Browns, McCoy prepare for fierce pass rush from Ravens

Associated Press

BEREA

The Ravens are feasting on quarterbacks this season. Colt McCoy’s the next entree on their menu.

Baltimore’s band of bullies, led by perennial Pro Bowlers Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed, lead the NFL with 38 sacks and they’ll be well-rested going into Sunday’s game in Cleveland after 10 days off.

The Browns (4-7) have struggled to protect McCoy, who has been sacked 26 times, taken more hits (64) than any QB in the league and already has a sore elbow and shoulder.

“They’re good,” said Browns Pro Bowl tackle Joe Thomas, who will be matched up against Suggs. “They know how to get home.”

McCoy’s first encounter with the Ravens ended the way it does for most rookie QBs — poorly and with a loss. He avoided being sacked, but McCoy threw three interceptions, two were picked off by Reed, and finished with a 27.0 rating, his lowest mark in 19 career starts.

Steelers

PITTSBURGH

Weslye Saunders spent nearly a year hearing the whispers. Endure the kind of self-inflicted hardship Saunders put himself through in 2010 and they’re hard to ignore.

The Steelers rookie tight end doesn’t blame those who labeled him a “cancer” and a “head case” — Saunders’ words — following his inglorious exit at South Carolina.

His senior season ended before it even began when coach Steve Spurrier suspended Saunders for a violation of team rules. He was kicked off the team entirely a few weeks later then admitted to lying to NCAA investigators about staying at an off-campus hotel at a discounted rate.

They weren’t the kind of headlines that impress NFL scouts, ones just as concerned about character as the 6-foot-5, 270-pound Saunders’ combination of size, speed and soft hands.

Missing the game he grew up loving humbled Saunders. It also made him grow up.

“I had to prove I wasn’t what they said I was back in Carolina,” Saunders said.

The process proved painful.

Saunders broke his left foot preparing for the NFL draft yet couldn’t say no when the Steelers tight end coach James Daniel flew down to take a look. He went through all the drills — the 40-yard dash, shuttle run and route tree included — thanks to a mixture of grit and healthy doses of Tylenol.

If he’d stayed out of trouble, the Steelers wouldn’t have signed him as an undrafted free agent shortly after the lockout ended. If he’d stayed healthy he might not have scored his first NFL touchdown last week in Pittsburgh’s 13-9 win over Kansas City. If he’d played last year at South Carolina he might not have gained the perspective necessary to cut it with a veteran-laden team.