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Most NFL head coaches place a priority on naming a starting QB before the regular season begins. The idea is that it helps the chemistry on the team, as well as helping the quarterback define himself as a team leader. Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini hasn’t named his starting QB yet. Nor will he, at least not publicly. Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson will find out if they’re the starting QB in the next couple of days, but the first public confirmation their coach will give is when they trot out on the field after the NFL regular season begins.

Mangini stressed that he’d already made his choice, and that hell meet with both Quinn and Anderson individually to inform them of his decision. He made clear that there would be no public announcement forthcoming:

”In terms of announcing it publicly, that’s not something I plan to do. It will be internal. I understand everybody has a different opinion on it. I respect that. I understand the excitement in relationship to that and I respect that as well. But that will be something that will be internal.”

As of Sunday, both quarterbacks were still up in the air and not saying much. Derek Anderson said he didnt have a clue:

”I know as much as you guys know.

While Quinn suggested that it wasnt a big concern for him:

”I’m not worried about it. You guys are more worried about it than I am.”

Mangini may be trying to gain a strategic advantage over the Browns opponents in the opening week of the NFL regular season, the Minnesota Vikings:

”It is more difficult to plan for two quarterbacks than it is to plan for one. I’m not saying that’s going to be the difference or not the difference, but I know that there is time allotted to that and you can’t put the same amount of time into focusing on one player.”

On the other hand, Vikings coach Brad Childress said that it really didnt make a difference in how hed approach preparing his gameplan:

”Just schematically, you’re going to go back and look at tape and see what you’ve seen. And then I know, as do our guys, that there will be unscouted looks. They certainly haven’t showed their whole hand, offensively and defensively. So you’re just going back and looking at formation-wise where they’re putting people and what kind of players they are. It will be more about us deploying to what they do.”

The Browns coach emphasized that regardless of who is eventually named the starting QB that hes happy with the play of both:

”I have been happy with the progress that both guys made. I’m happy with the way they’ve worked. I’m happy with the way they approached this competition, and it’s not always easy to approach a competition in a team fashion, and I respect the way they’ve handled it.”

After hosting the Vikings in their opening game of the 2009 NFL regular season, Cleveland will hit the road for their second game as they take on the Broncos at Denver. Theyll play another away game in week 3, taking on the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, September 27.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer specializing in soccer, boxing and football betting. He consults with a variety of offshore sportsbooks setting theNFL pointspreads and on lines for major boxing events. He has been published in a variety of online and print outlets covering topics as diverse as soccer, football, MMA and music.