BEREA - Those Colt McCoy fans that have wanted to see more of him this season might not get their wish Sunday when the Browns travel west to play the Oakland Raiders.
It appears that the concussion suffered by rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden wasn't severe. Weeden was injured when his head hit the leg of offensive tackle Joe Thomas after being thrown to the ground by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds. Running back Trent Richardson said that team personnel had to hide Weeden's helmet to keep him from re-entering in the final minutes of a 20-14 Browns' win.
McCoy played the final two series, his first action of the season after losing the competition with Weeden in the preseason. McCoy didn't attempt a pass.
Coach Pat Shurmur gave a favorable medical report on Weeden at his Monday press conference. He reserved judgment on his availability for Sunday's game until later in the week.
"It's very strict protocol when it comes to concussions," Shurmur said. "We have to go through the process. I'm not going to make any predictions. I'll know way more about the situation Wednesday."
Weeden was up-and down against the Steelers, finishing 17-of-26 for 158 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The interception, by linebacker Lawrence Timmons, came on a pass that was tipped by end Brett Keisel on the fourth play of the game from scrimmage. Timmons returned the interception 53 yards for a touchdown.
Weeden had a 78.7 passer rating to push his season number to 70.9. He has completed 55.9 percent of his passes for 2,456 yards. Weeden has thrown 12 touchdown passes and has been intercepted 13 times.
"He did some good things, and there are some things that he can clean up," Shurmur said. "The bottom line is we found a way to win the football game."
McCoy has been a silent man since losing his starter's role. Last season the third-year veteran started 13 games before suffering a concussion on a hit by Steelers linebacker James Harrison. McCoy completed 57.2 percent of his passes for 2,733 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2011.
The front office made a determination during the offseason that McCoy isn't the long-term answer to the franchise's longstanding quarterback problem. Unable to finalize a trade up with the St. Louis Rams to get the second pick in the NFL draft, the Browns used the 22nd overall pick on Weeden.
Shurmur expressed confidence in McCoy.
"If Colt goes into the game I expect him to function fine," Shurmur said. "I have all the confidence in the world in Colt. If he goes in there, I expect him to do a good job. I watched Colt function during the off-season and through training camp. He knows the offense much better than he did last year."
Ironically, on a day in which Weeden and McCoy were the focal points of Shurmur's press conference, former team president Mike Holmgren made a short appearance in the media room to announce again his plan to leave the team at the end of this week. Holmgren played an important role in the decisions to select both quarterbacks. He convinced general manager Tom Heckert to select McCoy in the third round of the 2010 draft, and it was Holmgren that told Heckert to pick Weeden in the first round instead of waiting until the fifth pick of the second round when he might have still been available.
A big part of Holmgren's legacy in Cleveland is riding on the Weeden pick. He said a few weeks ago during a press conference that he thinks the Browns have their quarterback of the future in place.
"I like Brandon Weeden, and he has shown in spurts he can throw the ball," Holmgren said. "I think Brandon can play and can be a very fine quarterback in this league."
