Josh McCown's Second Showing In Cleveland Was Really Ugly, But He's Still 'Firmly The One'

(CBS) As Chicago football diehards navigate into their annual existential fandom crisis of observing the Jay Cutler quarterbacking roller coaster experience, here's a friendly reminder.

It could be worse.

Your quarterback could be Josh McCown. Remember that name?

Of course you do. McCown had a fleeting run of success in Chicago in 2013, throwing for 1,829 yards and 13 touchdowns against just two interceptions in place of the injured Cutler. His 109.0 quarterback rating led to a fair number of calls for McCown to be Chicago's go-to guy.

Perhaps it's best those calls went unheeded.

After a disastrous 2014 in Tampa Bay, McCown is in Cleveland this season -- and the early returns are somewhat concerning.

In the Browns' 11-10 preseason loss to the Bills on Thursday night, McCown was 7-of-10 for 57 yards and two interceptions. He also took three sacks in the three drives that he led. This was in stark contrast to the preseason opener, when he was 5-of-5 for 33 yards and a score.

McCown wasn't pleased with his performance Thursday, which included a jammed right ring finger that needed an MRI.

"Not good. Not good,'' McCown said, according to Cleveland.com. "Two turnovers. I felt like other than those two plays, I threw the ball well and did the things I wanted to do with the football, but those two plays, you can't have turnovers ... It's obviously not the standard I want to play at.''

McCown is battling Johnny Manziel for the starting gig. Despite Manziel having two solid outings, McCown still has the inside track for the job.

"(He's) firmly the one," Browns coach Mike Pettine said of McCown, according to Cleveland.com. "We'll evaluate both guys. I'm not going to sit here and talk about trying to start up a quarterback controversy."