If at any point last week you sat around thinking Brady Quinn would be making his first NFL start against the Bengals in a must win game, you my friend are a fool.
According to general manager Phil Savage, the thought was completely spurious, even though Jim Brown, the Browns executive adviser, did everything but put out a bounty on Derek Anderson last week.
''I've talked to people around the league, people who have been in this business for a long time, and you don't go blowing things up after a couple games,'' Savage said. ''You're not going to be successful in this league doing that.
''It's not been any thought of changing quarterbacks, changing the coach, or any of that. That's not the thing to do at this juncture of the season. You've got to give the people a chance to pull themselves out of the situation. We all put ourselves in this spot and we're the ones who have got to pull us out of it.''
As Marla Ridenour of the Beacon Journal points out, this whole statement is ironic since the Browns, just a season ago, traded Charlie Frye to Seattle after Week 1, the only time a starting quarterback has been traded after the first week in the history of the NFL.
Also, this statement seems a little out of place since the Browns head coach Romeo Crennel said before the weekend that he was giving Quinn more reps before the showdown of 0-3 teams.
I still think starting Brady in weeks to come is an extremely probable possibility. Anderson is second to last in the league in quarterback rating (only ahead of Tyler Thigpen) and has thrown as many interceptions, 6, as anyone in the league through four games.
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With a bye week looming, the Browns will have plenty of time to prepare themselves with the best possible player behind center, especially since they will be facing the third best defense in the league next Monday night in the Giants. The road sure doesn't look like it's getting any easier for the Browns, and their front office looks as confused as the players on the field. Hey, at least you aren't to the point where your fans are trying to change teams. That can't be a good thing.
