Browns' Anderson out for season

BEREA, Ohio (AP) -- Derek Anderson's season is officially over, yet another slap for the down-on-their-luck Cleveland Browns.

Anderson, who lost his starting job to Brady Quinn several weeks ago, will miss the final four games after tearing a ligament in his left knee on Sunday against Indianapolis.

An MRI taken Monday revealed Anderson tore the medial collateral ligament when he was sacked in the final minutes of Cleveland's 10-6 loss to the Colts. Anderson, making his first start since Nov. 2 after being benched for Quinn, will not need surgery. He will be placed in a brace and will need four to six weeks to recover.

Quinn, too, is out for the season with a finger injury. He has not yet decided whether to have surgery on his broken right index finger.

Ken Dorsey will start in place of Anderson on Sunday when the Browns (4-8) visit the Tennessee Titans (11-1). Return specialist Joshua Cribbs, who played quarterback at Kent State, will serve as Dorsey's backup unless the Browns can sign a veteran quarterback in the next few days.

Coach Romeo Crennel said the club will try to find another QB who is familiar with Cleveland's system.

Dorsey went 2-8 as a starter for the San Francisco 49ers in 2004-05. In college, he was 38-2 as a starter at Miami and led the Hurricanes to a national championship in 2001. Dorsey hasn't completed a pass in an NFL game in three years, and has attempted just four since joining the Browns in 2006.

"My record is my record," Dorsey said "I can't change it. Yeah, I want to win more football games and this is a great opportunity to do that, and when you play great teams like we're going to play this weekend, you get excited because you want that opportunity. You embrace that."

Browns tight end Kellen Winslow will also sit out this week after sustaining a high ankle sprain on Sunday. Winslow will be fitted with a walking boot for one week, but it's still too early to determine if he'll play again this season.

If Anderson's injury wasn't tough enough to take, some Browns fans made it worse by cheering when the former Pro Bowler crumpled to the turf.

The negative reaction was not well received by Anderson's teammates.

"It made me upset," defensive tackle Shaun Smith said. "When you see stuff like that happening, it could have been a career-ending injury. He was your quarterback last year and went to the Pro Bowl, everybody was cheering for him then. For you to cheer for him to get hurt, that's not good, that's like me being at your family member's funeral and being happy they died. That's not a good sign.

"For people to cheer, that's no class at all."

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