Colt McCoy will start Thursday's preseason finale for the Cleveland Browns, head coach Pat Shurmur told reporters on Tuesday.

This isn't to say McCoy has a chance to replace Brandon Weeden as the starter, even though he has outplayed the rookie first-round pick in the preseason. Weeden isn't playing the final preseason game, but Shurmur said his quarterback is very prepared for the season opener against the Eagles. "He's had an outstanding offseason," Shurmur said of Weeden.

The bigger question is what are the Browns' intentions by doing this. Is this another indication that he's leading the backup quarterback race? Or are the Browns thinking this might further increase McCoy's trade value? There has been speculation that Green Bay is interested in McCoy. I see it as a reward for McCoy's great preseason. He has completed 75 percent of his passes for a rating of 119.1.

Naming McCoy as the starter comes two days after Shurmur's glowing comments about McCoy.

"I think he's done an outstanding job here in training camp," Shurmur said. "I'm very pleased with where he's at. I gained an even greater appreciation of him, the way he's competed, the way he's handled the situation, let's just call it that."

Shurmur added, "I'm very impressed with how he's doing. I think that's good for our team. He understands one of the primary things you need to understand as a backup at this point -- to be ready to play -- because you're (an) ankle injury from being in there, and he's been on both sides of that coin and so he understands it."

Shurmur said Seneca Wallace and Thad Lewis will also play Thursday night.