BEREA, Ohio -- Nothing seems to be ruffling Colt McCoy as he heads into his first season opener as the Browns' undisputed field leader. 
"It's been like that since we came back [from the lockout]," McCoy said after Wednesday's practice. "I'm really honestly past that. I understand it's my job to go out and play well and lead my team."
Not even uncertainty at two positions on the offensive line is a concern.
The starters at left guard and right tackle remain in flux. Rookie Jason Pinkston continued to take sidelined stalwart Eric Steinbach's spot at left guard, though coach Pat Shurmur wouldn't name him the starter Sunday against Cincinnati. At right tackle, starter Tony Pashos missed another day with his left foot in a walking boot. Newcomers Artis Hicks and Oniel Cousins are competing there. John Greco could show up at either spot.
"We're moving some guys around trying to figure out what's the best lineup, where do we get the best explosion off that front line," McCoy said. "But there's some secure guys on that front.
"[Center] Alex [Mack] makes a lot of calls, does a great job. [Left tackle] Joe Thomas, obviously. Shawn [Lauvao] is in there now [at right guard]. Hopefully we'll have Tony, but we'll see. It's just football. Somebody goes down, somebody's got to step up. The good thing is we have options. They'll be OK."
McCoy's calmness is another reassuring sign that he is in total control as the real season draws near. He will be the Browns' 10th different opening-game starter at quarterback in 13 years.
"I think the players have responded to him pretty well," Shurmur said. "That's a natural part of his personality, to take charge. But you can't take charge unless you know what you are doing. I think he has displayed to his teammates that he knows what he is doing and I think that's where the confidence continues to build."
Shurmur said the one thing he's learned about McCoy while coaching him the past six weeks is that he tries so hard "to do everything right." He cited McCoy's initiative in organizing the workouts with teammates during the owners lockout and his visit in Mississippi with former Packers quarterback Brett Favre. When training camp finally opened, McCoy "was trying to gobble it all up the best he could."
"I think that's important when you're learning a new offense," McCoy said. "So many things go into each day. We're still putting things in. You can't afford to make the same mistake twice. It sets you back. Today we put in some new things. Then it should be ingrained in your mind. That's part of being the quarterback. These guys don't want to see me messing up the same play twice."
Another example of McCoy's work ethic was the way he progressed during camp.
"You saw him in practice a little bit rusty, and then he'd fix some errors," Shurmur said. "Then he got an opportunity to go in and be pretty efficient in the first preseason game. He went through the process of training camp and basically did what we wanted. Now the next step is to do it for 60 minutes in a regular-season game.
"He's kind of been passing the tests in my mind as we've gone along and so Sunday will be the next test."
The first reaction among Browns faithful is that Cincinnati is a safe opponent to springboard a fast start. But McCoy looks over the Bengals' defense and sees an aggressive scheme, athletic linebackers, experienced cornerbacks -- and no rookies.
"They're veterans across the board. When you look at tape, you can tell. They don't bust coverages. They don't mess up," he said.
When McCoy was given his NFL baptism by fire as a rookie last season, he opposed some of the sport's most accomplished quarterbacks. Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Tom Brady were the first three. For the first time in his short NFL career on Sunday, McCoy will be the older, more-experienced QB on the field. Rookie second-round draft pick Andy Dalton will be making his NFL debut for the Bengals.
Both are Texas natives and grew up too far away in that huge, football-mad state to meet in high school. But after McCoy enrolled at Texas and Dalton at Texas Christian, they opposed each other in a game in 2007. It was Dalton's second career start.
"I was a sophomore, he was a freshman," McCoy remembered. "They came to us and we beat them pretty bad [34-13]. I think it was close at halftime."
Source:
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/09/what_colt_mccoy_worry_clevelan.html
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