Brady Quinn and the Browns offense

Brady Quinn had some interesting things to say in his media interview Wednesday that, to me at least, indicate his decisions on where to throw the ball are a result of coaching.

Thirteen of Quinn’s 21 completions in the opener went to backs or tight ends. Most of his throws were short and underneath. His per-attempt average: 5.9 yards, 25^th in the league.

Either Quinn is a classic dink and dunker, or he’s being coached to take the checkdown, quickly.

Quinn is a guy who has been described to me as someone who will do his best to do what he’s coached to do. Coach advises him to change his grip, he’ll adjust and go with it. Coach advises him to throw nothing but outs, he’ll do the best he can at throwing outs. So if a coach advises him to throw underneath, take the checkdown and be safe, then he’ll do the best he can at that particular part of the offense.

Keep in mind that Quinn’s college coach, Charlie Weis, probably did not give Quinn a lot of leeway. Weis comes from the Belichick-Parcells tree, and no doubt Weis wanted Quinn to do what he told him to do.

Quinn has been coached this way for some time.

This is not a bad thing, necessarily. Quinn’s a good guy. He cares, and tries to do the best he can at what he’s told. An offense can be successful this way.

And coaches love players like this. Because they don’t try to override the “system.” Because most coaches believe their system is paramount.

A coach like Eric Mangini, especially, would seem to like this kind of quarterback. Other coaches, like Rex Ryan, might like a more spontaneous guy, a guy who might take charge on the field because he saw something he liked. Peyton Manning calls a lot of his own audibles, and has freedom to do so.

Manning has vast experience, though, and Quinn doesn’t. Not many coaches give young quarterbacks a lot of freedom. They figure he’s got enough to worry about. This could help a young quarterback, but it also takes away his spontaneity and ability to just “go play.”

There’s always a tension. A quarterback might want to do certain things, but the coach might want to do other things. Chemistry, team goals, winning come into play. No coach will live with a quarterback who does his own thing if the team is losing and being fractured. That being said, a coach might have to live with a quarterback going his own way if the team is winning and the team believes in him. Dan Marino in Miami sometimes would decide what was being called wasn’t working, and he’d tell the offense: “We’re throwing every down from here on.” He believed in himself that much. And if the team won, Don Shula smiled and said great call, and if it lost, Shula smiled and said, “That’s Marino.” Then he tried to talk to Marino about not changing the plays so often. You might recall one Bernie Kosar getting himself into trouble with one Bill Belichick when he changed too many calls.

So we have Quinn, who did not throw down the field often in the opener. Was that Quinn’s style and personality, or is that what he’s being coached to do?

The answer, it seems, lies in Quinn’s answer Wednesday when he was asked to describe the offense.

“That’s a tough one,” he said.

Doesn’t seem that tough, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

“We’re an offense that’s going to try to push the ball down the field in a methodical way,” he said. “Whether it be through making smart decisions, checks, things of that nature, running the football.  Obviously, in taking what the defense gives us.  We’re not going to try to force something if we don’t have to.  We’re going to play smart football.”

How many key words could a guy use?

Methodical. Taking what is given. Not forcing something. Smart football.

Is there any doubt now that Quinn is being coached to take the underneath throw, and that 90-some percent of the time Quinn is going to do just that. Because he’s that kind of player.

Quinn then was asked if the offense keeps him from throwing down the field.

“I would say this offense is still young.,” he said. “I don’t think you necessarily put a label on a young infant when it’s first starting out.  This is after one game of the season.  I wouldn’t go too much based off preseason.  I’d say we’re still growing, still getting better and better.”

Translation: Of course we are, so far.

The point: It would seem that Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll are more responsible for the Browns decisions than Quinn, who is probably doing what he is being coached to do.

And it would seem wise for all of us to understand that the checkdown style of offense might just be the one we see for a while.

Tagged as: Brady Quinn, Cleveland Browns, Eric Mangini