Browns’ Mangini says Wright will start Sunday

By Mary Kay Cabot

Cleveland Plain Dealer

BEREA

Eric Mangini acknowledged Eric Wright’s bad game in Baltimore, but expressed confidence in him and said Wright won’t be yanked from the lineup Sunday against the Bengals.

“Eric didn’t have a good day and when you don’t have a good day against a really, really good player [Anquan Boldin], it ends up being a bad day,” said Mangini. “I can tell you this, that Eric Wright has played a lot of good football for us all throughout last year, matching up the against the best receivers, doing an outstanding job. He was disappointed and my expectation is he’ll play a lot better next week.”

So he won’t replace him in the lineup with rookie cornerback Joe Haden or Mike Adams?

“No, no,” Mangini said.

But won’t Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer be licking his chops and six-time Pro Bowl receivers Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco be ready to pounce?

“They’re welcome to,” said Mangini. “[Wright’s] going to be out there. He’s going to be playing.”

Mangini said he wasn’t aware of any outside distractions that may have caused Wright to play so poorly, giving up three touchdown passes to Boldin. A source said something was wrong with Wright physically or mentally, but specifics have not been revealed.

“[There’s] nothing that he and I have talked about,” said Mangini. “Sometimes you’re off and that’s what he said, that’s how he felt. There’s nothing to add to that.”

Instead, Mangini gave credit to a three-time Pro Bowl receiver.

“You’re playing against one of the best receivers in the NFL with an outstanding quarterback, so there’s not a lot of wiggle room,” said Mangini. “You make a mistake and it’s going to get exploited.”

Mangini, who spent five seasons in New England as a defensive backs coach, knows what Wright has to do.

“Cornerbacks have to have short memories,” he said. “They’re going to be tested again and you need a short memory and a high confidence level and you need to know that you’re good.

“You can’t play with any apprehension because you’re alone often and when you make a mistake it goes for six. I have a lot of confidence in Eric,” said Mangini.