Quinn, Anderson both sit out as Browns lose to Bears
Published 2:44 am Friday, September 4, 2009
CHICAGO — The first pass of the game got picked off. Good thing for Brady Quinn he wasn’t the one throwing it. Neither was Derek Anderson.
Eric Mangini didn’t need another look at his top quarterbacks so he gave them the night off rather than one more audition. And if he has decided on a starter, well, he wasn’t saying.
‘‘I have no additional information on that,’’ he said Thursday night. ‘‘There’s nothing to add.’’
Brett Ratliff started the preseason finale for the Browns and led a touchdown drive after throwing that early interception against Chicago. Robbie Gould kicked two of his four field goals in the fourth quarter, though, leading the Bears past Cleveland 26-23 Thursday in the preseason-finale.
When Mangini said he wasn’t sure who would start this week, many assumed it would be Quinn or Anderson. Well, not quite.
Ratliff got intercepted by Zackary Bowman on the game’s first play from scrimmage, leading to a 43-yard field goal by Gould, but made a decent recovery. He threw a touchdown on the next possession and was 8 of 20 overall while playing in the first and fourth quarters.
Richard Bartel played the middle two periods for Cleveland and was 12 of 14 for 137 yards and did not throw a TD or get picked off.
Chicago’s Jay Cutler had a short night, playing just one series and not attempting a pass.
‘‘I’ll just say it was a long game,’’ he said with a big grin while wiping his brow.
Cutler didn’t even bother to throw in the pregame warmups and when asked why he even played, he deferred to coach Lovie Smith.
That Cutler’s time on the field was limited was no shocker, but the decision to keep Quinn and Anderson on the sideline was a bit of a surprise.