can really kind of create an air of sudden freedom, sometimes confidence and ability to maybe shake things up a little bit without any reservations. You just really don't know what they're going to come out with."
Well, for starters, a skinny, 23-year-old quarterback who hasn't taken his first snap as a pro.
With Jeff Garcia needing at least another week to rest his strained right shoulder and Kelly Holcomb nursing three ribs he cracked while passing for 413 yards and five touchdowns in last week's 58-48 loss in Cincinnati, McCown will likely make his NFL debut against the NFL's best team.
Go get 'em, kid.
Cleveland's fourth-round pick from Louisiana Tech, the 6-foot-3 McCown is rail thin. But he's got a sweet release and a rifle arm that allowed him to pass for 12,994 yards in college. Too bad this week he won't be throwing against Tulsa's defense.
No holding back
McCown says he's up for the challenge.
"I've been studying," he said. "I've been watching Jeff and Kelly every week, trying to pick up little things they do to prepare. Just trying to work on my craft. Work on drops, work on throws, work on reads, work on handing off, work on fakes in case something like this came up. Maybe it all comes together this weekend."
Maybe McCown gets torn apart, too.
The Patriots won't hold back -- it's not their style and Belichick will make sure they're frothing by kickoff. He already has them convinced the Browns are capable of an upset.
"As a player, you always have to expect the unexpected," Seymour said.
"I think that's how you have to go into a football game. We really don't know what they're going to do. We just have to be prepared for whatever they throw at us and just do the things that we want to do and to play to our strengths and take their strengths away. It's fairly simple, just go out and run and hit."
The prospect of starting a rookie doesn't thrill Browns interim coach Terry Robiskie, who was asked what he had to lose by starting McCown.
"You might have Luke to lose," quipped Robiskie.