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Troy Aikman, Jimmy Johnson say Crennel should let rookie play
Published on Sunday, Sep 09, 2007
''I'd start him tomorrow,'' Johnson said.
The question: What should Browns coach Romeo Crennel do with Brady Quinn, the 22nd overall pick from Notre Dame? Despite Quinn's 11-day holdout that cost him 16 training-camp practices, three network football analysts spoke in agreement last week.
Start Quinn now, said Fox's Aikman and Johnson and ESPN's Ron Jaworski.
That's not what Crennel intends to do today as the Browns host the Pittsburgh Steelers. He'll go with Charlie Frye, who nearly beat the Steelers last year. Victimized by dropped passes, the Browns surrendered a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead and lost 24-20.
Crennel has been silent on whether Quinn or Derek Anderson, who has made only three career starts, will be his No. 2 quarterback.
General Manager Phil Savage wondered whether it was wise to throw Quinn to the wolves against some of the league's top defenses in the season's first five weeks. Johnson, the former Cowboys coach, doesn't care about that.
''They're going to struggle with whoever because their schedule the first six or seven weeks is brutal,'' Johnson said during a conference call. ''A lot of the thinking has been, 'Let's protect him during this brutal part of the schedule and bring him in after he's been on the sidelines watching for a while.'
''If he does that, somebody else is going to be coaching him. If I'm his head coach and I want to continue to be his head coach, I'm going to put him in there and let him go through those struggles and maybe we'll have some improvement.''
Aikman, who led Dallas to three Super Bowl wins, started from Day One in 1989. He admitted his first season was frustrating.
''I was 0-11 as a starter my rookie year, and there was more than one game I felt I'd played well enough for my team to win and we didn't win,'' Aikman said. ''That becomes very demoralizing.
''It's important that you monitor a young quarterback, and you don't let him lose his confidence. But then if you felt like this is a guy who is somewhat fragile, I don't know that you want to draft him, anyway. I agree with Jimmy.''
Aikman saw only one point Crennel could be making by sitting Quinn today.
''The only reason I would say in this particular situation that you wouldn't play Brady Quinn is because he was a holdout; he missed a lot of training camp and maybe you want to send the proper message to the rest of the team. Other than that, then I'd say you play him,'' Aikman said.
''Even if he's not playing because he was a holdout during training camp, you've got to get him in there awfully soon. You learn a little bit on the sideline, but until you actually get out there . . . I don't know how good Cleveland's going to be ultimately. Why not let the guy get out there and learn while the team's struggling as well?''
Former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski, who joins ESPN's Monday Night Football crew, said he has watched every ball Quinn threw in his 49 games (and 46 starts) at Notre Dame.
''I had a pretty good feeling that he could handle the nuances of defense you will see in the NFL week in and week out,'' Jaworski said. ''He reads coverage quickly, gets the ball out of his hands. He's not a guy who drops back and stands there and waits. He was a good anticipation thrower.
''To me, Brady Quinn projected as a guy who could play earlier in his career. As I look at the situation in Cleveland, it's a team that's two or three years away from being a real Super Bowl contender. I think you want to get the young quarterback out there ASAP and let him get the experience and get his bumps and bruises early in his career. I really felt Brady Quinn should start from Day One.''
Phil Simms and hall of famer Dan Marino, former quarterbacks with the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins, respectively, who now work for CBS, were less adamant about playing Quinn right away.
''Charlie Frye has to do two things: He's got to play really well and the team will have to win,'' Simms said. ''Otherwise, Brady Quinn is playing quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. It might be week four or five, it might be week 10. Both those things have to happen to keep Brady Quinn out of the lineup.''
Marino seemed lukewarm on Quinn, calling him ''a good talent, a kid who over time is going to have an opportunity to be successful in this league.'' He said Crennel will have to evaluate the situation on a weekly basis to determine whether Frye is putting up enough points to give the team a chance to win while also monitoring Quinn's progress.
Giving Romeo credit
If new Steelers coach Mike Tomlin dominates the Browns the way ex-coach Bill Cowher did, Crennel will have had a hand in that.
In 2000, when Tomlin was coaching defensive backs at the University of Cincinnati, he spent the summer as a defensive intern with the Browns. Chris Palmer was the coach, but Tomlin worked more closely with Crennel because he was the defensive coordinator.
''It was an awesome experience for me,'' Tomlin said. ''I was coaching college football, and I was enjoying that. I wasn't sure I wanted to coach in the NFL. I came away with an appreciation for the NFL game and a desire to be a part of it. Romeo was very good to me. All those guys were, but particularly Romeo in terms of whetting my appetite for this league.''
Crennel assigned Tomlin to scout future preseason opponents
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