Brady Quinn On Being Named The Starter In Kansas City
John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE
Brady Quinn is the new starting QB of the Kansas City Chiefs.
It’s been a long and rough road for Quinn. It all started when he slid in the NFL draft, landing in Cleveland. He then got wrapped up in a QB battle with Derrick Anderson. After playing poorly and dealing with some injury issues and a couple of head coaches, Quinn was dealt to the Denver Broncos where he found himself stuck behind Kyle Orton and, later, Tim Tebow.
And so, years after being drafted, Quinn is getting what is probably his final chance to convince the NFL world that he can be a starter in this league.
He’s got ten games.
“I’m excited about the opportunity,” said Quinn to reporters yesterday at Arrowhead. “I think, especially after coming off last week, we have a lot to do. I’m excited about the opportunity of getting to play. Oakland is a great team. There is a lot of work ahead of us.”
The Chiefs do have work ahead of them. Thanks to an injury to Cassel, Quinn got the start for the Chiefs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two weeks ago. He was largely ineffective. The Chiefs scored only three points and Quinn threw two interceptions vs. zero touchdowns.
Quinn said KC needs to avoid this turnovers weekend against the Oakland Raiders:
“I think the one thing is, again, we just have to find a way to not have any turnovers,” said Quinn. “I think that’s been killing us, especially where it’s been happening. A lot of times it’s happening in the red zone and we’re not coming away with any points, so that’s a big key for us. The thing is for us to just continue a sustained drive, whether it’s making a play here or there. Having a bye week, sitting back watching these games this weekend I noticed guys are making plays. It’s not exactly how they draw it up, and guys are making plays. We have to put in our selfless players to be able to make the most of opportunities when we’re given them.”
Despite the loss against the Bucs, Quinn did say he saw some positives in that game.
“I think I did some good things out there,” said Quinn. “There was some efficiency with passing the football, but still, there are some things that we’re still trying to work out. I think anytime you’re coming into a situation where you’re playing with a bunch of guys that you didn’t necessarily play with in OTAs, so you’re still trying to get into a rhythm with some of those wide receivers, etc. I think besides that, really, again, going back to the turnovers. You just have to eliminate the turnovers and do a better job in the red zone, coming away with some sort of points.”
The Chiefs have a lot of work to do. Despite the fact that they are 1-5, they are still only two games out of first place in the AFC West. Though it is unlikely this group is going to turn things around, Quinn isn’t throwing in the towel.
“You hope guys would be focused and ready to go. First half of football really wasn’t quite it. Right now, we’re in a 10-game season. We need to focus on one day at a time, one game at a time. This is a big one for us.”
It’s always a big one when the Raiders come to town. Let’s hope the Chiefs are ready.