There's a tired old saying in the NFL: the most popular player in the stadium is the backup quarterback. And that certainly holds true for the Cleveland Browns, who traded back into the first round of the 2007 draft to save Brady Quinn further embarrassment as he fidgeted uncomfortably in the Aaron Rodgers Memorial Green Room. Quinn would subsequently hold out, miss part of training camp, and it probably kept him from winning the starting gig. Instead, Charlie Frye's Browns career lasted roughly 15 minutes into the Week 1 Steelers game, and Derek Anderson would get his chance. As it turns out, he ran with it.
Almost a year later, Anderson is firmly entrenched as the starter, but a mild concussion against the Giants last week put him on the shelf for yesterday's Lions game. This would be Quinn's opportunity to prove he was a legit NFL starter.
If Browns fans wanted evidence that quarterback Brady Quinn is ready to start in the NFL, they'll have to wait.Well, in one sense nothing did change: the offense continued to sputter in the preseason. Some of that has to do with injuries -- Braylon Edwards, Jamal Lewis and Anderson were all out with various ailments -- but some of it is also execution. There's no reason to think the Browns shouldn't be better than the team that won 10 times last season, but so far, it hasn't happened.
In a little more than two quarters, Quinn played inconsistently, had his share of missed throws and could only drive the Browns to two field goals in his first pro start, a 26-6 loss to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Saturday.
''I'm disappointed. I didn't throw as well as I liked today and it didn't go as well as I would have liked,'' he said. ''My role is to jump in and make it as if nothing's changed. That's something I'm going to have to do a better job of as this year goes along.''
Luckily, they have a really easy schedule to start '08.
