Browns concerned about McCoy’s hits

Associated Press

BEREA

One day after his offense scored just six points, Browns coach Pat Shurmur was careful not to criticize Colt McCoy.

His quarterback had taken enough hits.

On Sunday, McCoy was sacked five times, roughed up several more after making throws and hit during runs when he tucked the ball and took off from pressure in Cleveland’s 6-3 ugly win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Shurmur had several players injured in the win. McCoy wasn’t one of them.

“He’s fine,” Shurmur said. “I was just with him and he looked good. I didn’t see him run today, but he was walking straight.”

Now it’s up to the Browns to keep him that way.

McCoy has only been sacked 13 times in six games this season, but according to NFL.com, he has been hit 38 times, a number both he and Shurmur want to keep from growing much larger.

It’s no coincidence that three teams whose quarterbacks have been hit most — St. Louis, Seattle and Miami — have been forced to play their backup QBs.

Shurmur doesn’t believe McCoy has taken an inordinate amount of punishment. In a violent game where some players’ only objective is to get to the quarterback, getting hit comes with the territory. Shurmur calls Cleveland’s offensive plays, and does so with his quarterback’s health in mind.

“When you look around the league, in terms of quarterbacks getting hit, there are quarterbacks getting hit quite a bit,” Shurmur said. “[McCoy] has avoided some sacks. I try to make sure I call keeps and nakeds [bootlegs] to make sure I get him on the run and every once in a while he’ll take one there.

“Yesterday, we had a couple of screen calls where he gets rid of the football and then it’s kind of a glancing deal, so we try schematically to make sure we eliminate that.”

McCoy, who ran for 31 yards on eight carries, came up limping after completing a screen pass in the third quarter. He hobbled to the sideline, and for a second it appeared he might be seriously injured. But McCoy came right back in, and showed no obvious signs of being injured as the Browns (3-3) got to .500 after six games for just the third time since 1999.

There’s no doubt about McCoy’s toughness. The rest of his game isn’t so certain.

Not surprisingly, McCoy’s play has been scrutinized to the tiniest detail this season. Every throw, every decision and every play have been analyzed ad nauseam. Such is the life of a quarterback, but especially in Cleveland, where fans have endured constant change at the vital position.

Last week, Browns president Mike Holmgren was noncommittal when asked about McCoy’s future beyond this season. He said McCoy has his full support and Cleveland’s starting job for this year — only.

The Browns will wait until after the season to evaluate McCoy and decide if he’s the future.

On Sunday, McCoy said he had no problem with Holmgren’s plan.

“I see that as a great thing,” said McCoy, who improved to 5-9 as a starter. “I think that’s how he sees every person on our team and if he wouldn’t have said it, I would have said the same thing.”