Browns Coach Mangini denied player’s complaint of being overworked

The Cleveland Browns running back Jamal Lewis said Thursday that Coach Eric Mangini was overworking his players, indicating that the coach’s policies should be blamed for Browns losses. As having been expected, his comments gained quite a lot of support from other Browns players.

But the coach did not plan to accept the rant from players and tried to defend the length and intensity of his practices after Lewis had complained that players in Browns jerseys are being worked too hard to play effectively in real games.

“I feel good about the way we practice, the time we practice,” said Mangini, 1-7 in his first season with Cleveland. “Two hours of work on the field is a very reasonable time. The only time that practices are extended is if we don’t execute something the right way.”

Mangini also said he and Lewis had conversation about their differences. After finishing Friday’s workout, Lewis confirmed the conversation and said the media had twisted his comments, which originally were not critical of the coach.

Browns starting QB not decided yet

Browns coach Eric Mangini probably would like to see Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn continue competing for the starting job till the last minute. By so far, he has not announced who would be the starting quarterback for Saturday’s home exhibition opener.

It has been guessed that Anderson would likely be the starter in the game against the Detroit Lions, because Quinn started last week’s game at Green Bay. However, Mangini said he wanted to see more of their performance and would not announce the starter until the end of the practice week.

It seemed that Mangini was very careful in making the right decision on the starting quarterback. He has balanced the reps between Anderson and Quinn during training camp, but has not been ready to name the starter for the regular season opener against Minnesota on Sept. 13.