Until the lockout ends, McCoy and his teammates won’t be able to practice the West Coast offense new coach Pat Shurmur plans to run. They and their brethren won’t be able to do anything football-related with representatives of their teams. Players are forbidden from entering their training facilities.
Fortunately for McCoy and the Browns, McCoy used a West Coast style offense at Texas. It is one of the reasons Browns president Mike Holmgren drafted McCoy last April.
Holmgren wanted former coach Eric Mangini to win, but Holmgren also wanted a quarterback who could transition to the offense he prefers if he were going to make a coaching change — which he did when he fired Mangini and hired Shurmur.
Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace and McCoy all had West Coast roots before last season. Delhomme was signed in free agency, Wallace was acquired in a trade and McCoy was drafted.
Of course, the Browns saw this lockout coming. McCoy has the playbook Shurmur will use, so he at least can study during the lockout, but that obviously isn’t the same as perfecting it on the practice field in minicamps, OTAs and training camp if the work stoppage extends to July.
“I’m already on the hot seat,” McCoy said on the Monday after the Browns lost to Pittsburgh in the final game of the 2010 season.
McCoy was 2-6 as a starter last year. He still has a lot to prove. He should be better in the West Coast, because that offense places such high value on accuracy and being able to hit receivers on short and intermediate passes in stride.
Last season McCoy completed 60.2 percent of his passes, and that includes completing just 50 percent exactly — 35 of 70 combined passes — against the Ravens and Steelers in the final two games.
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