Brady Quinn Sharp in Preseason Debut

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Cleveland Browns rookie QB Brady Quinn looked sharp in his preseason debut against the Detroit Lions last night. After missing 11 days of training camp, Brady had a lot of catching up to do. He didn’t play in the first preseason game. And although he entered this game late in the 4th quarter, he nearly rallied the Browns to victory with two late touchdown passes. His final stats were 13-of-20 for 155 yards in the final 9:20. Before Browns’ fans get too excited, though, we must remember a couple things:

• Brady was playing with a limited offensive playbook
• He was not playing against the Lions’ first-teamers (of course, he did not have a first-team supporting case, either).

Brady sounded cautiously optimistic after the game:

“I was trying to do my best to stay calm. It felt good to cross the lines and play. Hopefully I’ll get better and better. I’d been holding a clipboard for one game and three quarters. It’s been tough to wait it out.”

So, I’d say — all things considered — a job well-done. It will be interesting to see if Brady gets more playing time next weekend at Denver. I still believe Derek Anderson (6 of 8 for 65 yards and a pick against the Lions) holds the upper hand in this three-QB race (with Charlie Frye being the third quarterback; Ken Dorsey most likely will be the odd-man-out), but Brady will ultimately be the starter. It’s just a matter of when.