Thursday, Nov 04, 2010 08:26 AM

Injuries to Browns' veteran QBs accelerate McCoy's ascent

BEREA, Ohio -- The plan was to keep Colt McCoy on the sideline this season so he could learn for the future. The future arrived earlier than planned.

Now the Cleveland Browns can't get the rookie quarterback off the field.

McCoy will make his third consecutive start Sunday when the Browns play host to the New England Patriots, completing a terrifying trifecta of games for the third-round pick who opened his NFL career with games at Pittsburgh and New Orleans.

Billick: Browns should play McCoy

It’s time for the Browns to go with Colt McCoy and find out how good he can be," writes Brian Billick. "I’ve always believed the only way to learn is to play." **More ...**

Neither Seneca Wallace nor Jake Delhomme has been able to practice this week as they continue to recover from high ankle sprains, leaving McCoy as the best option for Browns coach Eric Mangini, who will be facing mentor and long-lost friend Bill Belichick, the Patriots' coach.

Mangini, never one to reveal his plans in order to keep the opposition guessing, would not go as far as naming McCoy his starter. He did indicate McCoy was his top choice.

"We're moving pretty strong in that direction," Mangini said before Thursday's practice.

With Wallace and Delhomme unavailable, it's the only direction.

This will be McCoy's first start at home, where Cleveland fans will welcome him with a monstrous ovation. He's 1-1 with a loss to the Steelers and a win over the Saints, who fell for several trick plays during a 30-17 loss to the Browns two weeks ago.

The Browns had hoped to have Wallace back this week, but he has not yet been cleared by doctors. Wallace might be able to practice Friday, but by then the Browns will have installed their game plan for the Patriots. There is a chance, if he's ready, that Wallace could serve as McCoy's backup.

Wallace hasn't played since injuring his ankle Oct. 10 against the Atlanta Falcons, his fourth consecutive start filling in for Delhomme, who rolled his ankle in the season opener at Tampa Bay. High-ankle sprains typically take four to six weeks to heal, and Wallace is just one month into recovery.

Wallace tested his ankle Wednesday -- the day he was targeted to return after Cleveland's bye week -- but he wasn't satisfied with the way it responded.

"I'm just being smart and not trying to rush to get back on the field," Wallace said. "You know you gotta be smart with this type of injury. If it feels good and you go outside and do something that you haven't done in the last couple weeks, you can kind of nag it a little bit.

"It was just being smart. But there was no setback."

Delhomme, 35, has not been available to the media in two weeks. He hurt his ankle in his debut for the Browns while throwing a game-changing interception in the Sept. 12 opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Delhomme was inactive the next three weeks, but he returned as the No. 2 quarterback against the Falcons.

Still hobbled by the injury, Delhomme's only chance to play was if Wallace got hurt. Sure enough, Wallace's ankle got twisted, and Delhomme came in off the bench. Right away, it became apparent he wasn't ready, and he re-injured his ankle, a setback that led to McCoy's unexpected rise up the depth chart.

Mangini denied that Delhomme came back too early.

"No, it was a little bit different deal," he said. "With any of these things, I think when you come back, regardless of when you decide to come back, if you got hit the right way, you've got a chance of re-injuring it."

Not knowing if Wallace or Delhomme would be ready, McCoy entered this week preparing to start. He said Wednesday that he was excited about the possibility of playing against the Patriots' Tom Brady, a player he always has admired and one he has studied religiously on film.

"Being here, a lot of the things that we do are from New England, a lot of the plays," McCoy said. "So it's Tom Brady over and over, especially learning our offense. He's a tremendous quarterback. There's a reason they've won three Super Bowls. The guy is incredible.

"One of the things I've studied is his pocket presence, his awareness when he's in the pocket, when he's got to move. You saw the plays he made against Minnesota. You can't coach that. You can't teach that. That's something you develop over time, and he's got it, and just to be on the field, to play with him, to see him, it's going to be awesome."