CLEVELAND (92.3 The Fan) – Brandon Weeden is the Browns starter.

That mystery was solved months ago but finally made official on Aug. 6.

The next question is who’s going to back Weeden up?

Colt McCoy was the first off the bench and played the entire second quarter Friday night at Ford Field.

Does he have a legitimate shot to beat out 10-year veteran Seneca Wallace?

Or are the Browns just showcasing him in the hopes he’ll catch someones eye around the league?

Regardless of which scenario plays out, it was a solid audition for McCoy – albeit against the Lions second team defense.

McCoy and coach Pat Shurmur have spent much of the offseason talking about his improvement within the offense. To a degree it showed in Detroit as he completed 6-of-8 passes for 88 yards and a finished with a quarterback rating of 110.4.

“Colt played fairly well,” Shurmur said. “So did Seneca [Wallace] and so did Thad [Lewis]. I think all of those guys when they had their opportunity, they ended up moving us. All of the quarterbacks moved the ball, just the guys in the second half scored more points.”

Despite a bevy of offensive penalties and just coming away with 3 points in the quarter, McCoy did move the offense and showed signs of progression under center.

“It was really hard because I felt like we were in 1st and 20 like 2 or 3 times,” McCoy said. “We got some penalties, some holding calls, and it’s really hard to move the ball when you get into those situations.

“That’s hard to do when you kick yourself in the foot like that.”

McCoy looked more aggressive throwing 3 passes down field – one a 42-yard strike to tight end Jordan Cameron.

“I run what’s called,” McCoy said. “I’m never opposed to throwing it down the field. I thought Jordan made a nice play.”

He also picked up 20 yards on a run for a first down – it was the longest run of the night for the offense which clearly has work to do – all around.

As for Wallace, he finished 7-of-13 for 86 yards and a 100.2 quarterback rating in the third quarter.

He threw the only touchdown of the game – a 12 yard lob on a scramble to Brad Smelley.

Lewis played well in clean up duty and completed the comeback with 90 yards through the air on 5-of-8 passing. His quarterback rating was 101.0 as he and Wallace helped outscore the Lions 16-3 in the second half to pull off the 19-17 victory.

“It was a good test for us,” McCoy said. I think offensively, you see we’ve got a lot of work to do still.”

Lewis looked poised and comfortable. Should he continue to play well this preseason, it might make parting ways with McCoy easier.

After 4 players went down in Detroit with injuries, it’s understandable why the team though is in no hurry to get rid of Wallace or McCoy.

They might need them.

But lets hope not.

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