Browns News: Brady’s Back! Rejoice!
On Monday at his weekly press conference, once again dictator head coach Eric Mangini refused to name his starting Quarterback for this week’s Monday Night tilt against the Baltimore Ravens. Oh, that Manginius! He is so coy isn’t he? Its very important to play those cards close to the vest when you are a league-wide joke and 1-7.
Once again, not only does he leave the media guessing, but his two QB’s didn’t even know which way he was going. Brady Quinn, when asked if he was knew what his status for Monday Night, told the media he had “no idea.” Mangini claimed he would tell everyone Wednesday (today) what his plans are. “I haven’t sat down with the quarterbacks about it yet, so that’s part of it. We’ll talk about that in conjunction with our work on the Ravens.”
That’s exactly the way to run your team. Keep the QB’s in the dark when you had a bye week to prepare your chosen guy. It’s not like he hasn’t seen what everyone with two eyes and a brain has – you cannot send Derek Anderson out there again.
So yesterday, ESPN.com reported that Quinn indeed would be taking over for DA at home Monday Night against the Ravens. This comes as a shock to nobody. Not that this will help any, but the time is long overdue to give Brady an extended chance. One thing you can say about him is that he is mentally prepared to take over and treats each week as if he is going to be the starter.
Do I expect any great results? Of course not. With this group of young receivers and a line that is mediocre at best, what really can we expect other than more struggles. Anderson’s big arm has done the Browns no good since Braylon Edwards was shipped to New York. Maybe the only way the offense can move the ball is the dink and dunk that Quinn specializes in coupled with the Wildcat. Who knows.
We don’t really even know if this is true yet or not. You just never really know anything when it comes to the secret world of The Manginius. One thing I can say with conviction – neither of these two QB’s will be on the roster next year, regardless of who the head coach is.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:09 am
One thing I can say with conviction is that your continued statement that Quinn won’t be on the roster next year is without merit whatsoever. It’s totally depended on who is brought in and how he views the roster and draft. We all know it won’t be DA, and nobody including YOU has the prerequisite knowledge to judge BQ’s playing ability based upon 2 1/2 games of work against three of the NFL’s top defenses.
You also told us with conviction that Wedge would be back due to the Dolan’s wallet….on and on and on. Your comment on the Browns QB roster for next year is baseless.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:18 am
NEITHER QUINN OR ANDERSON WILL BE IN A BROWNS UNIFORM NEXT YEAR. OBSERVE AND BOOK IT.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:20 am
I believe that Mangini leaked it to ESPN due to a league mandate. I think keeping the Ravens guessing on our QB created an unfair, competitive advantage.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:23 am
I have a hard time believing BOTH of these stiffs will be gone. I can see at least one hanging as the backup.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:24 am
observe I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO MAKE PROGNOSTICATIONS OF BROWNS PLAYERS BEING ON THE ROSTER. IF you THINK THAT YOU CAN DO IT YOU MUST BOOK IT FIRST AND THEN MAKE FUN OF PEOPLE DOING THE SAME LATER
I do like how Mangini decided he could wait until Wednesday to announce who would be playing … As if the Ravens D was really worrying about who they would be intercepting this week
November 11th, 2009 at 11:25 am
You forgot the OBSERVE part, Isis…
November 11th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Let’s just hope for a good game, try to maintain a positive attitude. Or pray for god to strike the city down to the ground so we don’t have to watch it.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Good piece. It’s hard to believe Mangini learned nothing from his preseason QB competition: all it did was rob Quinn of valuable reps with the first team unit. Now, with a bye week to get our offense on track, Mangini had the QBs splitting reps again with no clear starter. I was thinking that a “football czar” might keep Mangini on as just a head coach, but when he makes head-scratching decisions like this one it makes that a hard case to argue.
Also, had they declared Quinn as the starter sooner, they might’ve drummed up some additional fan support for Monday night. Not that ticket sales should be foremost in the coach’s mind, but it couldn’t hurt his job security to try and make his owner a little money, right?
November 11th, 2009 at 11:31 am
“My boyfriend’s back and your gonna be in trouble…”
/Isis’d
November 11th, 2009 at 11:35 am
@9 Okay I about fell on the floor with that haha
November 11th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Mangini announced it (I saw it on sc)… but he didnt site DAs awful performance as a reason why he got pulled. Seriously, is it too hard for a coach to say “so-and-so is playing awful, so we are putting guy x out there because so-and-so sucks.” Quinn has just done good in practice and all that fun stuff and thats why he gets to start again.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:43 am
I don’t think anyone guaranteed that Wedge would be back. We aren’t really in the business of making guarantees, or at least not with any level of seriousness. I believe it was suggested that an owner such as Dolan might consider keeping a manager around rather than pay him to not work. It was just a potential theory. Suggesting potential theories without locking them down in guarantees actually should contribute to one’s credibility.
We like a lot of different ideas on this website. The authors quite frequently disagree with each other on ideas that get published on the front page.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:44 am
How motivated is Brady Quinn going to be now that he’s been screwed out of over $10 million? My guess is that any motivation he might have will come from the fact that he’s playing for his next contract and cannot wait to get out of Cleveland.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I’m picturing a cartoon, Ray Lewis as a hungry, drooling dog. Two thought balloons above him, one of DA and one with Quinn, both with juicy steaks as their heads.
Wonder if coach will pull Quinn at the half if he is “ineffective.” Groundhog Day, baby!
Only necrophiliacs would even want to watch Monday’s carnage. Hopefully the Cavs are on the tube. Or a riveting documentary on the lifecycle of the fruit fly.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:48 am
One thing I feel relatively confident with Brady Quinn is that he is going to give it his all no matter what. He might end up being a terrible QB, but he seemingly has a great attitude and work ethic. I can’t imagine him giving up or not trying hard. I felt the exact same way about Charlie Frye, BTW.
Their potential ineffectiveness shouldn’t be confused with effort.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:50 am
The reality of Quinn being/not being here next year is that he has 8 games to prove it. He will be here or be traded/cut depending on how he performs. It would be great if the right side of the line could give any Qb some level of protection…..
also, I’m not a huge mangini supporter or anything, but this is a pretty decent read. if he had been this open with the fans, i think public perception would be a lot different.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12493344/qa-with-judge-mangini-talks-jets-browns-belichick
November 11th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Well if Quinn found anything during his stay in Cleveland… it would appear to be Travis Hafner’s ‘doctor.’
Seriously his arms put popeye to shame.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:58 am
You guys can bash Isis’ personality all you want, but you cannot refute what he wrote. He nailed it. Case closed.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
#18…nailed what?
November 11th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
@ Craig,
I didn’t mean to disparage Brady Quinn, as I believe he’s acted like a true professional in a very ugly situation. I have no doubt that he will prepare as best he can and try to win the game.
I was only trying to allude to the fact that it’s hard to be a “company man” when the company has already eliminated any chance you may have at your bonus halfway through the year.
I’ll be watching the Browns on Monday night, hoping they can turn their season around, or at least beat the Ravens. The fans deserve a hard-fought victory more than the clips of the team moving to Maryland back in 96…which I bet our friends at ESPN will show repeatedly…
November 11th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
we better hope the NFL approves this rookie salary scale…otherwise, QBs are going to start pulling an Eli Manning and say “I’m not gonna play for you so don’t draft me” with the Browns cause look how many QBs we have ruined since 99. Not good.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
THAT BRADY QUINN SURE BRINGS HIS LUNCHPAIL TO WORK EVERY DAY JUST LIKE THE HARD BLUE COLLAR WORKERS OF CLEVELAND!!! ONLY IN CLEVELAND WOULD WE HAVE THIS MUCH OF A DREAMBOAT QUARTERBACK HE DESERVES NOTHING LESS THAN 15 YEARS TO PROVE HOW DREAMY AND SUCCESSFUL HE IS AS OUR STARTER!
WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE MORE QBS ON THE ROSTER BESIDES BRADY QUINN!??!?!?!?!?!!?! OMG!!
November 11th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I don’t doubt that both QBs may be gone next year, but I do think Brady has a chance to make an impression–if he gets eight games to do so.
The thing that’s sad is that with good coaching (and a change of scenery) I could see him developing into an NFL QB. Quinn deserves just criticism for mishandling his contract negotiations–he surely contributed to his own poor development with his holdout and missing his chance to win the starting job as a rookie. But he’s been woefully mismanaged by both regimes he’s played under, and that’s a shame–it’s criminal how they’ve refused to work to develop this kid after what they invested to get him in the ‘07 draft.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I agree with Isis in the fact that we can’t say for certain that neither will be back next year. I do think that Brady could be back, I’m praying and hoping they just cut DA, because no one will wanna trade for the guy.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
MY prediction for the game:
Brady Quinn has a significantly higher QB rating than DA….
The Browns have less total yards on offense.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
“I’m praying and hoping they just cut DA, because no one will wanna trade for the guy.”
Only problem with cutting him is that Genius GM Phil Savage guaranteed DA’s roster bonuses in his contract (one of the reasons I contend Savage was one of the all-time worst GMs in NFL history–roster bonuses are a mechanism designed to force a team to make a decision on a player: either pay a large bonus option or cut them loose so they can explore other options. Savage is the only NFL GM I’m aware of to have guaranteed them.)
Since the Browns are on the hook for DA’s contract anyway, the bean counters could make an argument for keeping him as insurance.
One thing working to the Browns’ advantage is the absence of a salary cap next year. Lerner’s not worried about the cash flow involved with dead contracts (is he still paying Chris Palmer?) NFL teams can eat as many contracts as necessary without penalty in the upcoming league year, so at least we’ve got that going for us… which is nice. Big, giant reset button for NFL owners coming this March…
November 11th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
@ Denny, I love when you quote my little sister.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
So since there’s no salary cap, there can’t be a cap hit on DA’s contract. So cutting him loose and ridding his carcass from our bench and locker room wouldn’t really matter to the fans, only to Lerner’s wallet. The Browns are worth over a Billion dollars, think that $7M really matters that much?
November 11th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
@DocZeus: So you mean you think that with Brady they’ll have less than the 157 total yards than we did against GB? I highly HIGHLY doubt that.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Isis, I’ll agree with you that 2.5 games wasn’t enough playing time to get an accurate assessment of Quinn but I will disagree with your statement that Brady had faced three of the top defenses in the league. Denver fits your argument in that they are ranked third in points and yards given up per game. Unfortunately, Minnesota ranks 18th in both categories and the Ravens are 10th and 12th respectively.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
@28 S-Dub: Absolutely right, and I agree. I wasn’t trying to argue counterpoint for keeping him, just to consider the possibility that some in the organization may figure that since they’re paying him regardless (thanks Phil) they may argue to keep him as a backup
November 11th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
The Browns first offensive play Monday should be a hitch and go deep ball.
Even if it’s incomplete, we at least have to make them respect the possibility that we might throw deep.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Is this even fair to Brady? He starts off the season against the Vikings, Broncos and Ravens- All top defenses in the league.
Then DA comes in and plays lousy against everyone including the bad teams.
Now we ask Brady to come back in and play again against the Ravens- the team he was benched against? He needs to get a chance at least one terrible team to consider this to be fair. Don’t be too hard on Brady this week- its not a favorable matchup by any means.
November 11th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
@16 Matt – Thanks for the link. Great article, and it puts things in perspective for fans.
November 11th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
To say or not say who will be on the roster is not worth even arguing about. Frankly, if you don’t like it, don’t read the articles. It is what sports writers right about. Their observations and opinions based on statistics, interviews and other intangibles is their job. To knock one for doing this is ludicrous.
You might as well write e very writer guessing where LBJ or any other impending free agent will go. All signs point to Mr. Lerner keeping Mangini around and unless BQ plays is way into his heart, it is obvious he isn’t there now. I think it is very realistic and justified to guess that he won’t be here. As for DA, I think his fate is already sealed.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:12 am
To say that neither Quinn nor Anderson will be on the roster next year is just plain stupid. You have no idea what the new GM will think or want to do. Maybe he wants to keep one as a backup…I don’t know. There are so many variables. That was the stupidiest thing I’ve read in a long time…BOOK THAT