Mangini, Browns weigh options at QB

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Perhaps it’s fitting that the Cleveland Browns reached their bye week on the eve of election day.

The quarterback campaign is in full swing.

Three candidates — Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace and rookie Colt McCoy — have all presented their cases publicly to be the team’s starter for the final nine games. There’s a heated debate going on among Browns fans, so accustomed to quarterback controversies over the years, as to who should play.

Should it be Delhomme, the veteran brought in to start but who has suffered two severe ankle injuries? Or Wallace, the career backup who was just getting comfortable when he hurt his ankle? And what about McCoy, so poised in starts at Pittsburgh and New Orleans?

Everyone’s got an opinion. In the end, only coach Eric Mangini’s vote counts.

Assuming everyone is healthy, how will he base his decision?

“Next opponent,” he said. “We’re going to always try to play the guy that we think is going to give us the best shot to win on Sunday.”

The Browns (2-5), who have shown signs of progress in the season’s first half, will return from their off week to face the New England Patriots and coach Bill Belichick, Mangini’s former boss and one of his mentors who has been known to make life miserable for any quarterback.

Mangini may not know his options at quarterback until the middle of next week when he expects both Delhomme and Wallace to return to practice.

Wallace, injured in a Week 5 loss to Atlanta while filling in for Delhomme, finally shed his protective walking boot earlier this week. It didn’t take him long to kick the Browns’ quarterback conundrum into high gear by stating his case to be Cleveland’s full-time starter.

Wallace believes he has shown he can effectively lead the Browns. He’s not going to storm into the offices of Mangini or team president Mike Holmgren — who traded for him after having Wallace in Seattle — and demand the starter’s job. But he does think he’s earned it.

“Yeah, I feel that way,” Wallace said. “At the end of the day, it comes down to the coaches. Whoever’s doing the job the best, moving the team, scoring points, making the right decisions, then that should be the guy.”

After some early struggles, Wallace felt Cleveland’s offense was beginning to find its rhythm with him behind center. He’d like another chance.

“It’s a learning experience each game I step out there,” he said. “We’re all still trying to figure it out.”