Motormouth wide receiver

Hyperbole, thy name is Dwayne Bowe.

The Browns’ wide receiver just does not know how or when to keep his mouth shut.

Here is his latest venture into Fantasyland when speaking about his new quarterback, Josh McCown, the poster boy for itinerant (i.e. journeyman) National Football League quarterbacks:

“He’s showing all the potential of being a top-five quarterback,” Bowe told reporters Thursday after the first training camp practice. Yes he did. He really said that. And that was after just one practice. One workout and he’s Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger all rolled up into one.

I know, I know. He said potential. But why even go there for someone whose only dalliance with greatness came in a five-game span a few years ago in Chicago when Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was injured.

Still, Bowe plodded on. “. . . I see him as one of the best I have (played with),” he continued. Yikes! “He’s making great throws, smart throws and he’s mobile in the pocket, more than people think. I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people.”

All these conclusions reached after just one workout with no one applying meaningful pressure on the 36-year-old quarterback, who underwhelmed 10 of 11 opponents last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

And then it got better, if that was possible.

“Oh my God, we’re going to be sleepers,” gushed Bowe, who is coming off a season during which he grabbed zero passes for touchdowns for the Kansas City Chiefs. He then turned the mirror on himself.

“Look at my numbers last year and then look at my years four years prior to that,” he said. “I led the league (15 receiving scores in 2010). It’s not about what you did last year. It’s about what you’re doing now.”

Funny, I always thought it’s about what have you done for me lately that mattered. Not according to Bowe, who hasn’t done anything lately except quickly become one of the best quote machines the Browns have had in years.

Need a quote? Where’s Dwayne Bowe?

He even had thoughts about Terrelle Pryor, trying to sustain his NFL career by switching from quarterback to wide receiver. “I have never seen a quarterback transition to receiver in two practices and do as good as he did,” he said. “Ever. . . . He’s going to be really, really good.”

The prism through which Bowe looks seems to have taken on a glow that has a tendency to exaggerate things. Nothing wrong with being optimistic, but this kind of optimism seems to have a disconnect with reality.

It might take a while, but the more he opens his mouth, the more fans will realize he sure talks a good game before realizing they should start taking his thoughts with substantial grains of salt.

Maybe when they start playing games, when McCown starts feeling the pressure and heat from opposing pass rushers, when Pryor faces defensive backs determined to shut him down and when the 30-year-old Bowe realizes he’s not as young as he used to be, his tune will change.

Until then, enjoy the melody.