CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns play the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Browns Stadium in a matchup of 2-3 teams.

The Browns might be without running back Peyton Hillis, who injured his left hamstring in the first quarter of Cleveland’s 24-17 loss to the Raiders in Oakland last Sunday.

Hillis’ career took a temporary turn when he tore his right hamstring three years ago, when he was a Denver Broncos rookie. He may well have been on his way to establishing himself as Denver’s long-term answer at tailback before the injury set in motion a set of circumstances that allowed the Browns to get him at moderate cost — trading quarterback Brady Quinn to Denver for Hillis and two late-round draft picks prior to the 2010 season.

(A recent cleveland.com story detailed Hillis’ career since his college days at Arkansas, and how he has had to prove himself time and again)

On Nov. 6, 2008 in Cleveland, Hillis got a chance to run with the football for Denver after four Broncos tailbacks had been injured. His numbers weren’tt spectacular– eight carries for 24 yards — but he picked up crucial first downs in short-yardage situations as the Broncos overcame a 23-10 Browns lead to win, 34-30.

Steve Doerschuk of the Canton Repository writes about Hillis’ current injury, and that his injury in 2008 changed things for the Broncos and Hillis. Prior to the game against the Browns, writes Doerschuk, Hillis….:

He had broken out as a receiver a week earlier, not getting a single carry, but catching seven passes for 116 yards against Miami.

He followed up the Cleveland game with a 10-carry, 44-yard game against Atlanta, then accelerated to 74 yards on 17 carries against Oakland.

Broncos fans were hooked when he hit Eric Mangini’s Jets for 129 yards on 22 carries one week later. He just kept getting better every week, even as opponents got more film to study.

He was on his way to another big game a week later, with 58 yards on his first eight carries against the Chiefs.

Late in the first half, he jumped to make a circus catch and was pounced on by defensive backs Jarrad Page and Brandon Carr. His right foot got stuck. His hamstring got mangled. He missed the last three games with the hamstring tear.

Then-Head Coach Mike Shanahan said at the time, “It’s always tough to lose a guy like that, but he will be good for the future. He’s proved that he can play tailback in the National Football League, and that one catch he made was probably as good a catch as you could make … unfortunately, he pulled his hamstring making that catch.”

The Broncos were 8-5 after the Chiefs game but lost their last three games without Hillis. Shanahan was fired. Under his replacement, Josh McDaniels, Hillis was healthy, but he carried just 13 times for 54 yards in the entire 2009 season.

Plain Dealer and cleveland.com Browns coverage includes Mary Kay Cabot’s story that Browns president Mike Holmgren says that contract talks with Peyton Hillis are at a standstill for now; Cabot’s update on the Browns’ injuries; the weekly video edition of the Browns Insider, with Cabot, Dennis Manoloff and Bud Shaw talking about the Browns; Plain Dealer Twitter updates from today when Mike Holmgren talked with the media; a Starting Blocks poll on the Browns-Seahawks game; Cabot’s Browns Insider; and, much more.

Goal to goal

Former Browns running back Jerome Harrison has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, though the long-term prognosis for his health and even his football career is good. By Adam Schefter, and according to sources, for ESPN.com.

Concern about injuries among the Browns’ defensive backs, and Browns notes, by Fred Greetham for Scout.com’s Orange and Brown Report.

Stop breaking down every word that Mike Holmgren says. By Criag Lyndall for Waiting For Next Year.

AFC North teams are setting the NFL standard for defensive play this season, Jamison Hensley writes for ESPN.com.

Browns notebook, highlighting running back Chris Ogbonnaya, by Steve Doerschuk of the Canton Repository.

Mike Holmgren tries to defuse any drama surrounding the Browns, Daniel Wolf writes for the National Football Authority.

Anthony Campomizzi, writing for Dawg Pound Daily, wonders if Browns quarterback Colt McCoy is regressing this season.

The AFC North quarterback watch — including the Browns’ Colt McCoy — by Jamison Hensley on ESPN.com.

Seattle Seahawks coverage on the Seattle Times.

By Russ Oates

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Sep 9, 2011 – First Peyton Hillis won the Madden 12 cover contest and appeared on millions of video game cases. Now he is in line for a new contract, according to Cleveland Browns President Mike Holmgren. On Friday, Holmgren confirmed that the club wants to sign Hillis to a long-term contract:

“We’re trying like crazy to wrap (Hillis)up for a long time,” Holmgren said on the Mike and Mike Show on ESPN2. “He’s something, isn’t he?”

Hillis was a revelation in 2010, arriving in Cleveland from the Denver Broncos after Brady Quinn was sent out west. After receiving limited playing time in Denver, Hillis assumed the starting running back role for the Browns and piled up 1,177 yards on the ground and 11 touchdowns. Hillis also turned into an effective pass-catcher, grabbing 61 balls for 477 yards.

Hillis is playing out the last year of his rookie contract, which pays him $555,000. His first test of the regular season comes on Sunday at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. He went for 102 yards and one touchdown against them at home in 2010.

For more on the Brows, visit Dawgs By Nature and SB Nation Cleveland.

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BEREA(AP) — Colt McCoy wears No. 12. For the Cleveland Browns, he’s also No. 10.

It’s a number they’d like to stay stuck on.

On Sunday against Cincinnati, McCoy will become the 10th different quarterback to start a season opener for the Browns since 1999, an astonishing statistic and perhaps the single biggest reason the franchise has failed miserably during an expansion era of losses. McCoy follows Ty Detmer, Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb, Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn and Jake Delhomme as quarterbacks to begin the year as Cleveland’s starter.

“I hope it stays like this for a while,” McCoy said Wednesday.

In the NFL, quarterback consistency is vital to success. With a revolving door at the game’s most important position, it’s no wonder the Browns have only made the playoffs once and lost at least 10 games nine times in 12 years. Cleveland has been searching for a leader to guide them from the dismal darkness and back to respectability.

McCoy, who showed grit and toughness in eight starts in 2010, just might be the one.

And this season, anyway, he’ll get the chance to succeed or fail.

McCoy’s rise from third-round draft pick to starter happened quickly.

Rewind to last season’s opener. The former Texas star was a raw, out-of-sight, out-of-mind rookie running Cleveland’s scout team in practice. While Delhomme and backup Seneca Wallace took all the snaps, McCoy stood to the side waiting and wondering if his time would ever come.

Buried on the depth chart, McCoy was inactive when the Browns traveled to Tampa Bay in Week 1. But things changed in a hurry. Delhomme severely sprained his ankle against the Buccaneers, Wallace went down with same injury in Week 5, and suddenly McCoy was thrust into a starting role few believed he was ready to handle.

“He was kind of thrown into the fire,” Browns first-year coach Pat Shurmur said.

His personal inferno began in Pittsburgh, where McCoy made his first career start against the Steelers and in front of their Terrible Towel-waving fans. The night before the game, McCoy stood up at a meeting and told his teammates not to worry, he was ready to handle the job.

Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown feared for McCoy.

“I thought, this poor kid,” Brown said. “I hope he’s praying.”

But McCoy proved he belonged, completing 23 of 33 passes for 281 yards despite being sacked five times and pressured numerous others. It was there, at the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers that many of Cleveland’s players became convinced they had found their leader.

“He wasn’t scared,” Brown said. “That’s one of the toughest defenses in the National Football League and he went in there and he held his own.”

 Then we put him in there against New Orleans, New England. Go back to some of the games he played and you look at his aura on the field and his demeanor, you just know that if you surround him with the players that can make plays for him — he’s not going to turn the ball over, he’s going to make the correct reads and the better part is, if he makes those mistakes, he’ll work his tail off to fix it.

“That’s when you know you have a guy.”

Shurmur thinks so, too.

Cleveland’s fifth coach since ’99, Shurmur has been impressed with everything about McCoy. During the labor lockout, it was McCoy who organized practices in Austin, Texas. At those workouts, dubbed “Camp Colts” by his teammates, McCoy and the Browns took their first initial steps in learning Shurmur’s West Coast offense, a passer friendly system the team feels perfectly suits McCoy’s accurate — if not strong — right arm.

McCoy also took it upon himself to visit Brett Favre, hoping a few days in Mississippi picking the brain of the former league MVP would help him better understand the new offense. McCoy came to camp prepared and then played extremely well in Cleveland’s three exhibition games.

“He basically did what we wanted and now the next step is to do it for 60 minutes in a regular-season game,” Shurmur said. “He has been passing the tests as we’ve gone along, and Sunday will be the next test.”

McCoy has done his homework.

“Now is where it counts,” he said.

Composed whether he’s calling a play in the huddle, facing a blitz or surrounded by cameras at his locker, McCoy insists he’s not feeling any added pressure as he embarks on his second season as a pro. A coach’s son, this is what he’s been groomed to do since he was a kid.

Now is when the fun starts.

“I’ve come a long ways,” McCoy said. “But I’ve still got plenty of work to do, no question. This team is ready to start, ready for the regular season. This is where it starts counting. For us, we’ve put in a lot of hours, a lot of time. We’ve worked hard together, now I think we kind of know some of the things we’re good at, some of the things we’re not as good at. Those things we’ll keep working on. But I think we’re ready to put a plan together and go see what happens.”

Notes: The Browns have some offensive line issues to resolve in the next few days. Starting right tackle Tony Pashos didn’t practice and still has a walking boot on his left foot. Also, Shurmur hasn’t decided whether he’ll start rookie Jason Pinkston at left guard. … TE Ben Watson, LB Chris Gocong and S Usama Young returned to practice on a limited basis. … WR Greg Little was chosen winner of the Maurice Bassett Award, given annually by the media to the top first-year player in training camp. … On Sunday, McCoy will square off with Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton. They played each other in college when McCoy was at Texas and Dalton at TCU. McCoy only remembered a few details of their previous meeting. “They came to us,” McCoy said, “and we beat ’em pretty bad.”

 

BEREA, Ohio – Colt McCoy wears No. 12. For the Cleveland Browns, he’s also No. 10.

It’s a number they’d like to stay stuck on.

On Sunday against Cincinnati, McCoy will become the 10th different quarterback to start a season opener for the Browns since 1999, an astonishing statistic and perhaps the single biggest reason the franchise has failed miserably during an expansion era of losses. McCoy follows Ty Detmer, Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb, Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn and Jake Delhomme as quarterbacks to begin the year as Cleveland’s starter.

“I hope it stays like this for a while,” McCoy said Wednesday.

In the NFL, quarterback consistency is vital to success. With a revolving door at the game’s most important position, it’s no wonder the Browns have only made the playoffs once and lost at least 10 games nine times in 12 years. Cleveland has been searching for a leader to guide them from the dismal darkness and back to respectability.

McCoy, who showed grit and toughness in eight starts in 2010, just might be the one.

And this season, anyway, he’ll get the chance to succeed or fail.

McCoy’s rise from third-round draft pick to starter happened quickly.

Rewind to last season’s opener. The former Texas star was a raw, out-of-sight, out-of-mind rookie running Cleveland’s scout team in practice. While Delhomme and backup Seneca Wallace took all the snaps, McCoy stood to the side waiting and wondering if his time would ever come.

Buried on the depth chart, McCoy was inactive when the Browns travelled to Tampa Bay in Week 1. But things changed in a hurry. Delhomme severely sprained his ankle against the Buccaneers, Wallace went down with same injury in Week 5, and suddenly McCoy was thrust into a starting role few believed he was ready to handle.

“He was kind of thrown into the fire,” Browns first-year coach Pat Shurmur said.

His personal inferno began in Pittsburgh, where McCoy made his first career start against the Steelers and in front of their Terrible Towel-waving fans. The night before the game, McCoy stood up at a meeting and told his teammates not to worry, he was ready to handle the job.

Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown feared for McCoy.

“I thought, this poor kid,” Brown said. “I hope he’s praying.”

But McCoy proved he belonged, completing 23 of 33 passes for 281 yards despite being sacked five times and pressured numerous others. It was there, at the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers that many of Cleveland’s players became convinced they had found their leader — at last.

“He wasn’t scared,” Brown said. “That’s one of the toughest defences in the National Football League and he went in there and he held his own. Then we put him in there against New Orleans, New England. Go back to some of the games he played and you look at his aura on the field and his demeanour, you just know that if you surround him with the players that can make plays for him — he’s not going to turn the ball over, he’s going to make the correct reads and the better part is, if he makes those mistakes, he’ll work his tail off to fix it.

“That’s when you know you have a guy.”

Shurmur thinks so, too.

Cleveland’s fifth coach since ’99, Shurmur has been impressed with everything about McCoy. During the labour lockout, it was McCoy who organized practices in Austin, Texas. At those workouts, dubbed “Camp Colts” by his teammates, McCoy and the Browns took their first initial steps in learning Shurmur’s West Coast offence, a passer friendly system the team feels perfectly suits McCoy’s accurate — if not strong — right arm.

McCoy also took it upon himself to visit Brett Favre, hoping a few days in Mississippi picking the brain of the former league MVP would help him better understand the new offence. McCoy came to camp prepared and then played extremely well in Cleveland’s three exhibition games.

“He basically did what we wanted and now the next step is to do it for 60 minutes in a regular-season game,” Shurmur said. “He has been passing the tests as we’ve gone along, and Sunday will be the next test.”

McCoy has done his homework.

“Now is where it counts,” he said.

Composed whether he’s calling a play in the huddle, facing a blitz or surrounded by cameras at his locker, McCoy insists he’s not feeling any added pressure as he embarks on his second season as a pro. A coach’s son, this is what he’s been groomed to do since he was a kid.

Now is when the fun starts.

“I’ve come a long ways,” McCoy said. “But I’ve still got plenty of work to do, no question. This team is ready to start, ready for the regular season. This is where it starts counting. For us, we’ve put in a lot of hours, a lot of time. We’ve worked hard together, now I think we kind of know some of the things we’re good at, some of the things we’re not as good at. Those things we’ll keep working on. But I think we’re ready to put a plan together and go see what happens.”

Notes: The Browns have some offensive line issues to resolve in the next few days. Starting right tackle Tony Pashos didn’t practice and still has a walking boot on his left foot. Also, Shurmur hasn’t decided whether he’ll start rookie Jason Pinkston at left guard. … TE Ben Watson, LB Chris Gocong and S Usama Young returned to practice on a limited basis. … WR Greg Little was chosen winner of the Maurice Bassett Award, given annually by the media to the top first-year player in training camp. … On Sunday, McCoy will square off with Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton. They played each other in college when McCoy was at Texas and Dalton at TCU. McCoy only remembered a few details of their previous meeting. “They came to us,” McCoy said, “and we beat ‘em pretty bad.”

By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer

BEREA, Ohio (AP) – Colt McCoy wears No. 12. For the Cleveland Browns, he’s also No. 10.

It’s a number they’d like to stay stuck on.

On Sunday against Cincinnati, McCoy will become the 10th different quarterback to start a season opener for the Browns since 1999, an astonishing statistic and perhaps the single biggest reason the franchise has failed miserably during an expansion era of losses. McCoy follows Ty Detmer, Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb, Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn and Jake Delhomme as quarterbacks to begin the year as Cleveland’s starter.

“I hope it stays like this for a while,” McCoy said Wednesday.

In the NFL, quarterback consistency is vital to success. With a revolving door at the game’s most important position, it’s no wonder the Browns have only made the playoffs once and lost at least 10 games nine times in 12 years. Cleveland has been searching for a leader to guide them from the dismal darkness and back to respectability.

McCoy, who showed grit and toughness in eight starts in 2010, just might be the one.

And this season, anyway, he’ll get the chance to succeed or fail.

McCoy’s rise from third-round draft pick to starter happened quickly.

Rewind to last season’s opener. The former Texas star was a raw, out-of-sight, out-of-mind rookie running Cleveland’s scout team in practice. While Delhomme and backup Seneca Wallace took all the snaps, McCoy stood to the side waiting and wondering if his time would ever come.

Buried on the depth chart, McCoy was inactive when the Browns traveled to Tampa Bay in Week 1. But things changed in a hurry. Delhomme severely sprained his ankle against the Buccaneers, Wallace went down with same injury in Week 5, and suddenly McCoy was thrust into a starting role few believed he was ready to handle.

“He was kind of thrown into the fire,” Browns first-year coach Pat Shurmur said.

His personal inferno began in Pittsburgh, where McCoy made his first career start against the Steelers and in front of their Terrible Towel-waving fans. The night before the game, McCoy stood up at a meeting and told his teammates not to worry, he was ready to handle the job.

Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown feared for McCoy.

“I thought, this poor kid,” Brown said. “I hope he’s praying.”

But McCoy proved he belonged, completing 23 of 33 passes for 281 yards despite being sacked five times and pressured numerous others. It was there, at the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers that many of Cleveland’s players became convinced they had found their leader – at last.

“He wasn’t scared,” Brown said. “That’s one of the toughest defenses in the National Football League and he went in there and he held his own. Then we put him in there against New Orleans, New England. Go back to some of the games he played and you look at his aura on the field and his demeanor, you just know that if you surround him with the players that can make plays for him – he’s not going to turn the ball over, he’s going to make the correct reads and the better part is, if he makes those mistakes, he’ll work his tail off to fix it.

“That’s when you know you have a guy.”

Shurmur thinks so, too.

Cleveland’s fifth coach since ’99, Shurmur has been impressed with everything about McCoy. During the labor lockout, it was McCoy who organized practices in Austin, Texas. At those workouts, dubbed “Camp Colts” by his teammates, McCoy and the Browns took their first initial steps in learning Shurmur’s West Coast offense, a passer friendly system the team feels perfectly suits McCoy’s accurate – if not strong – right arm.

McCoy also took it upon himself to visit Brett Favre, hoping a few days in Mississippi picking the brain of the former league MVP would help him better understand the new offense. McCoy came to camp prepared and then played extremely well in Cleveland’s three exhibition games.

“He basically did what we wanted and now the next step is to do it for 60 minutes in a regular-season game,” Shurmur said. “He has been passing the tests as we’ve gone along, and Sunday will be the next test.”

McCoy has done his homework.

“Now is where it counts,” he said.

Composed whether he’s calling a play in the huddle, facing a blitz or surrounded by cameras at his locker, McCoy insists he’s not feeling any added pressure as he embarks on his second season as a pro. A coach’s son, this is what he’s been groomed to do since he was a kid.

Now is when the fun starts.

“I’ve come a long ways,” McCoy said. “But I’ve still got plenty of work to do, no question. This team is ready to start, ready for the regular season. This is where it starts counting. For us, we’ve put in a lot of hours, a lot of time. We’ve worked hard together, now I think we kind of know some of the things we’re good at, some of the things we’re not as good at. Those things we’ll keep working on. But I think we’re ready to put a plan together and go see what happens.”

Notes: The Browns have some offensive line issues to resolve in the next few days. Starting right tackle Tony Pashos didn’t practice and still has a walking boot on his left foot. Also, Shurmur hasn’t decided whether he’ll start rookie Jason Pinkston at left guard. … TE Ben Watson, LB Chris Gocong and S Usama Young returned to practice on a limited basis. … WR Greg Little was chosen winner of the Maurice Bassett Award, given annually by the media to the top first-year player in training camp. … On Sunday, McCoy will square off with Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton. They played each other in college when McCoy was at Texas and Dalton at TCU. McCoy only remembered a few details of their previous meeting. “They came to us,” McCoy said, “and we beat ‘em pretty bad.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.