BEREA, Ohio — Though two of his star players got hurt, Browns coach Pat Shurmur defended playing his regulars late in a blowout loss in Denver.

Shurmur said he was just trying to win when prized rookies Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden were injured in the second half of the 34-12 loss.

“What do we do, just stop playing?” Shurmur said Monday. “So you just run the ball and get out of there, warm up the buses? Is that what? We’re trying to do what we can to move the football. At that time it was a three-score game. Typically that means throw it.”

Facing a defense that knew he had to pass, backup Colt McCoy was sacked four times during his brief relief appearance for Weeden.

“I was just trying to not get knocked out,” said McCoy, whose 2011 season ended when he sustained a concussion in Pittsburgh. He hadn’t thrown a pass since then in a regular-season game until a wobbly Weeden went out Sunday.

“We were pretty far behind at that point when I got in, so I assumed we would start throwing,” McCoy said. “It took a couple series getting used to the pocket — hadn’t had any reps, hadn’t sat back there in a while — so getting a feel for how those guys were playing, I maybe missed a couple throws early.

“A couple times I just threw the ball in the dirt to let those guys (teammates) rest. We were throwing the ball down the field and those guys were tired.”

Shurmur said he was unaware of McCoy’s comments. He did know about kick returner Josh Cribbs’ profane postgame tweet to fans and did not approve.

“That’s not acceptable,” Shurmur said. “I don’t like that and he shouldn’t do that.”

Bitter fans have questioned Shurmur’s decisions all year. Their latest outburst came after Weeden was hurt on a third-quarter sack and Richardson went down when McCoy rolled up on the back of his leg after being hit on Cleveland’s second-to-last offensive play.

“We don’t want to get anybody hurt,” Shurmur. “Anybody on the field is exposed to injury.”

Shurmur remains hopeful Weeden and Richardson can play in Pittsburgh on Sunday.