McCoy, Shurmur hope for progress

By Mary Kay Cabot

Cleveland Plain Dealer

BEREA

Pat Shurmur views Colt McCoy much the same way he did 2010 Rams No. 1 pick Sam Bradford last season.

“[McCoy’s] a young player and in my mind almost a rookie,” the Browns coach said. “And so his improvement can be great from practice to practice and game to game. I think [he can improve] a lot.”

Likewise, McCoy isn’t looking at this season as an extension of 2010 — when he went 2-6 — because he had to start all over in a new scheme with no coaches all offseason.

“I don’t think that much about last year because we’re in such a new offense, new system, new coaches,” he said. “I’m taught different things. I’m taught how to do things differently scheme-wise. I’m just focusing on this year and the four starts I’ve had. I think that’s the way my coaches coach me. I think that’s the way they see me.”

McCoy was aware that Shurmur considers him almost a rookie.

“Right, exactly, and that’s how it is,” he said. “You look across the receiver room, nobody has been in the West Coast in that room. You look at the tight ends, nobody’s been in the West Coast except Alex Smith in Tampa Bay. In a sense, we’re all learning — with a rookie quarterback. We’ve got a lot of room for improvement.”

Heading into the bye weekend, McCoy carries a 78.7 QB rating — No. 24 in the league. He’s completed 100 of 172 attempts for 984 yards, with six touchdowns and three interceptions. He’s been sacked only six times, but heading into the Titans game, he was tied for first with Chad Henne for most hits after the throw, at 21. He was knocked down another five or six times by the Titans.

His 984 yards are 17th in the NFL, his six TDs are 12th and his 58.1 percent completion percentage is 23rd.

“I’ll be the first to tell you that there’s a lot of things you can work on, improve on,” McCoy said. “It’s a process. The guys are working very hard and I know our coaches are working really hard. We’ve just got to re-group, stay together and keep fighting.”

McCoy said the offense is upbeat despite scoring only 13 points against the Titans.

“We’re 2-2 going into the bye week,” he said. “We’ve got a chance to make our season or let something slip by again. We’ll get out of here and kind of rest, heal up and re-group. Nobody’s head is down. We got beat. We didn’t play like we wanted to. But the sun’s out today and we had a good day.”

After the first quarter of the season, the Browns’ offense is 25th in scoring at 18.5 points per game. The pass offense is 18th, averaging 235.2 yards.

“I don’t think anything has been a disappointment,” McCoy said. “We’re playing together for the first time. We practice hard. I believe in the guys.”