BEREA, Ohio (AP) -During a break in the first half of Sunday’s season opener, the statistics for Cleveland’s starting quarterback flashed across the stadium’s giant scoreboard.
“Brady Anderson” was having a mediocre day.
So was Brady Quinn.
Of course, the Anderson reference was a typo and unintended nod to Derek Anderson, the former Browns starter beaten out by Quinn in their long competition – a close battle coach Eric Mangini ended last week but kept a secret until an hour before kickoff.
Quinn is Mangini’s choice. But is he the right one?
It’s too early to know.
In making his fourth career NFL start, Quinn didn’t end Cleveland’s quarterback dilemma with an unimpressive, uneven performance in a 34-20 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, who hardly seemed fazed by not knowing which Cleveland quarterback they would have to stop until taking the field.
but Quinn padded his stats in the fourth quarter after the Vikings had built a 21-point lead and pulled some of their defensive starters.
Quinn entered the fourth quarter with just 60 passing yards. He picked up 88 on a late, meaningless drive he finished off by throwing a 26-yard TD pass to his favorite target, tight end Robert Royal, who finished with four catches for 60 yards.
The score came with 28 seconds left and ended Cleveland’s six-game drought without an offensive TD. However, few Browns fans saw it because the crowd of 70,560 had dwindled to just a few thousand die-hards by the time Quinn found the end zone.
If not for Quinn’s final flurry, he was 15-for-28 for 117 yards and a 49.3 rating.
Although the outing wasn’t stellar, Mangini found enough positives to justify his pick of Quinn.
“There were a lot of things Brady did that I liked,” said Mangini, who pointed out Quinn’s decision-making at the line of scrimmage.
As for Quinn’s passing, Mangini gave his QB a passing grade: C.
“There were some throws I really liked and I’m sure he really liked and some that I think that we can continue to improve on,” Mangini said.
eland.
“What I’m looking for – what I’m looking for from the group – is for him to be able to identify those areas that need to be improved and then going out, working on it and seeing that improvement,” Mangini said. “Anytime you have younger players there are going to be some things you have to work through and keep improving. Brady will continue to grow.”
Quinn rushed some throws and took too long on others. His footwork in the pocket wasn’t always solid, and he rarely stretched Minnesota’s secondary with deep passes. But Mangini praised the former first-round pick’s composure against the latest edition of the Purple People Eaters.
“For an opening game, I thought he showed a lot of poise and he gave us a chance on some plays that we wouldn’t have had a chance on,” Mangini said. “He made some adjustments that not only showed a lot of poise but a lot of awareness. That’s a pretty formidable group in terms of pass rushers.”
One of the biggest criticisms of Quinn is his perceived lack of arm strength. He can’t whip it downfield with the velocity of Anderson, but Quinn can throw it as far as he needs to. Trouble is, opposing defense won’t respect his arm if he doesn’t let it fly.
ress – that he didn’t re-establish himself inbounds before making the catch.
It was yet another near miss for the Quinn-to-Edwards connection, which may need time to develop the kind of chemistry Anderson enjoyed with Cleveland’s top playmaker. Anderson and Edwards combined for 16 TDs in 2007.
On Sunday, Edwards was targeted five times by Quinn but had only one catch for 12 yards.
Quinn may not have posted splashy stats, but he did enough to impress the Vikings, who figured the Browns would try to run the ball more than they did.
“They did everything we saw on film,” cornerback Antoine Winfield said. “I think they would have been a little different if they had put Anderson in – a little more experience. With Brady Quinn, it was surprising because they ran all the same stuff they ran in preseason so it was a pretty easy game for us on the back end.”
As for Quinn, Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards believes Cleveland’s quarterback will have better days – plenty of them.
“You see Brady, when they gave him time to throw the ball yesterday, he was putting the ball on the money where it needed to be,” Edwards said. “If he gets the time that he needs and recovers a little bit quicker, he’s definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with in this league.”
—
AP Sports Writer Jon Krawczynski in Eden Prairie, Minn., contributed to this report.
Add A Comment