BEREA: Good news: Brady Quinn was referred to by name Thursday.

But the starting quarterback for Saturday's exhibition season opener against Kansas City will be determined by a coin flip between Derek Anderson and Charlie Frye.

No kidding.

Coach Romeo Crennel said before the game he will have one player make the call with the coin in the air, and the winner starts.

The coach quipped that he would do rock-paper-scissors to decide who calls the toss.

''I think that (a flip of the coin) is the fairest way to those guys because no one knows who is going to start ahead of time,'' Crennel said.

Making the two wait is not unusual for Crennel. When Frye was a rookie, he started the third preseason game, but was not told until just before game time.

The coach likes to see how a quarterback reacts in surprise situations.

Frye and Anderson will play the first half, and they will alternate series so each has a chance with the starters and each has a chance with the backups.

''I'm going to make it as equal a competition I can so that when I make the decision as to who the starter is going to be, they'll both have had a good opportunity,'' Crennel said.

Quinn spent his first two days on the practice field running the scout team the unit that pretends to be the opponent.

That's the first time he filled that role since his freshman year at Notre Dame, he said.

He will not play a lot Saturday night, if he plays at all.

''Maybe in the fourth quarter I might give Brady a couple plays,'' Crennel said.

He then pointed out he had called Quinn ''Brady'' and not ''the quarterback,'' his name until he signed his contract.

Quinn, who held out 11 days before signing a contract, accepted the treatment.

''Everyone is busting my chops right now,'' he said.

Starting with the team meeting Wednesday night. Quinn was ordered to sing, and chose a song called Walking in Memphis from a list provided him. But he admitted his voice isn't good, so he was drowned out by boos.

He followed with the Notre Dame fight song.

''But we obviously have a few haters in there some USC guys, some Michigan guys,'' Quinn said. ''That didn't go over well.''

Crennel described Quinn in his first practices as being ''like a young colt that had been tied up in the barn for a while.''

''He was running around excited to throw the ball,'' Crennel said. ''We didn't give him much offense, but we let him run the show team a couple of plays and he did OK with those.

''We'll let him do a little bit more as he learns the offense and we'll go from there.''

Quinn is spending his spare time watching film of the practices he missed he was up to Aug. 2 by last night and said he's helped because the Browns are preparing for games. That means the offense is cut down.

He was asked whether he felt ''lost,'' a reference to the way Crennel said he seemed in the off-season practices.

''Not at all and I really didn't feel that way in . . . (the offseason training), either,'' Quinn said. ''I think more than anything else that when you get out on the field, you have to kind of try and find your flow, how things are moving, how things are going out there. Again, this is a different speed. . . . Guys turn it up an extra notch.

''You're just trying to find your comfort level, trying to find things that slow down for you in the offense.''

Whether it was a pared-down offense, Quinn's presence or just a good day, Frye and Anderson probably had their best practice of camp. Both threw very well, with Braylon Edwards on the receiving end of several of the passes.

Frye said he feels the same way now that he did when he played the season finale against Houston last year that he's the leader of the team.

''Until coach announces otherwise, I think that's the way you have to approach the situation,'' he said. ''With the confidence in yourself and your abilities. Until coach makes that decision, I'm always going to believe that.'' noweb