| | By John Clayton
ESPN.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Last year, Peyton Manning was the toast of Champaign, Ill.
Watching him execute during an offseason scrimmage last year against the Rams gave Colts president Bill Polian and coach Jim Mora champagne wishes and caviar dreams.
|  | | Tim Couch hopes to get a thumb's up for his play as a second-year starter. |
Tim Couch tried to be this year's Peyton Manning during Saturday's scrimmage against the Colts in Columbus. Champagne wasn't popping. While Manning was last season's sophomore sensation at quarterback, Couch doesn't generate the same buzz.
Manning's career sprouted thanks, in part, to the offensive talent around him. Cleveland's "Couch potatoes" will need more time and experience for Couch's career to blossom.
"The situations are kinda different," Manning said. "Everybody is going to say that Tim's got to do what the Colts did the second year. It's not the same. First of all, they don't have Edgerrin James for one thing. Errict Rhett is going to help, but Edgerrin played better than anybody thought he would. Marvin Harrison had a breakout year. We had the same line coming back."
The Browns' offense is better, but not to the degree of the Colts. Browns linebackers couldn't cover James' speed on downfield passing drills. Harrison's shiftiness baffled Browns cornerbacks. Couch counters with less speedy backs, starting receivers in their second years and the next group being rookies.
Couch's learning curve also isn't matching Manning's. Eleven consecutive days of double practice session has fatigued his arm. At times Saturday, he struggled by either holding on to the ball too long or allowing time for a defender to get a bead on the direction of his pass.
"Peyton and I talked about staying patient with things," Couch said. "It's not going to happen overnight. It takes time getting some players in there around you to give you some help. It's a process."
Couch admits that the process can get frustrating. He's still learning how to do little things better. Coach Chris Palmer doesn't want Couch or his offense to endure another 56-sack season. "I need to make better decisions with the ball and know when to get rid of it," Couch said.
Palmer explains that Couch, who turned pro as an underclassman, is one year behind a second-year Manning, who stayed in school through his senior season. Despite that, Palmer said Couch will have a great season, but that won't come until his young receivers mature.
What is clear is that Couch is a young leader who has some fun. A fight broke out downfield because of some physical play in the secondary. Couch ran down field to help his teammates. Instead of grabbing a 180-pound defensive back, Couch, who's bulked up to 235 pounds of muscle, went for 286-pound defensive lineman Chukie Nwokorie.
"He's a guy I'd go into a fight to help," Browns receiver Kevin Johnson said.
But in some ways, it's a lot easier being Couch than Manning. The Browns are an expansion team coming off a 2-14 season. A four-game improvement would be a major step. For Manning, the 13-3 season of last year has Colts fans expecting perfection. A year ago, critics wondered if Manning could win two games a row.
No less than a Super Bowl this year will have those same critics wondering why he can't win "The Big One."
"How often does anybody go 13-3?" Manning asked. "I have to tell our fans that 9-7 is still pretty good. All you want to do is get into the playoffs. Last year, we got on a roll. We beat the Jets up there, but we shouldn't have won that game. Things were going our way the majority of the season."
Manning also has to calm his own emotions. A perfectionist can't be perfect all the time, and Manning knows he's still only a third-year quarterback.
"Sometimes I make a mistake and I say, 'Golly, Peyton, why did you do that? You are a better player than that," Manning said. "I've got to realize that I'm still learning and I've got to learn from it. If things don't go perfect, I can't beat myself up for it."
Because Manning loves spending time talking to quarterbacks -- young and old -- he learned from Steve Young that the game didn't "slow down" for him to be more efficient until his 10th season. During their visits, Manning talked to Couch about how the game slows down as quarterbacks get older and they see more.
"The game will slow down for Tim more this year and he will have a chance to be more sure of himself," Manning said. "Itıs more fun to play quarterback when that happens."
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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