They've chosen the slow road, the road that allows Quinn to observe and to learn while other players (try to) quarterback the team.

There is a great difference, after all, between the fourth quarter of a preseason game against the Detroit Lions and the first quarter of the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

So Charlie Frye will start Saturday against the Denver Broncos, and Quinn will play at some point.

There's another option.

Start Quinn.

Play him a half. At least.

If he doesn't start, play him in the first half. See what he can do against a first-team defense. It's a preseason game, but it's time to give Quinn an audition to start the regular season, and the best way is to start.

It's not time because Quinn has proven with absolute certainty that he's "the guy." It's time because the other two guys have proved they are not.

It'd be great to give Quinn time to learn. Usually when a rookie has a year to watch and to learn, there is an alternative.

The Browns have no alternative.

Not one they can feel confident about winning with, at least.

Really now, why are we still watching Derek Anderson? He seems to have regressed.

Frye might develop into a starting quarterback, but he just has not looked the same since Quinn was drafted. He carries himself as he always has, but when he plays, he looks rattled.

The NFL turns on you in a heartbeat. Two years ago, Frye was hearing the chants calling for him to play. Now he's hearing the same chants for Quinn. Bottom line: He has had his chance this camp, and he has not exactly grabbed the brass ring.

The Browns know what they have in Frye and Anderson.

They don't know everything they need to know about Quinn.

So start him in Denver and find out. If it works, the Browns are ahead, and if it doesn't ... well, they always can go back to the other guys.

The Browns have been a losing team for years. Planning for the future is older than old. The fans deserve hope, and if the status quo is maintained, there is no hope — not based on the way things have gone with Anderson and Frye this preseason.

Saturday there were interceptions, penalties, timeouts wasted and downright maddening play. It smelled worse than the concourses during the Kenny Chesney concert.

This came after the team spent the week getting those guys ready to play. The effort and attention was on them. They dropped the ball, literally and figuratively.

The Browns have added talent. It's not the same group that was thrown together in 1999. But if the quarterback holds the team back, it won't matter. And that's what happened in the first half.

Maybe a quarterback can't win a game by himself, but he sure can lose it.

Yes, there is a danger in rushing a rookie.

But all we've been told for months is that Quinn is the most NFL-ready rookie quarterback since Henry VIII brought the Renaissance to England. The guy started 46 games at Notre Dame and ran a pro offense under Charlie Weis, for crying out loud.

He was calm and composed and confident against the Lions, and the Browns responded. Let's see what he can do with the starters in a stinking exhibition game in Denver. If Quinn's gonna start by Week 6 anyway, does it matter that much if he starts sooner?

Frye seems to have "won" this starting nod by default. That's not exactly going to have fans charging through the gates now, is it?

The Browns' quarterback spot has been a pool of struggles and "learning" since 1999, and Quinn did a lot right in his time Saturday. He was calm, he got plays off before the time clock was about to expire, he took what was there, and he stood in the pocket and threw downfield.

The fact that it was against backups is all the more reason to start him.

See what he can do against the first team. Give him a package of plays he likes and can run.

Get him ready.

Coach him up.

Start him and see what happens.

Heed the advice of Nike.