Or from snap to snap. McCoy feels he’s getting better every time he touches the ball, and he agrees with Shurmur’s assertion that with just 12 starts on his pro resume, he’s the equivalent of a first-year player. And, he’s not alone. Every player on Cleveland’s offense is starting over.
“You look across the receiver room, nobody has been in the West Coast,” McCoy said.
“You look at the tight ends. In a sense, we’re all learning with a rookie quarterback. We’ve got a lot of room for improvement. We’ve got to figure things out, what works best, what receivers run the best routes at what spot, running backs, what’s our best run schemes.
“Our bye has come at a good time where we can look at some things. I think the ceiling is tremendously high. I believe that. We’ve just all got to continue to play together, continue to get to know each other and just move on.”
McCoy’s teammates believe he has grown, and will continue to blossom.
Pro Bowl tackle Joe Thomas has been impressed with McCoy’s ability to grasp the new offense and all its complexities.
“Every week he seems more comfortable in the huddle,” Thomas said.
“He’s more comfortable with the plays that we’re running and just kind of the whole offense. He really has improved from week to week and what’s exciting for me to see is where he is now versus where he was at the start of the season _ and where he’s going to be at the end of the year.”
That’s assuming McCoy’s in one piece.
He has taken some punishment in the past two games against Miami and Tennessee. The Dolphins weren’t credited with any sacks, but they found their way to McCoy and roughed him up _ before he drove the Browns to a game-winning TD in the final minute.
“I have to credit Colt,” Miami defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said. “He did a better job than I thought he was capable of this early in the season. That youngster did a nice job of getting rid of the ball quick. He took some licks. If he wasn’t sore he’s made of steel, because he got hit.”
Shurmur wants the Browns to do a better job of protecting McCoy.
Keeping the game close would help. When Cleveland fell behind by 25 points on Sunday, McCoy was forced to throw on every play and became a target for the Titans.
“You worry about that any time a quarterback gets hit,” Shurmur said. “We’re concerned about it, we focus on it and try to eliminate it. Let’s hope in our tenure here that I never have to call 61 passes again because that’s not the way to play the game. That’s obviously the way things went, but we don’t want that.”
Shurmur has given his players the rest of the week off, and many of them couldn’t wait to get out of town.
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