BEREA — A training camp holdout and eight passes thrown as a rookie. Three starts, a benching, a broken finger and possible surgery in Year 2.
Life as a Brown hasn’t been easy for quarterback Brady Quinn, who grew up dreaming of wearing the brown and orange.
“It’s frustrating. I can’t begin to tell you,” he said Wednesday after it was confirmed that his season is over. “I’m hurting right now because I love to play the game.”
Quinn said he has no regrets about playing Sunday in a loss to Houston, when he further damaged his right index finger. He is “praying” over the decision whether to have surgery.
Derek Anderson will regain his starting role and Ken Dorsey moves up to No. 2. Coach Romeo Crennel said Quinn would enter training camp in July as the starter, regardless of what Anderson does in the final five weeks.
“When he comes back, he’s going to be the quarterback,” said Crennel, who may be fired after this season. “Next training camp, Quinn is the starter.”
Quinn suffered a small fracture near the tip of his finger Nov. 17 in the first quarter of a win over Buffalo. X-rays two days later revealed the break, but team doctors and Dr. James Andrews in Alabama gave him the option of playing Sunday against Houston.
Quinn accepted, despite the possibility the injury could worsen. It did, with further damage to the tendon near the break. After the finger was re-examined Tuesday, the doctors said playing is no longer an option.
Quinn has a week to decide between wearing a splint for 6-8 weeks and undergoing surgery.
“It’s something that I’m still praying about a lot and trying to give my family a chance to talk about it and figure out what will be best,” Quinn said.
Does he regret playing Sunday?
“Not at all. Why would I ever regret playing?” Quinn said. “I knew that was a consequence if I went in and played. That was something that I was willing to risk. If I had a chance to do it over, I would do it again.”
Quinn, who was drafted No. 22 out of Notre Dame in 2007, was ecstatic to get his opportunity to start Nov. 6. He played well in a 34-30 loss to Denver, going 23-for-35 for 239 yards and two touchdowns.
He hurt the finger the next week and said he hasn’t been the same, although he played the entire Bills game and practiced the following week. Crennel yanked him in the 16-6 loss to Houston after he threw his second interception late in the third quarter.
His last pass of 2008 was an interception and his third-quarter rating was 0.0.
“I’m not one to make excuses out there,” Quinn said when asked about the effect of the finger. “Clearly, I wouldn’t be in this position right now if it didn’t affect me to some degree.”
Quinn finished the year 1-2 as a starter and 45-for-89 (50.6 percent) for 518 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and 66.6 rating.
“It’s tough. I started one game healthy,” Quinn said. “I would have liked to play at least so many games healthy. I’ve got a lot of things to work on and a lot of ways I can improve.”
Crennel said he’s seen enough to know Quinn can be a legitimate starter.
“I’m impressed with what the kid has done on the football field, off the football field, the way he handles himself, the way he’s run the team,” Crennel said. “I like all of that about him. I like the kid a lot.”
Anderson is 13-13 as a starter and had started 23 straight games before the move to Quinn. Crennel bristled when pressed on why Quinn would automatically be his starter next year.
“D.A. was the starter, and you guys hated him,” he said. “Quinn goes in and Quinn plays and now you’re telling me if D.A. lights it up, you want him to be the starter.
“I have decided that Quinn is going to be the starter. I’m sorry if you don’t like that.”
Anderson said it’s too soon to focus on July 2009 with five games left in 2008.
“I’ll worry about it when it comes and the situation arises,” Anderson said. “Obviously you can’t worry about that now.”
Crennel said there are no long-term effects from Quinn’s injury or playing against the Texans. Quinn said having surgery isn’t a slam dunk.
“Certain doctors feel the best way to let it heal is to rest it, put it in a splint and keep it immobilized for that amount of time and let the body do its work,” he said.
Quinn acknowledged that if the splint didn’t work, he might then have to resort to surgery.
“Yeah. There would be potential of that,” he said.
Quinn watched practice in a sweat suit from the sideline.
“I wish I could be with my teammates,” he said. “I feel bad for the fans because I really wanted to be out there and continue to play and continue to grow in this league.
“Hopefully this will allow me to grow stronger and something good will come from this.”
Richard Bartel was signed to the practice squad to learn the system and be available if something happened to Anderson or Dorsey. Bartel recently tried out for the team.
Special teamer/receiver Joshua Cribbs will be the emergency quarterback on Sunday versus the Colts.

Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.

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