As we said last night, Colt McCoy is winning the Browns over. Even though Eric Mangini won’t say as much, McCoy looks like the team’s starting quarterback regardless of health.
Seneca Wallace will finally return to practice from his ankle sprain on Wednesday according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. But McCoy will get the bulk (3/4) of first team snaps and is in line to start against the Jets.
Mangini says he’s in “no need to rush into a decision” about his quarterback for the rest of the season, according to NFL.com’s Vic Carucci.
Publicly, that makes sense. If McCoy collapses, Mangini can make a move. He can also hide behind Wallace’s injury as a factor in why he’s still on the bench.
The reality is that McCoy will have to faceplant hard to lose the gig. Team President Mike Holmgren said the time was coming “soon” to just hand the keys over to McCoy to see what he can do for the rest of the season. That was before the Browns destroyed the Patriots.
The Browns have to feel more encouraged than any 3-5 team I can remember. They compete hard every week and have handled two Super Bowl contenders. Now they get another eight games to see if they’ve finally found a quarterback of the future.
