Brady Quinn back as Browns’ QB – does it matter?
The Cleveland Browns might be the most wishy-washy organization in the NFL. Already a few front office types have been let go under unusual circumstances, including GM George Kokonis. It appears Coach Eric Mangini is safe for the rest of the season, but he’s probably going to lose a lot of control.
Thus Wednesday’s decision by Mangini to bring back Brady Quinn as the Browns’ starting QB could be one of the last major decisions he makes. Quinn started the first three games of the season before being replaced by Derek Anderson. Quinn’s last start was against the Ravens in Week 3, and he was benched after falling behind 20-0 in the first half – he threw just one TD and three picks in the first 10 quarters of the season.
Anderson has been worse, frankly, with a 42.9 completion percentage, two touchdowns and nine interceptions (a league-worst 36.2 rating). He did start in the Browns’ lone win, a 6-3 decision at Buffalo.
How bad has Anderson been this year? He completed 66 of 154 passes. Quinn has exactly one-half the pass attempts — 77. At his completion rate of 59.7 percent, Quinn would be 92 of 154. That’s 26 more completions than Anderson in the same number of attempts.
This decision is almost unfair to Quinn in a way, as he has to get back in the saddle against that same Baltimore team he was pulled against and with arguably the worst skill position players in the league around him. The Browns are 10.5-point underdogs on WagerWeb.com for next Monday’s game.
Mangini said he would like to stick with Quinn, who is 1-6 all-time as a starter, for the remainder of the season. The coach has been impressed with Quinn’s work ethic since being demoted.
“He’s had good weeks of practice,” Mangini said. “He’s worked hard since the first transition was made. I look forward to him taking advantage of this opportunity and helping us improve.”
Mangini said he spoke with both Quinn and Anderson before announcing the decision.
“I like to think that throughout the course of the season, guys continue to improve,” Mangini said. “Brady has had more time in the system and I think he’s done good things in the role he was playing, which is what I asked of him. I think he’s worked at the same level that he worked at as a starter and prior to becoming the starter and to me, that’s the key to any type of improvement.”
This could be Quinn’s last shot to show he’s a starting QB, and it appears Anderson already has lost that chance. Remember when Cleveland seemed to have a quarterback surplus heading into the 2008 season? Unless Quinn shows something he hasn’t so far in his career, the Browns will be back looking for a franchise signal-caller in the 2010 draft.
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