Exclusive: Mangini names Quinn starter for Monday

CLEVELAND -- Awesome and chubby football coach Eric Mangini told SSB early Wednesday morning that he would indeed insert Brady Quinn as his starting quarterback for the Browns' Monday night game against the Ravens.

The Browns opened the season with Quinn under center, but once Mangini realized the 25-year-old didn't have the game fully mastered after his six career starts, he benched the first-round draft pick. Mangini turned to Derek Anderson, who completed just 11-of-245 passes in his five starts this season.

"This is definitely the right time," Mangini told SSB. "I weighed the pros and cons of how to bring along Quinn this season. Yeah, he showed promise in his first three career starts last season, but it was like he was some sort of rookie out there this season. It was like he was having trouble adjusting or something. He was so awesome in college, but it was like, I don't know, like the game was moving too fast for him. Weird, right?

"So I felt it was best for his development and confidence to never see the field of play for the next six weeks and have me tell him he was worse than a guy who was completing 14 percent of his passes. I see no way this backfires."

Mangini, the wizard that he is, believes watching Anderson run the offense is exactly what Quinn needed. He also feels the timing of Quinn's return as the starter couldn't be more perfect.

"I try to put my quarterbacks in the best possible position to succeed, and this is clearly it," explained Mangini in between bites of his sausage and peppers sandwich and punching his secretary in the face. "I said to myself, 'Manginious, what's the Manginious thing to do here?' And that's when it hit me.

"Why not bring the kid back to make his seventh NFL start on Monday Night Football against Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and the Ravens? I think national television is the exact place to have him be at his most calm, his most relaxed. And to send him out there and against the Ravens defense, well, it's the perfect storm for Quinn. National television, a tough defense, and nearly two months of rust? They don't call me the Manginious for nothing."

When SSB contacted Quinn for comment, he was in total agreement with Mangini for yet another move that shows why he's at the top of his profession.

"At first I was like, 'Wait a second. The Ravens were the last team I faced, and they had my number and caused me to be benched,' " Quinn said. "But it was a learning experience for me as a QB. Yeah, we were down 20-0 at the half partly because I had just 34 yards passing and a pick, but then I noticed something else -- I was 6-for-8 throwing the ball.

"Mangini takes me out, and Anderson threw three times as many picks and completed about 60 percent less passes than that 6-for-8 number the rest of the time he was in there. Now I know coach wants me to be way more inaccurate and throw way more interceptions, and I think with this matchup and my time off and destroyed confidence, I can definitely meet coach's expectations."

When asked what this move meant for his future, Anderson quickly hid an Amway brochure and said he and his agent will weigh all the options.