Steve King, Staff Writer
11.06.2006
What the Browns had trouble doing for Charlie Frye the previous day,
they did in spades on Monday.

That is, protect the young quarterback.

After being sacked five more times Sunday in a 32-25 road loss to the
San Diego Chargers, bringing his total to 29 at the halfway point of
the season, Frye got the support of head coach Romeo Crennel and his
favorite target, tight end Kellen Winslow. They're confident Frye is
the quarterback of the present and the future for the Browns.

"I think we are in a situation where we probably need to give him
more time to finally make that assessment, or make a valid
assessment," Crennel said when asked if Frye is the right man for the
club. "Early on, he was under duress. That makes it tough to make a
valid evaluation.

"I think going forward, we'll see that he is capable. He has good
talent, good leadership ability, has some toughness and the guys
rally around him. At that position, you have to have that.

"Not everyone has John Elway's arm. Not everyone has Peyton Manning's
ability to read defenses and make checks. There are 32 different
quarterbacks in the NFL. A guy can be successful if they have those
intangibles. He (Charlie) has those intangibles."

Winslow agreed.

"Oh, no, I'm not losing confidence in Charlie at all," said the tight
end, who, after catching 11 passes for 78 yards against San Diego,
now has a team-leading 51 receptions for 471 yards and three
touchdowns. "He missed some reads Sunday, but overall, I thought he
played very well.

"We've got to protect him, though. He can't do anything if we fail to
protect him. The good quarterbacks -- the Peyton Manning, the people
like that -- they're protected."

Like most second-year pros, Frye has had his ups and downs throughout
the season. Crennel said as much -- again -- Sunday, admitting
that "once or twice" the quarterback locked in on a receiver and in
doing so allowed the defense to lock in as well and break on the
ball, nearly resulting in interceptions..

"He did some good things yesterday, and he did some bad things,"
Crennel said. "He overthrew some balls and missed some reads that he
could have taken. Most of it, though, was Charlie trying to make a
play. Sometimes, when you have a receiver who is hot, you try to
focus in on him a little bit. We did a little too much of that.

"The fact that we weren't able to get the running game going
effectively put some pressure on the quarterback to try to execute
and perform. In his growth and development, he has to learn that he
can't force a ball to a guy. He has to read the progression and take
what the defense gives him."

The former Akron Zip and Willard (Ohio) High School star, battling a
sore thumb that at times appeared to affect his ability to grip the
ball properly and deliver it with crispness, completed 25-of-43
passes against the Chargers for 236 yards, one TD and one
interception for a 71.5 quarterback rating. His TD came late in the
game. Otherwise, he couldn't get the Browns into the end zone on
their six other trips into scoring territory, as they had to settle
for a Phil Dawson field goal each time.

San Diego dropped several interceptions, but the fact of the matter
is that, in addition to the sacks, Frye was getting hit on many pass
attempts.

It's been that way for much of the year. While dodging rushers, he
has connected on 164-of-263 passes (.62.4) for 1,565 yards, eight TDs
and 12 picks for a rating of 69.2. He has especially struggled in the
fourth quarter of games, having thrown two TDs and six picks. Being
that the 2-6 Browns have lost games by one, five, seven and eight
points, that's key.

"Sometimes he tries to make the play because he knows his team needs
a play," Crennel said. "We tell him that it's OK to throw the ball
away. It's not necessarily a bad play.

"In this growing process, he's going to learn that and we're going to
help him."

Crennel seemed to bristle a bit at the suggestion Monday that he
should bring in a seasoned veteran to play behind Frye and help tutor
him. Fellow second-year pro Derek Anderson, whose career playing
experience consists of the one play he came in and handed the ball
off when Frye was dazed during a 17-7 loss to Denver on Oct. 22, is
the No. 1 backup.

That is the only play Frye has sat out all year, so at least for now,
the Browns are going with him, period. They're going to give him all
the time necessary -- within reason, obviously -- to allow him to
succeed.

It's his job to lose, as long as the coaches feel he's still making
strides.

And on an otherwise rough Monday, when his ego and body were both
bruised and smarting, Frye probably needed to hear that.