Who's in charge?

I was surprised when I approached offensive tackle Joe Thomas Wednesday and asked him what he thought about coach Eric Mangini's decision to go back to quarterback Brady Quinn.

His response was: "Who's is it?" When I told him it was Quinn, Thomas said, "I guess I should have been at the press conference."

Several other players didn't know the identity of the starter, which seemed strange being that practice was scheduled to start in a few minutes. Mangini said he wanted to inform the quarterbacks about his decision before telling the rest of the team.

So when players filtered out of the locker room for practice, most didn't know which quarterback would line up behind center Alex Mack. I did, and so did the rest of the media, but not the players.

But, then again, this is Mangini we're talking about. He seems to thrive on being secretive. I don't remember Bill Belichick being nearly as secretive when he coached the Browns from 1991-95, and, believe me, Belichick was no treat when trying to get information out of him.

The longer the season progresses, the more dysfunctional everything surrounding the Browns seems. The scary part is that it seems normal for an organization that has gotten few things right for a long time.

The former GM (George Kokinis) was left go after owner Randy Lerner found out he had nothing to do. The coach benches Quinn and then brings him back and then doesn't inform the rest of the players.

Maybe I'm making too much about it, but it seems to make sense to address the entire team about a decision as pivotal as a quarterback change.