Nobody said this was going to be easy for new Browns head coach Hue Jackson.
Whether it was turning around the team overall.
Or turning around quarterback Robert Griffin III.
As we’ve mentioned a number of times already on this site, with quarterback being the most important position in team sports and Cleveland not having had a decent one in forever and a day, the two reclamation projects – RG 3 and the Browns – are closely related. In fact, they are almost one in the same. As RG 3 goes, so go the Browns for the foreseeable future.
But in this instance, we’re going to deal specifically with RG 3.
From the moment the Browns began their OTA workouts back in the spring, people have been charting Griffin’s performance day by day, practice by practice, move by move, play by play and throw by throw.
That would seem to be the way to gauge RG 3, but it’s really not – at least not right now. The time for that is still a long ways off.
As mentioned, nobody said this was going to be quick work in getting RG 3 and the Browns back on track. It will take some time. And Jackson is fine with that. He expected that.
In fact, he was anxiously awaiting it, for he knew that if the progress were incremental, it would become engrained in RG 3 and this whole experiment wouldn’t turn into a shooting star, with Griffin flaring quickly and then fizzling in the next instant.
There are a lot of things going on – a lot of moving parts – with RG 3 at this point, which is understandable.
He is trying to un-learn all the physical elements from the last four seasons with the Washington Redskins.
He is also trying to forget the confidence-drainer that was the last part of his time with them.
And concurrent with that, RG 3 is trying to learn all the elements being taught to him by Jackson.
He is trying to embrace all the confidence being instilled in him by the coach.
Yes, a lot of moving parts going in and out of a big revolving door in RG 3’s brain.
Jackson has worked hard to take a little bit of this and a little bit of that from Griffin’s past to put together an offense that fits him now in Cleveland at this point of his career. It wasn’t easy. There was a delegate balance of which the coach has always had to be aware.
Jackson knows that any offense for RG 3 must incorporate at least a little bit of his ability to make plays with his legs. That was his calling card at Baylor and as a rookie in Washington in 2012.
But Jackson can’t go overboard on that, for quarterbacks who run too much eventually get run – or carted — out of the NFL because of the immense pounding they take.
The coach really emphasizes accuracy for his quarterbacks – it’s why Cody Kessler was drafted – so he’s going to put RG 3 into a scheme where he can complete a lot of passes.
Learning all this – and again, it’s a lot – is one thing. Getting it to be second nature is … well, another thing altogether. And doing it with receivers he doesn’t really know yet makes the task just that much more complicated.
That’s where RG 3 is at right now. His head is swimming as he sorts through all these plays and works to make them his own. It’s a big job – a big challenge.
But that’s OK right now, for the regular season doesn’t start for 5½ weeks. The goal for Jackson is to bring RG 3 along so that he is beginning to crest with the arrival of the games that count, and then feed him bits and pieces every week after that so he can continue to grow in this offense. By the end of the year – if all goes well – RG 3 will be all grown up in the sceme.
So in the meantime, don’t get too bent out of shape if RG 3 doesn’t look like he’s ready for the season today, or anytime soon. It was never the intent to get him set for Saturday’s scrimmage in Columbus. Instead, it was to get him set for the regular-season opener on Sept. 11 at Philadelphia.
If RG 3 looks bad against the Eagles, then that’s the time to get a little concerned. But Jackson doesn’t think that will happen.
And he’s the quarterback guru, remember?
Also, do you remember when Jackson asked fans to trust him? If you’re willing to do that, the time for such is over the next 38 days or so, when it will sometimes appear as if RG 3 and the Browns are light years from where they need to be.
