A first for 36-year-old McCown

QB playing at Baltimore for the first time

Right out of the pages of Strange but True, Browns 36-year-old quarterback Josh McCown is about to play in Baltimore for the first time in his career.

The Browns play the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Oct. 11, and to hear Ravens coach John Harbaugh talk about it, his team has been preparing all week to face the Patriots’ Tom Brady at his best — not a journeyman passer with a 1-13 record over his last 14 starts.

McCown, whose NFL path took him from Arizona to Detroit to Oakland to Detroit to Carolina to Chicago and Tampa before finally arriving in Cleveland is 0-3 with the Browns. He took the hit for the 31-10 loss to the Jets in the season opener only because he started it. The score was 0-0 when he was knocked out with a concussion. He was tagged for the loss in San Diego last week despite passing for 356 yards and two touchdowns while posting a passer rating of 119.1.

“I just saw the best of Josh Mc Cown ,” Harbaugh said in a conference call after watching McCown on tape. “He’s got a 98.8 quarterback rating. He’s thrown for almost 400 yards a game at times. He’s making some spectacular throws. He’s really a good athlete. We have Marc Trestman (Ravens offensive coordinator) here. Marc had Josh in Chicago, and Josh obviously had a great year there that year. We know what he’s capable of doing.

“They’ve got tremendous speed really everywhere — receivers, the tight ends are playing well. … The offensive line obviously, can protect him. We understand what they’re capable of with their offense.”

The Browns and Ravens are both 1-3. The loser could all but kiss the season goodbye if the Bengals beat the Seattle Seahawks to climb to 5-0.

McCown, whose pulse never seems to quicken or slacken, knows how much is riding on this game. But his focus isn’t any sharper than it was last week when the Browns were preparing for the San Diego Chargers.

“It’s all relative,” McCown said.” It’s not like you look at the schedule and say, ‘Let’s lose this one and lose this one and then really win that one.’ You want to win every single game.

“If you can go on the road and kind of quiet that crowd and go win the game, it’s a sweeter feeling because of that. I am looking forward to it. I’ve heard great things about playing there and the energy that is at the stadium. I am looking forward to experiencing it.”

The Browns, 1-13 against Ravens teams coached by Harbaugh, have lost seven straight in Baltimore. But the Ravens they will faceisn’t as good as the ones that have routinely frustrated opponents since 2000. Linebacker Ray Lewis, safety Ed Reed and defensive lineman Haloti Ngata are gone. Linebacker Terrelle Suggs is out for the season with an Achilles injury. Defensive end Chris Canty is out with a calf injury.

The Ravens have injury issues on offense, too. Starting wide receiver Steve Smith is listed as doubtful with a back injury. Starting tight end Crocket Gilmore is out with a calf injury.

“I know they’ve talked about Steve Smith potentially being out,” Browns head coach Mike Pettine said. “He’s a guy, knowing him and his history and his mentality, that’s one that I might not believe until the inactives are turned in, knowing him.”

Smith caught five passes for 101 yards against the Browns on Sept. 21 last year in a game won by the Ravens, 23-21. He caught eight passes for 90 yards in the rematch in the season finale.

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