Browns Could Unveil Fourth-String Quarterback Against Steelers Sunday

Romeo Crennel will be a free man in six days. And if yesterday's emotionless post-game presser is any indication, he's already accepted his fate. For the sake of professionalism, however, Crennel will feign interest as the Browns prepare for the Steelers in a meaningless Week 17 affair.

Cleveland, 4-11 and fresh off getting shutout courtesy of the mighty Bengals, will face a Pittsburgh team that has already wrapped up a first-round bye. And while the Steelers will probably play backups for most of the afternoon, the Browns have nothing to lose by playing their starters. The ones left standing, anyway.

Tight end Kellen Winslow has missed three games with a high ankle sprain and the quarterback position has been FUBAR for some time. Derek Anderson was benched for Brady Quinn, who promptly broke a bone in his hand and landed on injured reserve. Anderson then blew up his knee, and now third-teamer Ken Dorsey looks iffy for the Sunday finale. Which means more Bruce Gradkowski for everybody!

Browns coach Romeo Crennel said during his weekly Monday press conference that Dorsey suffered a rib injury and a slight concussion in the 14-0 loss to the Bengals. The potential loss of Dorsey would mean the Browns, who have already lost Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson to season-ending injuries, would be relegated to Bruce Gradkowski, who was signed by the team on Dec. 2.

At this point, it make more sense to punt on first down and hope the Steelers special teams makes a mistake and the Browns can steal a few field goals. I suppose there's a non-zero probability that Cleveland can win this game, but barring an asteroid striking the Steelers' locker room prior to kickoff, I don't know how it'll happen.

Maybe the Browns' best chance (if you're not willing to accept the punt-on-first-down idea) is to let Josh Cribbs play quarterback. He manned the position in college and he's the team's one legit scoring threat. (Sorry, Brick Hands Edwards, it's true.)