Brady Quinn will make his first NFL start since 2009 on Sunday, replacing injured starter Matt Cassel for the Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bay.
“He hasn’t started a game in a while, but he’s played in the league, he understands what it takes to run an offense and run a team,” Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel said. “And I think he’s been preparing his whole time in the league and many times, as he always says, he’s always been one play away. And so if it’s determined that he gets the next play as he did on Sunday … I think he’s going to operate the offense efficiently.”
Cassel suffered a concussion Sunday in a 9-6 loss to the Ravens and isn’t yet cleared to return.
Quinn, a 2007 first-round pick out of Notre Dame, hasn’t started a game since Week 14 of the 2009 season, when Crennel was Quinn’s coach in Cleveland. He has been a backup for the Browns, Broncos and Chiefs but hadn’t played since he was traded by the Browns to Denver for Peyton Hillis until last week’s appearance. Quinn completed his two pass attempts for 32 yards against the Ravens.
Quinn, in his sixth season, has modest career numbers from his first three seasons in the league with Cleveland — 14 games, 12 starts, a completion percentage of 52 percent, 10 TD passes, nine interceptions and a 66.8 passer rating.
Quinn’s presence doesn’t figure to change much in the way the Chiefs approach their offensive game plan. Putting the ball in the hands of NFL leading rushing leader Jamaal Charles remains the Chiefs’ preferred plan of attack.