linkConfident Frye tackles offseasonBy Jeff Walcoff, Staff WriterFebruary 1, 2006A confident Charlie Frye wants fans to know that the rookie they saw on the field last season will be a different quarterback come 2006. ?Every snap I got last year was another building block,? Frye said. ?I?m going to take everything I learned last year and take it into this year. You?re not going to see that rookie quarterback back there.? Frye started five games as a rookie, finishing with a 2-3 record. He completed the season with 1,002 yards on 98-for-164 passing with 4 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. ?Towards the end of the season, every week I played I felt more and more comfortable. After playing those games I understand more of what it takes to win in this league. You have to get everybody on the same page. Everybody has to be in the same boat. ?Everybody has to have confidence in themselves and I have that same confidence that I can go out there and be the starting quarterback. I played pretty well in the last five games and I?m only going to get better.? The team?s season-ending 20-16 win over Baltimore only did more to support his budding confidence. ?To see us come back and really pull together as a team, it was a lot of fun,? he said of the victory. Frye said he believes he can be the starter to open next season, but that, ultimately, it?s not his choice. ?That?s obviously up to coach (Romeo) Crennel and Phil Savage to make that decision, but I have a lot of confidence in myself and my abilities, especially playing those last five games and getting a chance to get some experience and make some plays and just be in the huddle.? Frye traveled to Phoenix, Arizona after the season for a quick golfing vacation but now has returned to Cleveland to begin offseason training. He said he had planned to stay in Arizona for a part of the offseason to train, but felt being near his teammates and coaches in Cleveland was more important. He?ll begin some light film work in the coming weeks. Due to nearly two nonstop years of play, the young quarterback said his arm was a bit tired as the 2005 season came to a close. After his senior season at Akron, Frye prepared for the 2005 Senior Bowl (he was named MVP of the game) and other workouts and joined the Browns soon after being selected at the draft. That left him little time to rest his throwing arm. ?I?ve been going at it for two years strong. It was a lot of time and throws. I felt exhausted. About the beginning of December I felt my arm getting a little tired.? This offseason, he said rest will be part of the regiment. Aside from also bulking up this offseason (he said he wants to go from 215 pounds to about 225 to increase his durability), he said he?s going to concentrate on working with targets Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. Both are in town rehabbing from respective ACL injuries. ?Those are the guys who are going to be playmakers out there next year and it?s very important for us to have good camaraderie and be on the same page with each other,? Frye said. Frye also took time to discuss Sunday?s Super Bowl matchup between the Steelers and Seahawks. It?s no surprise Frye is picking the Steelers after the 41-0 beating he and the Browns took to their arch rival on Christmas Eve. ?It?s still a tough pill to swallow seeing what they did to us, but I thought they were playing at a whole other level than anyone else is in the NFL,? Frye said. ?They were at a whole other speed and a whole other level and they?ve been playing that way ever since. It?s still tough that they beat us like that. It doesn?t make it any easier (that they made the Super Bowl), but it shows you that they?re a great defense.? Frye also talked about Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck who, like Frye, is a prot?g? of Trent Dilfer. ?He and Matt are great friends,? Frye said. ?(Dilfer) always talks about Hasselbeck. Trent is a great player. He knows a lot about football. He?s one of my close friends now. He?s a veteran quarterback who has helped me a tremendous amount. ?(The NFL is) not just playing football. You have to do interviews and the things other people want you to do. It takes up a lot of your time. You just have to balance it all. Trent helped me out a lot with that ? keeping my priorities in line.? Despite his interest towards both teams at the Super Bowl, Frye said he?s staying home in Cleveland for the big game, even though it?s only a short drive away. ?That?s too painful to go up there and watch that,? he said. ?I?m going to go to the Super Bowl when we?re playing in it.?
