Cleveland Browns ready to roll with Josh McCown

Oct 11, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown (13) calls out the play at the line during the second quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Browns are confident that quarterback Josh McCown can get the offense back on track against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Cleveland Browns will finally be back in action come Monday night when they host the Baltimore Ravens in their return to Monday Night Football after a six-year absence.

While many expected that quarterback Johnny Manziel would be taking the field as the starting quarterback, Manziel continued inability to act like an adult has led the Browns to turn back to Josh McCown, who will make his return to the field after missing the past two games with rib and shoulder injuries.

(There is no doubt that having McCown, rather than Manziel, in a quarterback will be a huge disappointment to ESPN and analyst Jon Gruden, but those are the breaks.)

The last time the Browns faced the Ravens, McCown lit up the Baltimore defense for a team-record 457 passing yards in leading the Browns to an overtime win — just Cleveland’s second win against Baltimore in the past 15 meetings and the last win we’ve seen from the Browns this season.

“He wants to do anything it takes to help this team win.” – Mike Pettine on Josh McCown

That performance, plus McCown’s level of professionalism, has Cleveland offensive coordinator John DeFilippo confident that the offense can get back on track after scoring just 19 total points the past two weeks.

“I thought Josh played very, very well against the Ravens,” DeFilippo said on Friday. “The Ravens are a very good defense. I know from an offensive standpoint they are beat up a little bit, but they have everyone healthy on defense. We are going to have our hands full again with this guys. I like our plan. We should play with a lot of confidence on Monday night at home in front of our own crowd. I expect Josh and the other 10 guys to play well.

“We know what Josh does well. It is not like we are saying our No. 2 quarterback at the time, which Josh was, and we don’t know what he can do and we haven’t played with him. We are in a situation where Josh has played a lot of football for us. We are confident we know what Josh can do.”

More from Dawg Pound Daily

• 3 Cleveland Browns players who don’t deserve another season in 2023
• How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
• Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
• 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not
• Is Marcus Davenport on the Browns radar in 2023?

The Browns also like the fact that McCown has not let the noise surrounding the club during the past few days bother him.

“From a guy that has been in the league as long as he has and been in some of the tough situations that he has, Josh is a pretty ‘take it in stride’ type guy,” DeFilippo said. “Whatever is dealt his way, he deals with it with a lot of confidence and poise, and I am proud of the way he handled this.”

The Ravens come into the game missing quarterback Joe Flacco, who is 13-2 in his career against the Browns, and running back Justin Forsett, who has averaged 5.72 yards per carry against the Browns, meaning the Browns may not have to score 33 points this time to break their five-game losing streak, but DeFilippo isn’t taking any chances.

“We are going in with a no-holds-barred mentality,” he said. “We are going to try to attack this defense like we try to attack defenses every week. I am not going to hold anything back. I think he is healthy and ready to roll.”