Browns notes: Quinn feeling OK following finger surgery
Scott Petrak | The Chronicle-Telegram
BEREA — Brady Quinn had a pair of pins inserted into his right index finger Wednesday during surgery.
“I’m feeling good,” he said on a conference call from Alabama.
Quinn said Dr. Thomas Hunt, a hand specialist in Dr. James Andrews’ office, used the pins to make sure the broken bone at the tip of the finger was set and replaced the piece of bone that had broken off. Quinn’s in a cast that will be taken off next week, and the pins should be removed in six weeks. He would begin throwing soon after that.
Quinn had been debating between surgery and seeing if the finger would heal properly in a splint.
“It was something I felt pretty strongly about,” he said of surgery. “Not really leaving any degree of doubt (about the recovery).”
Quinn hopes to be back with the team today so he can travel to Tennessee for Sunday’s game. He will watch Ken Dorsey start, after Derek Anderson followed him onto injured reserve with a torn knee ligament.
“As far as what’s happened with D.A. and myself, it’s just kind of been the tale of the season,” Quinn said. “We’ve not only been battling through adversity as far as injuries go, we also really haven’t been able to put together a whole lot of consistency in our play across the board.”
General manager Phil Savage said the failure to establish a franchise quarterback has been one of the biggest disappointments of the season.
“We needed one of two things to happen at the quarterback position. We needed our team to play well enough for Derek to play the entire year and let’s win nine, 10, 11 games and challenge for the playoffs or be in the playoffs,” he said. “If that didn’t happen, we needed Brady to get enough time — was it two games, four games, six games, eight games, I don’t know — for him to get in there and show what he could do.
“Neither of those things happened. That makes it a little bit more unclear than what you would have hoped for going into the season.”
Savage wouldn’t discuss the quarterback situation for next year, except to say Quinn and Anderson are both under contract. He also said Quinn looked good in his limited time.
“He threw on the run well,” he said. “He had a 90-something-yard drive against Buffalo, made some good throws in that drive. He brought us back from behind against Denver.
“The intangible qualities of Brady are still there. They’ll always be there because he was kind of born to play the position. He’s a natural quarterback.”
The new guy
Bruce Gradkowski (6-foot-1, 220 pounds) was in an orange No. 7 jersey Wednesday and listed as the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart. He had spent the season between his hometown of Pittsburgh and Tampa, Fla., where he played for the Buccaneers in 2006-07. He tried out for a number of NFL teams but hadn’t caught on after being cut by the Rams at the end of training camp.
“I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to pick this system up pretty quickly,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a good opportunity and I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
The Browns picked Gradkowski over a few other quarterbacks who tried out Tuesday. They liked his experience and attitude.
“He seemed to be in shape, he seemed to have some enthusiasm, seemed to really want the job,” Savage said. “That’s probably what won us over.”
No explanation
Savage was asked why receiver Braylon Edwards has struggled this season, leading the league with 18 dropped passes.
“I don’t know the answer to that,” Savage said. “He had 16 touchdowns last year, I think he had 16 drops. When you catch touchdown passes, the drops get overshadowed. When you don’t catch touchdowns, the drops become more magnified.
“He’s talked to the coaches a number of times. We’ve definitely tried to work with him off the field and do different things. I think Braylon is really a talented player. I think he’s obviously very discouraged with the way he has played this year from an overall standpoint. But he’s done it before, I think he’ll do it again.”
Savage said drops by the team have really hurt the offense.
“I don’t think it has allowed us to get into a kind of rhythm where we are a balanced offense,” he said. “When you have drops, it really throws you out of kilter and that hurt us tremendously in the early part of the year for sure and even as recently as Sunday.”
Injury report
Defensive ends Corey Williams (shoulder) and Shaun Smith (calf), fullback Charles Ali (rib), linebacker Beau Bell (knee) and receiver Syndric Steptoe (ankle) didn’t practice Wednesday.
Tight end Darnell Dinkins (ankle) was limited after missing Sunday’s game.
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Scott Petrak | The Chronicle-Telegram December 4th, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 2% |
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