Browns head coach Eric Mangini told reporters on Wednesday that Derek Anderson would replace Brady Quinn at quarterback and start this Sunday against the Bengals.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Mangini said “giving Derek the opportunity is something I think will help us offensively.” He said Anderson’s performance on third down Sunday in Baltimore — including 3-of-4 on a field goal drive — helped him clinch the job. He said he needs to improve on throwing interceptions, after throwing three in Baltimore.

Mangini had little choice. Quinn wasn’t moving the offense, looked uncomfortable in his decision-making and wasn’t giving his receivers a chance to run after the catch. While Anderson shouldn’t be expected to fix what ails the Browns, he does have a stronger arm, will test defenses vertically and did move the ball more efficiently than Quinn last week against the Ravens. (Granted, Anderson also threw three interceptions against Baltimore.)

Cleveland’s defense has played well enough to keep the Browns competitive, but the offense has been stagnant and while Quinn isn’t the only one to blame, the quarterback is always the first one to be replaced when a team is losing. If Quinn had showed any signs that he was progressing as a passer, then maybe Mangini would have given the young QB more time. But he wasn’t, and thus it’s time to give Anderson a shot to lead the offense again.

Mangini needs this move to pay off or else he’s going to start losing the locker room (if he hasn’t already). He got off to a rough start with players like Shaun Rodgers when he was hired, and hasn’t endeared himself to others with his crass attitude and Bill Belichick-like demeanor. It may be too early to suggest that he’s on the hot seat, but if he doesn’t get a win soon he’s going to have a mess on his hands.

One of the knocks on Brady Quinn entering the 2007 NFL Draft was that he lacked the arm strength to zip the ball into tight coverage on passes longer than 10 yards. To a lesser degree, his accuracy and footwork were also questioned.

One thing Quinn rarely received criticism for was his ability to run a pro offense after studying under Charlie Weis at Notre Dame for two years. But so far, that’s one of the main factors playing into whether or not he’s long for the Browns’ starting quarterback job.

Said head coach Eric Mangini via the Canton Repository following the Browns’ embarrassing 27-6 loss to the Broncos on Sunday: “There were definitely some opportunities for him to get the ball to receivers that were open. There were some plays where I thought he had nice throws, but it’s consistency, it’s consistency, it’s consistency…first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter.”

While Mangini’s comments were hardly an indication that a change is coming, that doesn’t sound like a head coach that completely backs his starting quarterback. And whether it was semantics or not, Mangini was the one that waited the entire preseason before naming Quinn the starter, which raises the question of how long he’ll stick with the young QB if Quinn continues down the path he’s on.

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