Mark Curnutte

Cleveland coach Butch Davis had barred Couch from working out at the team's Berea facility and attending minicamp and quarterback school.

Even after signing Garcia, the Browns kept Couch under their thumb. All the while, Couch watched 19 veteran quarterbacks and one rookie (Drew Henson) change teams.

Couch was selected first overall in 1999 by the first-year expansion Browns. He was never as good as fellow 1999 first-round quarterbacks Dojovan McNabb and Daunte Culpepper. But Couch was never as bad as 1999 first-round busts Cade McNown of the Bears and the Bengals' own Akili Smith.

Couch's five-year passer rating is 75.1. He went 22-37 as Cleveland's starter. Look for Couch to sign a one-year deal with Green Bay to back up Brett Favre.

AFC NORTH: In signing Kordell Stewart to back up starter Kyle Boller, the Baltimore Ravens now have the two lowest-rated passers from 2003: Boller, as a rookie, had a 62.4 rating, and Stewart, playing for the Bears, had a 56.8 rating.

The Steelers have quickly earmarked the nearly $4 million in salary cap room saved by releasing linebacker Jason Gildon. The money will go to rookies and possible extensions for linebackers Kendrell Bell and James Farrior and was spent, in part, to sweeten quarterback Tommy Maddox's new deal.

COMEBACK: Carolina linebacker Mark Field, who missed all of the Panthers' 2003 Super Bowl season because of Hodgkin's disease, is expected to return to practice Monday. If he remains healthy, the team anticipates that Fields will start at strong-side linebacker.

FIRST-YEAR BLUES: First-year coaches are expected to make an immediate difference, but often they don't.

In 2003, Dallas' Bill Parcells was the only new coach to post a winning record. Marvin Lewis recovered from a 1-4 start to finish 8-8.

Jacksonville's Jack Del Rio went 5-11 after taking over a 6-10 team. San Francisco's Dennis Erickson went 7-9 after taking over a 10-6 team. Steve Mariucci improved the 3-13 Lions to 5-11.

Two years ago, Jon Gruden and Bill Callahan met in the Super Bowl as first-year coaches, but they happened to take over Super Bowl-ready Tampa Bay and Oakland, respectively, coming off 9-7 and 10-6 seasons.

How much difference do new coaches make? Not as much as they hope or fans might think. Over the last five years, more than twice as many first-year coaches (25) had non-winning records as winning ones (12).

Every new coach in 2004 is taking over a losing team. The best record was the Bears at 7-9. Dick Jauron is out. Lovie Smith is in.

GROOMING VICK: Atlanta first-year offensive coordinator Greg Knapp is starting over in teaching Michael Vick how to play quarterback - primarily by attempting to improve his football and decision-making process.

"I want my completion percentage to be over 60 percent," Vick said when asked for his goals for 2004. "I don't want to be running all day and taking the punishment. It was wear and tear, and we saw what happened last year in the preseason."

NO DEAL: The Cowboys announced that they have ended discussions with Dallas County to build a publicly funded stadium in Fair Park, saying they will focus on other options for the $650 million facility.

Other possible sites include Irving, where Texas Stadium is, Arlington and Grapevine.

MALE BONDING: About 20 Seahawks players recently attended a WNBA game in Seattle - voluntarily.

"We've done some things outside of the practice facility, had some fun," quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. "Guys are golfing together, guys are hanging out, and I think in the end that's something that is good for team chemistry."

---

Written from notes submitted by NFL beat writers.

Return to Bengals front page...