BEREA — Brady Quinn was in a hurry to get to a team meeting Monday afternoon when he realized he had forgotten something in his duffel bag. He turned around, returned to his locker and pulled out a playbook with his name on it.
That could come in handy this week. He may be starting in Cincinnati on Sunday.
Coach Romeo Crennel didn’t announce a quarterback switch, but left the door wide open to replace Derek Anderson, who is 0-3 with two touchdowns, five interceptions and a 43.5 rating following a 28-10 loss to Baltimore on Sunday.
“We’ll definitely try to get the other guy ready and get him ready to go and we’ll see how it progresses from there,” Crennel said.
He was asked if Quinn will make his first NFL start versus the Bengals.
“That determination hasn’t been made yet,” said Crennel, who wouldn’t put a percentage on which way the organization’s leaning. “I’m not going to sit here and say that.
“The number of reps he gets in practice is not up to him, it’s up to us as coaches. I know that he’ll do everything he can to be ready. Then when he gets called on, he’ll go in there, he’ll perform to the best of his abilities and we’ll have to see how good that is.”
Crennel said Quinn will get a few more repetitions in practice this week, and that the timing of the bye week, which follows the Bengals game, won’t impact the decision.
“If you feel you can win the next game, you do what you need to do to try to win the next game,” Crennel said.
Quinn’s regular-season experience consists of three completions in eight attempts last year. He started two preseason games in August while Anderson was out with a concussion and went 14-for-24 for 106 yards and a 69.1 rating against the Lions and 7-for-9 for 65 yards and a 96.8 rating against the Bears.
Crennel criticized Anderson for some of his decisions this year — interceptions to Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu and Baltimore’s Ed Reed were pivotal — but was quick to point out he isn’t solely to blame for the offense’s struggles. Braylon Edwards has five drops, Donte Stallworth and Joe Jurevicius haven’t played, Joshua Cribbs is less than 100 percent, Syndric Steptoe’s been a non-factor and the offensive line has struggled.
So why would Quinn have any more success than the guy who won 10 games, threw 29 touchdowns and made the Pro Bowl last year?
“If we decided to go with him, we’d just have to put it on what we’ve seen in practice and what we feel he’s able to do,” Crennel said. “Because there’s no hard evidence that says he’d have more success.”
Quinn had time to answer two questions between a shower and the meeting. He was asked about Crennel considering a switch.
“I’ll keep continuing to prepare,” he said. “Every week, the backup’s job is to prepare to be the starter. Nothing’s changed.”
What’s it like watching the offense score a league-low 8.7 points a game?
“We got a lot of things to work on, a lot of things to put together,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll find some more answers from the game this past week and have another good week of preparation and go into Cincinnati confident.”
Anderson’s brutal start is a continuation of a poor finish to 2007. In his first 10 starts last season — his first stint as a full-time starter – he threw 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In the last eight games, he’s thrown nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
On Sunday, Anderson went 14-for-37 for 125 yards, a touchdown, three interceptions and a 22.9 rating. He was sacked five times and admitted to losing confidence, but vowed to bounce back.
“I don’t think I’ve ever started 0-3 as a starter,” he said Sunday night. “But I’ve been 0-2 and come back and finished the season strong.”
Crennel said restoring Anderson’s confidence is a group effort.
“The pressure affected him a little bit (Sunday) so we have to protect better,” Crennel said. “We have to be better route runners. We have to catch better and he has to throw better.”
One sign pointing to a quarterback switch is it’s the only position on offense where a change is even an option. Jamal Lewis is fine at running back and the receiving corps is ultra-thin. That leaves Anderson vulnerable and Quinn circling.
“When you talk about shaking things up, what we have to do is evaluate it and do what we think is best for this team to try and win a game,” Crennel said. “If that’s what it is, then that’s what it needs to be. If we decide that.
“If we decide that’s not what it is, then we have to figure out what we can do to help the position more.”
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.

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