Shurmur: Wallace Likely to Start Against Ravens, Notes on TE Jordan Cameron

Cleveland Browns head coach Pat Shurmur talked with the media earlier today, and while he said that quarterback Seneca Wallace would likely start this week against the Baltimore Ravens again, he did not rule out Colt McCoy. McCoy was not able to take part in practice Tuesday because he has not been medically cleared to practice.

The Browns also officially placed tight end Alex Smith and linebacker Titus Brown on the injured reserve, replacing them with tight end Dan Gronkowski (yes, he's related to the other Gronkowski's) and linebacker Brian Smith (from the preseason). I have highlighted some of what Shurmur said in his press conference after the jump, including how tight end Jordan Cameron looked this past week. [Read full press conference transcript here]

(On what the quarterback status is)- "Seneca (Wallace) right now will take the reps and Colt McCoy is making progress. It’s too early to tell whether he’ll be available this week. There are a lot of steps he has to go through before he’s ready to play."

(On if he can say McCoy is still suffering from symptoms from the concussion)- "I don’t know the wording of it. He was here, he had treatment, he went to meetings and then he won’t be at practice. Does that help? I’m not trying to hide anything. He was here, he went through meetings and this was the first time he’s gone through meetings in awhile so he’s making progress."

(On if McCoy will be here all day but just not out at practice)- "He’s not going to be here. After meetings he’ll be going home."

(On playing Baltimore recently and how that changes the dynamics of the game)- "It happens quite frequently. It has happened other places I’ve been where you play a team within maybe three weeks or a month. The big bulk of the preparation you’ve done, but teams change things the second you play each other so we’re aware of what they may do differently. I’m sure they’re going to have a few surprises for us like we will for them. But, generally how they line up, philosophically how they like to play and then we all kind of divulge to one another how we handle matchups, but things could change. We have a different quarterback playing and they have a couple different players involved in the game. Ray Lewis didn’t play the last time we played them so he’ll more than likely be in the lineup. There are some differences, but it’s two teams going at one another that basically know each other pretty well."

(On Jordan Norwood’s upside and his future with the team)- "I think he’s showed up extremely well. He’s steadily made more and more plays as the year has gone on. I think he definitely has a future with us."

(On the linebacker core being very active against Arizona)- "That group played pretty well and I think Chris Gocong showed up well again. Kaluka (Maiava) makes a lot of plays. It’s rare when D’Qwell (Jackson) isn’t our leading tackler. That’s a good group and we got good production from them this past week and really the whole season. I think that crew has done a fine job."

(On if Jordan Cameron played cautiously and if he is up to NFL game speed)- "No I don’t think he played cautiously. He was in there this past week by design because Ben (Watson) was down. Now with Alex out, he’ll even play more this week. I don’t think he was cautious. He did some good things. I think much like any player now he was in a real regular season game and the speed is different than some of the preseason action he saw. I anticipate he’d do even better this week."

(On if Cameron needs to play more physically on offense because he got drive back after making a catch last week)- "I think the play you’re talking about he caught the ball running to the flat and the player hit him before he can get his shoulders turned. That happens to a lot of guys. I think he’d be the first one tell you that as he plays through the season and football is a game you’ve got to practice to get better at. I see him getting better in each practice. The game competition will speed that up."

(On Joshua Cribbs’ injury status)- "He was out there this morning and he’s going to practice today. He’ll play."