Brady Quinn’s future is now for desperate Browns

Cleveland’s hope of salvaging the season ride on the second-year quarterback’s shoulders.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Brady Quinn is quickly forgetting the worries he had this offseason of whether he had a future in Cleveland.

The present is what matters now.

The second-year quarterback and former Notre Dame standout is being called upon to salvage what’s left of the Browns’ season and dwindling playoff hopes.

With Derek Anderson sent to the bench two weeks ago, Quinn prepares to make his second career start, and first on the road tonight when Cleveland (3-6) plays the Buffalo Bills (5-4). It’s a midseason matchup with plenty at stake between two teams that began the season expecting to be playoff contenders.

The Bills have lost three straight and four of five, looking nothing like the team that got off to a 4-0 start.

The Browns are worse off. Coming off two losses, they appear to be unraveling by the week, undone by a series of distractions that have led to a sudden rise of infighting, with running back Jamal Lewis questioning whether some teammates have quit.

Into this mess enters Quinn, who didn’t know his status in February after Anderson signed a three-year contract as reward for a solid season.

“I’d be lying if I told you that thought didn’t cross my mind,” Quinn said, regarding his future. “But at some point I kind of gained the perspective that I just needed to make sure that every day I came to work I got better ... whether it was for Cleveland or another team.”

Turns out it’ll be for Cleveland, the franchise the native Ohioan grew up rooting for, and a team that selected him 22nd overall in the 2007 draft.

“It’s kind of still a little bit surreal,” Quinn said, “and I’m just caught up in all the grunt work and everything I feel I need to do for each game.”

Quinn looked every bit ready in making his debut in another prime-time game, going 23-of-35 for 239 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-30 loss to Denver on Nov. 6. A win, though, is what counts for Quinn and the rest of the team’s waning morale.

“Losing creates a lot of frustration on everybody’s part,” Browns coach Romeo Crennel said. “Part of the job is to be able to handle those frustrations and try to get the guys focused on the task at hand.”

The Bills know all about frustration. This is a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in eight seasons, the longest drought in franchise history. It’s suddenly reeling after losing three straight games to AFC East rivals, including last week’s 20-10 loss at New England.

“You can say, ‘Oh no, [the attitude] is not different. But it is. It’s completely different,” defensive tackle Kyle Williams said. “We are trying to get out of a rut right now. We are trying to get some momentum back because we have seven games left to get to the playoffs.”

Buffalo’s offense under Trent Edwards has taken several steps backward from a unit that played with great efficiency during the first month, in which it generated three consecutive fourth-quarter comeback victories.

Edwards is flailing, having produced nearly as many turnovers (five interceptions and two fumbles) as scoring drives (three touchdowns, five field goals) in his past three games. The running attack has been pedestrian, managing 90 yards in its past two games combined.

The defense has been too banged-up to make a significant difference.

“We all have to play better. There’s no finger-pointing. There’s no down-talking,” offensive tackle Langston Walker said. “We’re not out of the hunt. We’re not 0-for-whatever. We’ve still got a winning record.”