The Browns were uncertain who their best quarterback was when training camp
began. With the season opener on the horizon, they are still unsure. It will
probably be Charlie Frye, but coach Romeo Crennel isn't saying.
Crennel named Frye the starter for the third preseason game, traditionally the
tune-up for the regular season, and the preseason finale. Why did he choose Frye
over Derek Anderson? Because Frye has more experience. Frye responded by going
five for seven for 68 yards against the Broncos. His passer rating was 102.1.
"I'll tell you when I know," Crennel said on Aug. 27 when asked who will start
at quarterback against the Steelers Sept. 9. "I have an idea, but I don't know
yet. We're going week-to-week, and that could be the same for every position. If
a guy gets hurt, then the next guy will go in."
The Browns are not going to rush rookie Brady Quinn into the lineup. He was
hampered by missing 16 practices during a contract holdout, but even if he had
been here from the start, he would have had to be clearly better than Frye or
Anderson to start against the Steelers, general manager Phil Savage said.
"You have to go out and prove yourself every day, practice like that," Frye
said. "We have Pittsburgh Week One and you don't want to let up on anything
knowing these guys are coming into town. This (quarterback) competition is
pushing us. I think it's just making us all better. It'll show in the first week
of the season."
Crennel bent over backward making the competition between Frye and Anderson
even. In the end, his fairness doctrine might have hurt both players. The Browns
are using a new offense. With all the rotation that went on in camp, neither
quarterback had time to develop a rhythm. Now that rhythm will be developed in
the regular season.
Fewer questions existed on defense, but a problem that has plagued the Browns
for years, stopping the run, is still their biggest issue. It didn't help that
left end Orpheus Roye (knee) and linebacker Willie McGinest (back) were lost
before the first preseason game.
Roye should be back for the season opener and McGinest is expected to be playing
by the end of September, but they alone will not make the impact needed to force
opponents into second-and-long or third-and-long.
It is easy to blame the aging defensive line for run defense. Roye is 34 and
nose tackle Ted Washington is 39. But the inside linebackers have to be more
aggressive than they were in the past. Leon Williams, in his second season,
could be a key to making that happen. He moves quickly and made plays near the
line of scrimmage in the last three games of 2006 when he played while D'Qwell
Jackson was out with a toe injury. He subbed for Andra Davis in preseason,
though, and opponents were still successful running.
"It's something we've been working on," right outside linebacker Kamerion Wimbley said. "I hope we show we are better against the run. I've been working
on it. Hopefully I'll hold up better against the run."
Training camp and preseason proved the secondary is the strength of the defense.
Brodney Pool replaced Brian Russell and rookie Eric Wright is starting at left
cornerback. The Browns have to keep an eye on right corner Leigh Bodden. Bodden
has a history of ankle problems and might need a breather now and then to keep
going for 16 games.
COACHING: Romeo Crennel, 3rd year, 3rd with Browns (10-22)
REMEMBERING: 2006 record: 4-12 (last in AFC North)
PREDICTING: 2007 regular season record 7-9 (third in AFC North)
BROWNS NOTES
Sanders Talks to Kids: After practice one day, wide receiver Steve Sanders spoke to a group of
football players from East High School, his alma mater. The school is in a
crime-ridden part of Cleveland.
"I told them I'm living proof you can overcome," Sanders said. "I went through
the same things they went through. It might be a little different, but it's the
same struggle. I told them 'Keep working hard and put God first in your life and
you can't go wrong.' "
After Sanders spoke to the players, he passed out football cleats and gloves to
every East High player. The shoes were donated by Browns players. Some had never
been worn. Some were worn only once.
Saving Eyes: The Browns have teamed with the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute and the
Cleveland Metropolitan School District to provide vision screening and eye
examinations for children. The Browns have committed more than $500,000 as the
program's sponsor.
After practice one day, Andra Davis, Charlie Frye and Braylon Edwards, along
with children in training camp, went through the vision screening to detect
amblyopia, a condition in which the vision in one eye is much worse than the
vision in the other.
Fans Flock to Berea: Despite the fact that rain forced practice indoors five times, thus making it
logistically impossible for fans to watch those sessions, training camp this
year drew 42,051 spectators.
BY THE NUMBERS: 9 -- This is the ninth season the Browns have been back and the
ninth time they have opened at home.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Say there are two dropped passes in a row. There is so much
pressure on the third person he's thinking 'I have to catch the ball.' He's not
thinking about his assignment. The ball comes and you freeze up." -- Wide
receiver Joshua Cribbs, on the plethora of passes the Browns have dropped.