Chad Pennington

Late in a discussion with reporters about his QB competition on Thursday, Browns HC Mangini was asked how might his expertise on defense play a role in his decision. He answered: "One of the things that's tough defensively is not knowing who the starting QB's going to be. That's always a huge problem defensively. I hated when I didn't know who the starting QB of the other team was. A huge, huge headache." That said, could the coach envision playing both Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson during the season for reasons other than injury? "I would anticipate having a starter and moving forward with that starter," he said. "But I wouldn't rule out anything." Even though Mangini had 3 starting QBs in 3 years with the Jets, he never rotated them. In fact, only in his 2nd season did Mangini not let his #1 QB start 16 games. In 2007, he benched Chad Pennington for Kellen Clemens with the team at 1-7. So splitting the job between Quinn and Anderson does seem far-fetched, even for Mangini. But his caveat leaves open the possibility. The issue Bears watching in light of the fact that neither QB has sparkled in the touch football portion of the season.