(Opening statement)- “Good morning everybody. How are we doing? Just a little bit about yesterday, I thought yesterday was a good practice. I thought the focus was good, the intensity was good. On a typical Wednesday, there are a lot of new things and you go through the process of trying to get those straightened out, trying to understand exactly what you have to do, where they fit, where the players are. I like the way the guys worked yesterday. Today, we’re really moving to an area that we have to improve on, with third down. I think nothing will help us more significantly than that, our ability to get off the field and our ability to stay on the field, in doing that that will help the complementary football and help a lot of things. We spent a lot of time as a staff trying to identify areas where we can improve. We’ll work at it here today and move into the red zone tomorrow.”

Browns quarterback Derek Anderson press conference 9-30-09 (On his state of mind with this opportunity) - "Good. Obviously, I am excited about this opportunity, and I'm going to prepare and do everything I can to help this team win."

(On what his reaction was when he was told he was going to be the starter) - "I was excited. We are all competitors who want to play. I've been preparing and ready to go. I'm just excited about the opportunity."

(On if he needs multiple starts to show what he can do) - "I'm just going to continue to play and do the things I can to help this team win."

(On having success against Cincinnati in the past) - "They have different personnel and a different defensive coordinator. It's not exactly the same team. Obviously, I think they are playing a little bit better than they were when we played them in the past. It's a division game, and it's important that we all prepare and are ready to go this week."

(On if the scenario reminds him of what happened in 2007) - “It’s kind of weird how it happened like that. I'm just really excited about it and we are going to go out there in the rain today and have a good time."

Wide Receiver Josh Cribbs (On the quarterback switch) – “Preseason we were switching quarterbacks. It’s nothing to us as an offense. I feel like we’ve played with both quarterbacks and they are both great quarterbacks. We have to live with our coach’s decision and play football."

(On if the switch will provide a spark) – “Hopefully it can. I trust in the coach’s decision. We have to, we are all in. He’s our leader and we are going to follow behind him."

(On the team’s confidence level) – “The confidence level is high. We are going in playing at home, it’s always good to play at home. We have great fans, a high intensity fan base. We are going to build on that and play good football on Sunday."

Wide Receiver Braylon Edwards (On the quarterback switch) – “It’s on coach Mangini. He made the decision that he felt was the necessary action that needed to be taken."

(On the 51-45 shootout against Cincinnati in 2007) – “That was 2007. That was a different team, a different year. We just need to do anything we can to win this Sunday."

Running Back Jamal Lewis (On his status for this week) – “I am just doing everything the trainers are asking me to do. I am trying to get better day-to-day."

(Opening statement)- “Good morning everybody. Just in terms of Cincinnati, I’ve known Marvin (Lewis) a long time. We worked together in Baltimore when he first got named the defensive coordinator, I forget, I think that was 1996. I just watched him and talked to him throughout the years. I really like the things that he does. One of the trademarks of Marvin’s teams, or him as a defensive coordinator and him as a head coach, has been the turnovers that they’ve been able to generate. In terms of his give-away, take-away ratio, is about plus 38, which is one of the highest in the NFL for any head coach since 2003. Then you look at the points they’ve generated off that and then their record when they’ve been plus in the turnover ratio. I think it’s 33-5-1, that’s a lot of focus on that area and obviously a lot of results in that area.

“I think defensively, it’s a very aggressive front seven. They’ve done a good job stopping the run. They’ve done a good job with controlling the points and they’ve increased the amount of pressure on the quarterback, leading the NFL in sacks, with (Antwan) Odom having seven of those. With Mike Zimmer, he’s always had some creative pressure packages.

There seems to be a lot of people in this town that feel if you grew up as a Cleveland Browns fan and had the good fortune to get drafted by the team, somehow it will be a fairytale ending with the Browns winning the Super Bowl. Browns fans first had the misfortune of thinking Charlie Frye, a native of nearby Norwalk, was the savior of the franchise after being drafted out of Akron University. Frye is currently the third string quarterback with the Oakland Raiders. He probably feels right at home considering the Raiders are as dysfunctional as Cleveland's franchise.

Frye didn't seem to be a bad guy. He said the right things and had glimpses of hope as a quarterback when he was named the starter for his hometown club in 2006. There was a slight problem, however, if you watched the games closely. Frye didn't possess the arm strength of a typical NFL quarterback and would hold onto to the ball far too long which resulted in a great number of sacks taken. The Browns, of course, severed ties with him shipping him off to the Seahawks. Since the trade he has attempted only 12 passes in his career since the embarrassing loss at the hand of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who made him wish he was still at Akron pounding him for 5 sacks on Browns opening day of 2007.

The Brady Quinn experiment looks like its all but over as Derek Anderson has been named starting quarterback in the battle of Ohio against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Eric Mangini made the announcement in his morning press conference saying that he feels DA will give the Browns a better chance on the offensive side of the ball.

If Anderson is able to hold onto the job for the remainder of the season for the Cleveland Browns it could mean financial disaster for Quinn. Quinn signed a contract laden with incentives that are based on his playing time. By the former Notre Dame stand out not playing he risks losing a $5 million salary escalator for 2010 he would have been entitled to if he would have played in 70% of the offensive plays this season.

If Derek Anderson Is Named Starting Quarterback

As my Twitter followers will tell you, I have been pretty rough on the Cleveland Browns this season. The Baltimore Ravens game was like seeing a train coming from a mile down the road and being tied down to the tracks without any chance to move. If I was a betting man, I would have made an investment that the Ravens would easily cover the 14 point spread. The team had already been demoralized with two losses coming into the game and eyebrow raising fines that were levied by Eric Mangini.

I think this weekends game against the Cincinatti Bengals can be different for a number of reasons but Mangini will have to make an unpopular move by giving Derek Anderson the start against the in-state rivals if they are to be successful. Here is my reasoning the Browns can break out for their funk and deliver a win on Sunday.

(Opening statement)- “Good afternoon everybody. In talking to the team and watching tape, it is very similar to what we talked about after the game. With the Ravens offense, the first thing you have to do is be able to effectively stop the run. You have to limit the big plays that they’re able to generate, and they have been able to generate them this year and last year. Then, you have to find a way to somehow disrupt (Joe) Flacco. I don’t think we did any of those three things very well. I think, offensively, it’s going to start and be a big part of the determination of the game, is turnovers. When you have four turnovers, it’s going to be hard to impossible to win any game. I thought we did some decent things running the football. I thought that Jerome (Harrison) did some nice things when he had his opportunities. I know there are some plays where I’m sure he feels like he could have got even a few more yards than he did and some of that will come with experience. I thought that on special teams, it was a pretty solid effort, especially giving our defense an opportunity, a couple different times, to get them backed up. I thought the coverage units overall were sound. In the return game, I thought it was better, but we have a chance to, I think we had two returns for 30-plus yards. Those could have been bigger than they were. There’s nothing secret about what we have to do. We have to focus on the fundamental things that are important, and improve those and be more sound in all three areas. To do that, we’re going to address it. We’re going to work on it. We’re going to look at it from a scheme perspective, from a player’s perspective and focus on those things and get those things better and move forward.”

If you are a Cleveland sports fan, you are probably still numb on this Monday morning. If you are a Brady Quinn fan you probably are slowly coming to the realization that the former first round draft pick Notre Dame is not the answer at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. You probably are also a little worried that Derek Anderson has regressed after his 2007 Pro Bowl appearance. Here are some of the other things we learned in Cleveland sports world this week:

• The Cleveland Indians have a promising left hander in David Huff. Huff has been a bit inconsistent in this season with the Tribe but when he is good, he is really good. He displayed fine form finishing off a sweep of Baltimore with 8 scoreless innings pitched. He better watch out if likes the City of Cleveland because winning left handed pitchers seem to disappear from the area a rapid pace.
• There wasn't much to hang your hat on watching the Browns unravel in Baltimore on Sunday but there was one sign of life. Jerome Harrison contributed 85 total yards yesterday catching 5 passes for 33 yards and rushing the ball on the ground for 52. Hardly earth-shattering numbers but it makes you wonder why he doesn't see the playing field very often for the offensive starved franchise. His missed assignments blocking on passes probably aren't helping his cause.

The Cleveland Browns fans seem to be voicing there opinions about the 2009 team with their pocketbooks. For the first time since the Browns franchise has play at Cleveland Browns Stadium a television blackout could take place because of the lack of ticket sales. Three straight blowout losses with no end in sight may have finally worn on Cleveland's football fans. If you are hoping to be able to tune into the game on Sunday, maybe we can hope for a large showing of Bengals fans driving up to the game as their team seems to be on the rise with a record of 2-1 including a thrilling last second come from behind win against the Steelers yesterday.