All good things take time

Despite hot start, Quinn not ready to lead Browns

Everyone jump for joy! This column is a Vick-free zone!

There will be plenty of chances to write about He Who Shall Not Be Named Today as we go through the season, but if you’re like me, you are ready to get on with the exploits of 1,696 other football players and 31 other teams right about now.

And so here we go. I am prodded by my Browns-loving HBO buddy, Jason Cohen, and Brian, of Rockville, Md., to address Brady Quinn. A worthy topic. Jason e-mailed me Saturday night at 11:23 thusly: “How sick am I? It’s Saturday night and I am listening to a Denver radio station streamed through the Web just to listen to the Browns preseason game so I can be a part of Brady-mania. And it paid off — another TD pass. The savior keeps on doing it. Bench Frye. Cut Anderson and start the only guy that can give us a chance to win this year.”

But what do you really think, Jason?

And this from Brian in Rockville: “I ask this question specifically to the Brady Quinn situation but am also curious about it in general: Do teams punish new players for their earlier holdouts by not playing (or in Quinn’s case, starting) them as early as they should?

A few thoughts. Quinn missed 16 practices. In those 16 practices (and in the offensive team meetings before the practices, or at night), the Browns installed specific offensive plays, formations and protections. For instance, in one meeting offensive coordinator Ron Chudzinki and quarterback coach Rip Scherer might have instructed the players on 15 plays, giving out individual assignments, what keys the quarterback should look for, who his hot receiver is, what his progression is, etc. Now I’m not sure how they caught Quinn up on all the missed time, but it’s fair to say they gave him a package of plays in each of the first two preseason games that they knew he could handle and have confidence in executing.

Now, do some coaches practice some vindictiveness if a guy holds out? Yes. No question about it. But let’s be realistic. Romeo Crennel knows he’s coaching for his job right now. He knows the buzzards are circling. But the worst thing he could do right now is have rabbit ears and listen to Jason from New York, Bob from Berea and Sharon from Shaker Heights. The logical thing, unless Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson are either injured or off-the-charts awful, is to get Quinn ready to play the last 10 games of the season, after the bye, beginning at St. Louis on Oct. 28. I don’t think you play him against Dick LeBeau’s fire zone blitzes in Week 1, or at crazy Rob Ryan’s multiple defensive fronts in Oakland in Week 3, or against Baltimore, New England and Miami — all top 10 defenses, potentially — the following three weeks.

Browns fans, hear my plea: You’re not winning the Super Bowl this year. Developing Quinn is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. Patience, my bloodthirsty Brownies. Patience.

Now on to the rest of the e-mail.

A REBUTTAL TO BILL POLIAN. From Rick Korch, director of football information, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.: “As a PR guy who’s been in both the NFL and college football, I have to disagree with what Bill Polian said about college football’s ‘preseason games’ and give you my thoughts. Sure, every college wants an easy game in Week 1, which is why Miami and Florida State will no longer play on Labor Day night. Neither team was quite ready yet, which is why neither team scored more than one touchdown in regulation in the last three years.

“This Saturday, Miami opens with Marshall, which is not a cakewalk, and then we travel to Oklahoma. And Week 2 is when college football gets going — Miami-Oklahoma, Oregon-Michigan, Virginia Tech-LSU, and so on. Those are hardly preseason games. But the biggest difference between Week 1 in college football and an NFL preseason game is that the games DO count in college, regardless of how good or bad the opponent is. I was at the Dolphins-Bucs game last weekend (in our new 2008 home, Dolphin Stadium) and it was odd to watch a game that did not count … and one that fans really didn’t care about.”

All good points, Rick. Thanks. I checked some of the major college schedules when I saw your e-mail, and it seems like some schools do it the Polian way, but many don’t. Texas A&M opens with Montana State, Fresno State and Louisiana-Monroe, but Notre Dame opens with Georgia Tech, Penn State and Michigan. Washington could start 0-3 — the Huskies open at Syracuse, then have Boise State and Ohio State.