Mike Pettine: If Josh McCown practices Friday, he starts on Sunday
By Thomas Moore
Sep 13, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown (13) throws a pass against the New York Jets during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine made one thing clear on Thursday: if Josh McCown can practice on Friday he will start the home opener on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
“To me, I think it still will be our decision based on how practice goes. I don’t see an issue if he’s cleared and practices fully tomorrow,” Pettine said. “I don’t see, barring anything unforeseen, a reason why we wouldn’t play him.”
While ideally the Browns would like to have McCown available for more than just one practice, there are enough similarities between what the Jets and the Titans do on defense to minimize the impact of lost practice time.
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“There’s no Ph.D. after my name. We’re hopeful, optimistic. To me, these situations you learn over time, they’re just impossible to predict.” – Head coach Mike Pettine on Josh McCown’s status
“I think potentially that could be the case but when you over-install for the opener and you’re playing similar defensive styles Week 1 to Week 2,” Pettine explained. “There are a lot of plays that are up for this plan that he has already gotten multiple reps on, whether it was this week or even towards the end of training camp – when we game plan for the first quarter of the season and started to work some of that stuff late in training camp, it carries over.
“If this was a completely different plan and it wasn’t this close to coming out of training camp, I think the situation would be different, but he’s gotten quality reps on a lot of the elements of the plan that we have up.”
According to a recent story in The Washington Post, these are the five steps to the league-mandated protocol that McCown has been going through this week before he can resume playing:
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- Rest and recovery. Players may stretch and work on their balance, but they don’t work out beyond that. In addition, they’re advised against spending time on computers, any electronic device and social media. They don’t take part in team meetings.
- Light aerobic exercise. Under supervision of the team’s medical staff, the player can start cardiovascular exercise, such as riding a stationary bike and using a treadmill, and work on more dynamic stretching and balancing. The workload is increased gradually and halted entirely if concussion-related symptoms recur. Players can attend team meetings and study film.
- Continued aerobic exercise, introduction of strength training. Building gradually on the work of step 2, the player can start weight training.
- Football-specific work. The player adds non-contact football drills, such as throwing, catching and running to his repertoire of exercise. No contact allowed with other players, tackling dummies or sleds.
- Full football activity, full clearance. The player resumes practicing with the team, with no limitations. Once the team physician clears him to complete, the player is examined by the independent neurological consultant, who also reviews any relevant neurological tests.
While we won’t know for sure until sometime tomorrow afternoon, it sounds as if McCown will be taking the field Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium.