DILFER DESTROYS “DYSFUNCTIONAL” BROWNS

ESPN’s Trent Dilfer, who once played for the Browns during his NFL career, had some strong words for the team on Monday night, in the wake of the news that quarterback Derek Anderson has been benched in favor of 2007 first-rounder Brady Quinn. “There are so many layers of dysfunction that this decision represents,” Dilfer said during the 6:00 p.m. EST SportsCenter. “You never, ever bench a quarterback when you’re a bad football team. You bench a quarterback when you’re a good football team and your quarterback is holding you back. . . . It shows a total lack of discretion and wisdom at the very highest levels of the Cleveland Brown organization.” Dilfer said that public opinion forced the decision. “I have spoken to coaches [who] have said, “Hey, this is not Derek Anderson’s fault.’ In fact, at times he’s played far better than his stats show. This is a function of the defense not being able to get off the football field [and] Braylon Edwards, a superstar receiver that’s supposed to make all the plays and make you better, having 14 drops at least. . . . “This is an organization that I played for for a year,” Dilfer added, “and I saw very closely that the organization itself is highly dysfunctional and cannot make decisions that are good for the long-term growth of the organization. Cleveland fans are frustrated. They want a winner. They want a consistent winner. Well, these type of decisions are exactly why they’re not a winner now and they won’t be a winner in the future.” Trent, don’t be so bashful to state your opinion. Dilfer thinks that Quinn can do well. But Dilfer thinks that Quinn should be nervous, because he’s now the guy who’s in the bull’s-eye once he throws a couple of picks. The comments of Hall of Fame running back and Executive Advisor Jim Brown from a few weeks back suggest that Quinn could indeed be on a short leash. Brown argued in September that it was time to see what Quinn could do, with the understanding that, if Quinn can’t do it, they could go back to Anderson. “We don’t have a superstar quarterback,” Brown said. “We have two that have tremendous potential. One has played a lot more than the other has, successfully, and also had some failure. If we try Brady this week, it’s a change of pace. Why not have a change of pace that might bring you a spark? And if he doesn’t cut it, we can bring the other guy back, and we can bring Brady back.”