CLEVELAND: Snap after snap, throw after throw, Josh McCown kept getting up. No matter how deep the Baltimore Ravens’ front seven tried burying him into the turf Sunday, McCown found a shovel and dug his way out — even with only one functioning arm.
At this point, it’s fair to question his sanity, but not his toughness.
Two weeks into the season, the Browns have watched two quarterbacks endure left shoulder injuries. Robert Griffin III might not take another snap, but McCown’s future hasn’t been determined after a 25-20 loss to the Ravens at Cleveland Browns Stadium. He needed X-rays after the game and dressed with his left arm tucked tightly into his rib cage, unable to raise it much at all. He left the locker room bare-chested, his T-shirt in his right hand. Presumably, he didn’t want anyone to see how much trouble he would have putting it on.
McCown is scheduled to have an MRI Monday on the shoulder.
“I told Josh, ‘I look up to you and I respect you,’ ” backup quarterback Cody Kessler said. “What he did out there — take the game away from it — just as a person and a player and competitor, it’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
McCown threw for 260 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He was smashed on his first touchdown pass by the Ravens’ Zach Orr and Timmy Jernigan and he retreated to the locker room after his second touchdown pass to Corey Coleman — when he wasn’t even touched. The euphoria generated by the stunning 20-0 lead began dissipating when McCown jogged to the locker room as Tavon Young was returning a blocked extra point. For his own health and safety, McCown should have stayed back there.
He was punished throughout the final three quarters and seemed to land on the same wounded shoulder after every hit. When he fumbled the first snap after returning and gave himself up on the busted play, Za’Darius Smith still managed to get a shot on his shoulder. When Duke Johnson whiffed on a block, C.J. Mosley planted McCown on his left side. And when Michael Pierce bull-rushed Joel Bitonio to get into the backfield, McCown ended up face down in pain.
Every time, McCown stood back up. If the Browns front office is intent on tanking the season, nobody bothered to tell their quarterback.
“Watching this game and how hard he got hit on some of those plays and how much pain he was in, he’s a tough guy,” Kessler said. “You’ll never hear him complain. You could see it on his face how much pain he was in, but he didn’t want to come out. He wanted to compete for those guys.”
McCown wasn’t perfect. He missed open receivers and his bone-headed throw into a sea of Ravens at the end of the game ended any shot at a comeback — although personal foul penalties on receivers Coleman and Terrelle Pryor were equally damning. Browns coach Hue Jackson did a better job of protecting McCown off the field than he did on it. Jackson absolved McCown of blame for the interception at the goal line, but he also called the quarterback option on third-and-short earlier in the game that left McCown’s aching left shoulder further exposed to more unnecessary roughness.
It’s fair to wonder what makes a 37-year-old journeyman quarterback half Rocky Balboa, half Daniel LaRusso. McCown could be happy and healthy selling insurance somewhere, not running from the Cobra Kais.
“I have a dad and an older brother who get up and go to work and sometimes they don’t feel great and they go. They go and they grind,” McCown said. “I have two little boys that are playing football now. They get hit and they get banged up and I am trying to teach them what toughness means.”
McCown knows the score. He’s well aware this might be his last chance in the NFL, which is why he carries the mentality that “unless it is going to fall off, let’s try to make it work and make it go.” If he’s being realistic, he knew even though Griffin entered as the starter, he was going to play at some point this season. With the Browns, it’s inevitable.
There were moments Sunday when Kessler thought he was going to be next. He grabbed his helmet, began stretching on the sidelines and going through the calls with the coaching staff. He didn’t get in, but he will at some point this season. With the Browns, it’s inevitable.
“I’m going to keep the same prep I’ve been doing the whole time,” Kessler said.
When your future is the starting quarterback of the Browns, that means getting your affairs in order and making sure the insurance premiums have been paid.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.