Nov 3, 2008 - 6:30 PM
0 shoutsBEREA, Ohio (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Browns named Brady Quinn as their starting quarterback Monday, hours after head coach Romeo Crennel insisted that he was not planning a change.
Quinn, the 22nd overall pick of last year's draft, replaces struggling Derek Anderson and takes over a disappointing Browns team that has stumbled to a 3-5 start halfway through the season after winning 10 games in 2007.
The popular Quinn will make his first NFL start just three days after officially getting the nod, as Cleveland hosts the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.
The 6-3, 235-pound Quinn appeared in just one game as a rookie, completing 3-of-8 passes for 45 yards in a 20-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers in last year's season finale.
Following a record-setting career at Notre Dame, Quinn was drafted to be the Browns' quarterback of the future but took a back seat last season when Anderson broke onto the scene en route to a Pro Bowl nod.
Anderson led the Browns to a 10-6 record, passing for 3,787 yards and 29 touchdowns. However, after being rewarded with a three-year, $24.5 million contract in the offseason, he has struggled to find consistency this year as the NFL's 31st-ranked quarterback.
Anderson completed 17-of-33 passes for 219 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in Sunday's 37-27 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The interception was returned 42 yards by Terrell Suggs for a game-clinching touchdown with under three minutes remaining.
As the Browns walked off the field, fans at Cleveland Browns Stadium shouted, "Brady, Brady!"
Crennel, whose own job could be on the line, at first attempted to deflect blame away from Anderson on Monday.
"It's deflating when they run the ball in for a touchdown," Crennel said. "It's deflating when you don't make a catch in the open. It's deflating when you lose a game."
However, the fourth-year head coach apparently had a change of heart and decided to make the switch at quarterback.
After Cleveland lost its first three games, Anderson temporarily saved his job by passing for 310 yards and two TDs in a 35-14 win over the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants in Week Six.
But the Browns have lost two of their last three games, twice missing chances to climb back to .500.
