Advertisement

Cleveland benches Testaverde

 
Published Oct. 24, 1995|Updated Oct. 4, 2005

One day after a humiliating loss to Jacksonville, the Cleveland Browns benched quarterback Vinny Testaverde in favor of rookie Eric Zeier.

"The bottom line is we're not producing enough points offensively and I think we need to find a way to get a little more production," coach Bill Belichick said Monday.

"It doesn't mean that it's permanent. It's going to just change the lineup and see if that will _ along with some other things _ improve our production on that side of the ball."

Belichick said more changes were in the works in the aftermath of the 23-15 defeat to the expansion team, but the quarterback switch was all he was prepared to announce now.

"I would not in any way construe that Vinny has been the source of all our problems," Belichick said. "Because by no means do I think he has."

Testaverde left training camp after getting the news.

"I think Vinny wants to have some time to himself right now," team spokesman Kevin Byrne said.

Testaverde completed 20 of 34 passes for 299 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in Sunday's loss.

One interception was returned 48 yards for a touchdown. His first interception snapped a string of 174 passes without an interception, dating to Cleveland's opener against New England.

For the season, Testaverde has completed 122 of 213 passes (57 percent) with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. He was on his way to statistically his finest season.

Zeier's only regular-season appearance came during a 38-20 loss to Detroit on Oct. 8. The former Georgia quarterback completed 6 of 10 passes for 46 yards and one touchdown without an interception.