Sunday, November 27, 2011
By Mary Kay Cabot
Cleveland Plain Dealer
CINCINNATI
Browns coach Pat Shurmur has challenged quarterback Colt McCoy to carry his team through the AFC North gantlet that begins today against the 6-4 Bengals.
SDLqI’m looking for him to lead the charge in terms of ‘show improvement and win the game’ and I think that’s what we’re looking for as we go forward,” said Shurmur. ‘The way I look at it, we’re 4-6 and we’re trying to win this game as we push into the second half of this season. Hopefully we get on a roll here and then we can do something beyond January 1. We’re putting all our efforts into beating the Bengals and Colt is no different.”
The Browns have given McCoy this season to prove that he can be the quarterback of the future — and what a better way to do that than with five AFC North games in the next six, including three in 12 days.
“We’re going to find out how good we are because we know how competitive our division is,” said Shurmur. “In the next few weeks, we’re going to find out where we’re at.”
Fortunately for McCoy, the running game missing most of the season is showing signs of rebounding. Montario Hardesty will return after missing three games with a torn calf muscle and Peyton Hillis expects to play after missing five games with a pulled hamstring. In addition, Chris Ogbonnaya is coming off back-to-back games of 90 and 115 rushing yards.
“It helps when you can run the football,” said McCoy, who’s probable with a sore right shoulder. “The defense has to respect that. Then all of a sudden you get some gimme throws here and there and you get in a rhythm.
“Cincinnati has a really good defense,” said McCoy. “They do a lot of different things. They come after you, they play a lot of different coverages behind their pressures. They’re very well-coached.”