BEREA, Ohio _ It would be easy for a player in Josh McCown's situation to sulk.
He was the Browns' starting quarterback for eight games last season until a broken collarbone sidelined him for the year in late November. Despite a 1-7 record, he played well, completing 63.7 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions and posting a rating of 93.3.
Yet he received just a few series with the first-team offense this offseason before free-agent acquisition Robert Griffin III was named the starting quarterback Monday.
McCown, though, continued to show why he's the ultimate teammate and endorsed coach Hue Jackson's decision to start Griffin.
"Obviously, as a competitor, you want to play, and you want to be the guy. But I understood kind of the direction we were going, and so [I'm] excited for our team," McCown said. "I've been on both ends of it, and when the quarterback competitions drag out through training camp, I don't know if you're any better off because then you have two guys that have kind of had half reps. It's great that we know who it is moving forward. We're behind that guy and our team can rally around that guy and we can move forward accordingly. And Robert's certainly playing at a high level right now.
"The last five, six days of camp he really settled in, and he's starting to stack one day after the next of good days where he's just running the team and doing the right thing with the football and throwing the ball accurately, just everything you expect. As a member of this team, that's encouraging because you want that out of your top quarterback."
The Browns value McCown, 37, partly because he's the perfect mentor and the epitome of professionalism. They're not the only ones who like him.
The Dallas Cowboys expressed interest last week in trading for McCown, but a deal has yet to pan out.
"It's quiet in that regard," McCown said of trade talks. "If that happens, it happens, but my focus is here and doing everything I can to help this team. I'm having a blast at this camp. It's been one of my more fun camps so far, just being around these guys, and I look forward to hopefully that continuing."
