But the Browns still aren't telling the media or anyone else.
Mangini said he met Tuesday night with Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn and explained the reasons for his decision.
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The Browns' coaching staff didn't make a formal announcement to the rest of team. But Mangini said it will be pretty easy for the rest of the team to figure out who the starter is during practice this week.
Expect the entire locker room to be grilled by the media on this subject leading up to the 1 p.m. ET game at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mangini added that he doesn't believe it will bother his players to try to keep this quarterback situation a mystery.
"I don't think anybody is in an awkward spot of trying to maintain a competitive advantage," Mangini said. "We all do that, and that's all of our goals, trying to do everything we need to do to win the game on Sunday."
Neither quarterback offered much comment, as it was clear that a gag order was in place in the locker room.
The general reaction was no reaction at all. "We're going to be supportive of one another with whoever gets the job," Quinn said.
But at least internally, there is finality with Cleveland's quarterback competition. "I think it's always going to make our team better," Quinn said of the long competition. "We'll be able to adjust to times of adversity better."
Most are predicting Quinn got the nod, based on his preseason performance. Quinn had his best showing in the third exhibition game, where he completed 11 of 15 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans.
Neither quarterback played last week in the final preseason game.
Cleveland remains the only team yet to publicly name its starting quarterback. Mangini, a former defensive coordinator, contends the unpredictability will give the Browns an edge. But Vikings coach Brad Childress didn't seem too caught up in Mangini's secrecy.
"It doesn't [affect us]," Childress said earlier this week. "You just schematically look at what you've seen. You are going to go back and look at [New York] Jets tape and see what you've seen ... It will be more about us deploying than about what they do."
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