Brady Quinn knows what's in store for him when he and the Cleveland Browns pay a visit to M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday.
A hostile reception. Enough crowd noise to possibly force the offense into a silent snap count. Oh, and a Ravens defense trying to tee off on the young quarterback.
"Yeah, I would imagine so," Quinn said when asked whether he expects an all-out pass rush from the Ravens. "Anytime you're a young quarterback in this league, I think you expect that going into every game."
How Quinn fares could determine whether the Browns can pick themselves out of the AFC North cellar or whether the Ravens continue to reign atop the division.
A healthy Jamal Lewis - who is dealing with a hamstring injury - could alleviate some of the pressure the Ravens put on Quinn, but judging by the comments from players and coaches, not by much.
"When you look at Cleveland's team, they have a lot of capable players - Braylon Edwards definitely on the outside, and I spoke about Jamal earlier, [who is] really trying to get the ball rolling and things like that," Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis said. "The bottom line [is] I just think we need to come out and play our type of football game and not let this young quarterback sit back there and be able to pick and choose - which is always going to be hard in our stadium because our stadium is just hard to play in. I just think we really need to make him very, very uncomfortable sitting back there."
So far, Quinn, 24, has not looked very comfortable in two starts this season. Quinn, who beat out Derek Anderson for the starter's job in the preseason, ranks in the bottom fourth of the NFL in passing yards (366, 25th), touchdowns (one, tied for 26th) and passer rating (66.9, 28th). The Browns are ranked last in the league in total yards (234) and third-down efficiency (23 percent), 31st in first downs (28) and tied for 27th in red-zone efficiency (33 percent).
Quinn was frank in his assessment that he has not borne out coach Eric Mangini's confidence in him at the beginning of the season.
"There have been some good things, but I think as a whole, we need to get a lot better," Quinn said during a conference call with Baltimore media Wednesday. "And myself, I need to work on not having those turnovers and converting more on third down. I think it's been a problem for us and something [where] we need to get the chains moving."
Opposing defenses have keyed on Quinn, sacking him nine times - the second-most in the league behind the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers (10). Mangini said keeping Quinn off the turf is a priority.
"You don't want anybody to get hit back there," Mangini said. "It's a combination of efforts. It's a combination of the O-line, the backs, the tight ends and, to some degree, the quarterback, too. At some point you have to look at it. [The Indianapolis Colts'] Peyton Manning does a great job of this, of just take your loss. What I mean by that is, instead of trying to make a play and taking the hit, at some point you have to just let it go and live to fight another down. He's outstanding at that. You have to know the difference between the two."
Even if the Ravens don't sack Quinn, defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said just getting to the quarterback can have a cumulative effect.
"I think you can get in the head of any quarterback if you hit him enough times," Mattison said. "I think that's the key. ... You want to do the same thing you do to all quarterbacks. You want to hit him enough times to know that if he holds the ball, he's going to get hit."
Perhaps one encouraging sign for Quinn and the Cleveland offense is that the Ravens surrendered 26 points and 436 passing yards to the San Diego Chargers last Sunday. But Quinn is well aware of what's waiting for him this Sunday.
"Their defense in general is tough," he said. "They're not allowing a whole lot of yards, not a whole lot of points, and they're 2-0 right now. So yeah, we've got an uphill battle, and we're just doing our best to prepare ourselves for a tough game."
Notes: : After missing two days of practice, outside linebacker Jarret Johnson (shoulder) was limited Friday and might be a game-time decision, according to coach John Harbaugh. Johnson has played in 86 straight games (including playoffs), making every start since the 2007 season. If Johnson is sidelined, Antwan Barnes could make his first career NFL start. "That's still going to be an issue, whether he can take people on or not," Harbaugh said. "I think he's going to be OK. But we'll just have to see how he feels."
Joining Johnson as questionable were free safety Ed Reed (neck) and tight end L.J. Smith (pulled left hamstring). The list of players who are probable include cornerback Fabian Washington (flu), defensive tackle Justin Bannan (knee), safety Tom Zbikowski (concussion) and offensive tackle Jared Gaither (flu), who practiced after sitting out Wednesday and Thursday. "I feel fine," he said. "I'll play."
