How will rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer perform on Sunday when the Browns host the Tennessee Titans at FirstEnergy Stadium?

 

That’s a good question, and an interesting one and, as I said in a recent post, an important one. We’ll just have to wait and see.

 

But before he even takes the field, he’s done something positive. It definitely will figure into whether he turns out to be the franchise quarterback the Browns have looked for, for so long, and so desperately need.

 

It occurred when Kizer called a players-only meeting of the offense on Friday. It was, he said, to open up the lines of communication and get everybody on the same page.

 

Good!

 

Really, really good!

 

I like it – a lot!

 

The quarterback’s only job is not necessarily to throw for 350 yards and three touchdowns. It is, instead, to win the game. Nothing else matters, really.

 

And to win the game, the Cleveland offense must play better – much better – than it has in any game this season. The offense has been putrid, to put it mildly.

 

There are a number of reasons for that, no doubt the biggest of which is that the quarterbacks – Kizer and Kevin Hogan – haven’t made many productive plays. They’ve thrown way too many interceptions, including in the red zone.

 

Kizer has taken responsibility for all the bad things that have happened when he’s been in there, which is for 4½ of the six games the winless Browns have played. Head coach Hue Jackson benched him last Sunday for the 33-17 loss to the Houston Texans so he could stand on the sideline, watch the game from a different perspective and learn how he can improve.

 

Perhaps he did learn something, and it is that he must take on even more of a leadership role. Quarterbacks are the leaders of not just the offense, but also the team overall. They are the face of their respective franchises.

 

Leaders must … well, lead. And that’s what Kizer did by calling, and running, that meeting.

 

Now, of course, he must follow that up on Sunday by playing well and leading the Browns to a much-needed victory. But what he did happened on Friday. He had to wait until Sunday to do something about Sunday.

 

So far, so good.

 

And with the way the Browns quarterback situation is, little wins like that mean a lot.