Browns Should Bench Brandon McDonald Every Week

In the wake of the Browns' demoralizing loss to the Broncos nearly two weeks ago, cornerback Brandon McDonald, who played a big part in the outcome, looked to be headed to the bench.

Well, when Cleveland took the field on Monday night in Buffalo, Travis Daniels, acquired during training camp from the Dolphins, took the field while McDonald watched from the sidelines. It didn't last long -- one play, in fact -- before McDonald returned, and the embattled cornerback went on to have arguably the best game of his career.

He intercepted Trent Edwards in the first quarter (turns out, Edwards was in a very giving mood on Monday, but, hey, it still counts), and made several huge plays in the second half. The lesson: sometimes losing your job is a good thing (J.P. Losman surely disagrees):

''I'm preparing more than I've ever prepared,'' McDonald said last week. ''I'm hungry to get back to what I've been known to do. Obviously, I'm frustrated by the situation, the game I had [against Denver], but it's in the past.

''I don't really need a lot of people to tell me what I need to do or try to talk to me because they think I'm down. I'm really not. I'm ready to go out here Monday night and show the world what I can do. It's definitely not going to be like it was last week.''

Quite prophetic, although McDonald might want to temper the ''I'm hungry to get back to what I've been known to do" talk since that conjures some pretty gruesome images for Browns fans. Whatever, McDonald's performance means cornerback is one less thing Crennel has to worry about, at least for now.

The defense could still stand a lesson on proper tackling techniques, and Braylon Edwards continues to drop passes like it's a good thing. But the running game is intact and Brady Quinn is now the starting quarterback. Next stop: playoffs, naturally.