Charlie Frye is determined to hold onto his job as the Browns' starting
quarterback, Derek Anderson believes he did enough in the three games he started
in December to get a fair chance to win the job in training camp and rookie
Brady Quinn is confident he will emerge from preseason as the starter.
None of the quarterbacks looked like a legitimate starter as the Browns
opened their on-field organized team activities, but there are extenuating
circumstances. They were trying to make the playbook of new offensive
coordinator Rob Chudzinski come to life while going against a defense that has
been in the same system for three years. The defense definitely had the upper
hand.
Many passes were dropped, intercepted and off-target. It did not help that
starting wide receiver Braylon Edwards decided to skip the opening of OTAs --
the only player to do so. Also, tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. is still recovering
from Jan. 30 microfracture surgery.
Quinn threw three interceptions and Frye was picked twice during the OTA open
to the media. Crennel expects the offense to get smoother as the mid-June full
squad minicamp approaches.
"Generally, what happens is when you're throwing a lot of stuff at guys, the
first couple days are a little ragged," Crennel said. "And then, about the third
day you begin to see some definite improvement -- guys knowing exactly where to
line up and what to do. You see more precision by then."
In some ways, all the quarterbacks are rookies because they are all trying to
learn Chudzinski's system and terminology. It is similar to the system -- minus
LaDainian Tomlinson and assorted co-stars -- that led to the Chargers scoring
492 points last season. The 2006 Browns scored 238. The Chargers were 14-2. The
Browns were 4-12.
For Frye, Anderson and Ken Dorsey it means unlearning what they were taught
by Maurice Carthon for a season and a half and what they were taught by Jeff
Davidson for the final 10 games last season. Combined, Frye and Anderson were
statistically the worst quarterbacks in the league in 2006. Frye turned the ball
over 25 times and Anderson eight times.
"This offense is a lot different," Frye said. "We're up-tempo, pushing the
ball downfield more. It's going to be a lot of fun.
"Chud is real smart. He's really taking the bull by the horns. He's got this
offense excited and re-motivated. From our first team meeting, a tone was set.
Expectations were raised and the bar was raised. That's what we need. The
playbook is real big. There are enough plays in there to tailor it to the guys
in there playing."