Derek Anderson stood in the middle of the
media huddle in Cleveland's locker room and then stepped aside for
Brady Quinn.
Perhaps for good.
The mystery surrounding Browns coach Eric Mangini's choice as
his starting quarterback became somewhat clearer on Wednesday when
Quinn and Anderson were forced to answer questions about their
recently completed competition - a battle that carried through
training camp and the exhibition season.
Anderson was asked if it would be difficult to keep the starting
QB a secret until Sunday's kickoff of the season opener against the
Minnesota Vikings.
"No," Anderson said, "because after this next two minutes are
over I'm not going to be talking to you guys. It's pretty easy.
Obviously, the rest of us have to go about our regular preparations
and continue to do what we always do and just not talk to our
families."
By "the rest of us" Anderson seemed to mean the Browns
backups, a group it looks as if he belongs to once again.
Mangini met with his quarterbacks on Tuesday night, told them
who would start and explained the reasons for his decision. He said
both handled the situation with class.
"They both took it exactly the way I expected them to take it -
as pros, as good teammates," Mangini said. "It was really not
surprising."
Quinn has been favored all along to win the starting job, and
although it now appears to be his, the former first-round pick is
playing along with Mangini's wishes to guard his secret and keep
the Vikings guessing.
Quinn confirmed that he and Anderson met with Mangini, but said
they weren't told who would take the season's first snaps from
center.
"He talked to us about it, but he hasn't told us anything about
a final decision for us," Quinn said.
Those seem to be carefully chosen words since Mangini said he
told his quarterbacks which one would open up against Brett Favre
and the Vikings.
Mangini said he did feel the need to make an announcement to
Cleveland's other players.
"I think they'll be able to figure it out," he said.
It seems everyone is figuring it out.
By the time the Browns finished practice, word was beginning to
leak that Quinn, who made three starts last season, was the winner.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer, citing an anonymous league source,
reported Quinn will start the opener.
Even Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens offered Quinn
congratulations on his Twitter page, posting: Congrats 2 Brady
Quinn 4 starting job w/Cleveland Browns!!
Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield shrugged off Mangini's cloak
and dagger routine.
"It doesn't make a difference to me," he said. "I'm going to
go home and watch film on Quinn and Anderson. It might just take me
an extra half-hour at home to watch what they like to do, but nah,
it doesn't bother me. I don't really pay attention to it."
In the past, quarterback controversies have divided teams - even
good ones. The Browns, who collapsed under huge expectations last
season, are hoping to remain united as long as possible.
"We've got to stay together," running back Jamal Lewis said.
"We can't really worry about that or concentrate on that. We have
to concentrate on what we have to do and our job and what we're
trying to accomplish no matter who's in there."
During the 30 minutes of practice open to the media, there was
no way to tell if Quinn or Anderson had taken over Cleveland's
offense.
After stretching, Quinn worked with the running backs and
Anderson threw to the wide receivers. Reporters were asked to leave
before the team began 11-on-11 drills.
Mangini doesn't feel that asking his players to keep the Vikings
- and everyone else - guessing the identity of Cleveland's starter
puts them in a difficult situation.
"I don't think anybody is in an awkward spot of trying to
maintain a competitive advantage," Mangini said. "We all do that,
and that's all of our goals, trying to do everything we need to do
to win the game on Sunday."
The competition between Anderson, a Pro Bowler in 2007, and
Quinn went down to the wire. They finished with similar statistics,
but Quinn may have gotten the nod after completing 11 of 15 passes
and throwing a touchdown in the third exhibition game against
Tennessee.
Mangini kept both players out of last week's preseason finale in
Chicago.
The Browns are the only team in the league that hasn't announced
its Week 1 starting quarterback.
