A Fireside Chat with Brady Quinn

Cleveland Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini takes the Bill Belichick approach to media/PR opportunities—he avoids them.

So, with that in mind, when I decided I wanted to interview potential starting quarterback Brady Quinn, I put on my “black ops” uniform only used for Jerry Bruckheimer movies, shimmied through the heating ducts and dropped in on Mr. Quinn while he was reviewing the new playbook.

Quinn: Where’d you come from?

Me: Doesn’t matter, Mangini sent me to test you about the upcoming season. Just answer the questions.

Quinn: Coach doesn’t like me talking to strangers, especially if they might be reporters.

Me: Don’t worry, this is part of the test. Now let’s get down to it, how do you feel about the upcoming quarterback competition going into training camp?

Quinn: Honestly, it doesn’t bother me. I’ve had to deal with adversity as a professional ever since I was drafted and, quite frankly, I was better than Anderson last year. I don’t see why anything would be different going into 2009.

Me: Good point. While it is a limited sample, you do have a slight edge in completion percentage as well as interceptions. You still are a relative unknown quantity. How do you prove to the new coaching staff you can live up to your potential?

Quinn: By going out and playing the best I can. I know my best is better than a lot of other quarterbacks in this league. If I didn’t think that I wouldn’t be here.

Me: How have the last two years changed you? You’re obviously the favorite to win the starting job with the hometown crowd, but you’ve had limited opportunities to showcase your skills. Articulate for me your approach to the game.

Quinn: I approach it like any other professional would. I pay attention during the meetings, I show up for every practice and I leave everything on the field.

Me: How do you respond to people who criticize your arm strength?  Admittedly Anderson can pretty much fling that ball into Lake Erie from Berea, but that doesn’t necessarily get you into the Hall of Fame.

Quinn: It’s unfair. I can get the ball downfield just as easily as he can. My strengths are in short, controlled routes, reading the defenses and reacting appropriately.  But if I need to throw a 40-50 yard pass, I can do that.

Me: What about your ability to read defenses and react in a way that will bring a positive outcome to each play.

Quinn: You can’t commit turnovers. Sometimes that means eating the sack, sometimes it means throwing the ball out of bounds. The key is to know what’s coming and be able to get rid of the ball before you run out of options.

Me: One hack on Anderson is that he forces the ball downfield sometimes. Your brief stint as starting quarterback showed good poise under pressure. To what do you attribute this “Grace under fire.”

Quinn: Preparation. You have to study the game film, know what the defense is throwing at you and keep your head when the linebackers are breathing down your neck. Of course, it helps to have an offensive line that’ll give you time to throw.

Me: That certainly doesn’t hurt. What do you think of the Brown’s offseason moves in the context of just offensive line help?  It doesn’t matter who is taking snaps if you’re getting your face planted in the turf three seconds later.

Quinn: Very true. Alex Mack obviously will bring a new dynamic to the line and has the potential to bring first-year impact on the field.  Joe Thomas is now an experienced veteran and the rest of the line is solid when healthy. The key is avoiding injuries, practicing the fundamentals during the week and then executing on the field on Sundays.

Me: Wow, that sounded very scripted.

Quinn: I’m reading from the script Coach Mangini gave me in case I got ambushed by the press while sitting in the locker room.

Me: Moving on, what do you think are the team’s chances of winning the Super Bowl this year?

Quinn: At this point in the year, our chances are just as good as the other 31 teams in the league. You never know what’s going to happen between now and training camp.

Me: But the team had an abysmal 2008 and there are a lot of holes on this team, even with the changes since Mangini came on. It’s hard to fix all of that in one year.

Quinn: Well that’s the great unknown. Look at what happened in Miami last year. They went from 1-15 in 2007 to the playoffs in 2008. I think if we stay focused and play well in our division, we can make the playoffs. Once you make the playoffs, anything can happen.

Me: I’ll concede the point about Miami, but how often does that happen. Not to re-state the obvious, but the AFC North does feature two of the best teams from 2008 in the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.  By the way, the Steelers did just win the Super Bowl.

Quinn: Yes, but that was last year. We all start week one at the bottom of the mountain. It’s incumbent upon this team to put ourselves in a position to control our own destiny. You do that by beating the Steelers and by beating the Ravens.

Me: Do you approach games against the Steelers or Ravens any different? Past Browns coaches like Butch Davis always tried to play down the rivalries and say every game is equally important.

Quinn: You can’t win the division unless you beat the teams within your division. That being said, I know from growing up a Cleveland fan how important it is to beat the Steelers.

Me: Last question. Do you think Braylon Edwards will return to his 2007 Pro Bowl form?

Quinn: I’m only allowed to speak of Edwards in reverential tones. He threatened to badmouth anyone who spoke bad about him when he takes Keyshawn Johnson’s place on ESPN.

Me: I’ll take that as a “no.”

Quinn: I think I hear Coach Mangini coming.  Wait, why are you climbing back into the heating duct?

Me: I’m doing my Jack Bauer impression. I’ll have Chloe download the schematics to you later. Not a word to Mangini!