For Starters, It’s Holcomb

Kelly Holcomb will open the season as the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns after beating out Tim Couch.

Holcomb, a career backup, had been locked in a heated competition with Couch, a four-year starter once called one of the franchise’s “cornerstones,� who will make $6.2 million this season.

But Coach Butch Davis ended months of debate Sunday by announcing that Holcomb will be his starter when the Browns open the regular season Sept. 7 against Indianapolis.

“It’s a gut feeling,� Davis said. “I believe Kelly Holcomb should be given the opportunity to start.�

Holcomb has outplayed Couch in the Browns’ two exhibition games, completing 14 of 21 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns.

The 30-year-old Holcomb may have confirmed what Davis had been planning all along with an impressive performance in the first half Friday night against Green Bay.

Holcomb led the Browns on touchdown drives on their first two possessions. For the game, he completed seven of 10 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

Couch, the former No. 1 overall draft pick, has completed eight of 15 for 68 yards in the two exhibitions.

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Defensive tackle Brandon Noble of the Washington Redskins, who signed a four-year, $7-million contract after leaving Dallas as a free agent during the off-season, is out for the season because of a major knee injury.

Noble tore three ligaments in his left knee and dislocated the kneecap when three players fell on him during a running play in the first quarter of Saturday night’s 20-13 exhibition loss to the New England Patriots.

He faces one or two surgeries and a full year of rehabilitation for an injury that could end his career.

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Fullback Donnel Thompson of the Indianapolis Colts will sit out the season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He was injured Friday night while covering a punt early in the second quarter of the Colts’ 21-7 exhibition victory over the Seattle Seahawks.... Free-agent defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson signed a four-year deal with the Detroit Lions. The Washington Redskins cut him on the second day of training camp after he refused to accept a pay cut.