We already established Thursday night after his team’s 28-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens that Browns head coach Hue Jackson made the wrong decision – wrong, wrong, wrong — in benching rookie quarterback Cody Kessler in favor of aging veteran Josh McCown early in the third quarter.
This season is about developing young players, especially at quarterback, the most important position in team sports and the spot at which the Browns have struggled mightily in the expansion era. They have to find out if Kessler, a third-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, is the franchise quarterback or even if there’s a chance he could be. There’s no way to determine that if he’s standing on the sideline. You learn to play football by playing football, not just in practice but in real games against players who are trying to pound you into the turf.
Whatever Kessler was lacking in Jackson’s eyes – likely the inability to throw the ball down the field and make plays – the rookie has to keep trying to do it until he masters it, or proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that he simply can’t do it. That’s what developing players – more specifically, developing a quarterback – is all about.
This season isn’t necessarily about winning, but with the Browns heading into Thursday’s game at 0-9 and thus desperate for a win, and with the fact they were leading 7-6 just after halftime, Jackson saw a real opportunity to get that victory. Coaches are hired to win. They know that. Winning is in their blood. It’s the prize for which they work all week, every week.
We get that, and although we don’t condone it, we understood why Jackson shucked the development plan for the moment and tried to win – even it had to come at all costs.
But why did he insert McCown?
Did Jackson not know enough about McCown?
It is the quarterback’s job to win games, not to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns, and McCown has never won consistently at any point in his career. He does just enough to lose games, in fact.
So I’m having a hard time figuring out, then, if Jackson really wanted to win, why he would ever think that McCown was the guy who could get it done?
Why? Why? Why?
Really, anybody but McCown would have been fine, as evidenced by the fact McCown was intercepted twice and fumbled the ball away once. Three turnovers, for crying out loud.
So benching Kessler was not only a horrible move, but the reason Jackson gave for doing it – trying to increase the Browns’ chance of winning – is worse still.
This is a bad look – a really bad look – for Jackson. He has hurt himself, Kessler, the Browns and even McCown by throwing him into a no-win situation literally and figuratively.
Jackson will have a hard time living this down. Good thing the team has this weekend off and doesn’t play until next Sunday when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit FirstEnergy Stadium.
The best way for him to move past all this?
Well, to win that game – but with Cody Kessler doing it, allowing the Browns to develop their young players and at the same starting to develop a winning attitude.
That would be a win-win.
