The focus in football is always on the quarterback.
That’s because he plays the most important position in team sports.
And the focus is never greater anywhere than it is in Cleveland, where the Browns have been looking for their franchise guy at that spot for nearly two decades.
Understanding that, then, everything about the quarterbacks is scrutinized to the max.
That includes head coach Hue Jackson’s press conference. The one on Wednesday, as the Browns began preparations for Sunday’s “home” game in London – England, not Ohio — against the Minnesota Vikings, was mostly about the fact Jackson announced that morning that DeShone Kizer will start at quarterback. That isn’t really breaking news since everybody and their brother knew it was coming. But now it’s official.
Press conferences bring out the best – and worst – from reporters and coaches. There were two good questions and one laughable one. Jackson provided good answers to all three of those questions.
He was asked about starting Kizer and if he will go to another quarterback if the rookie continues to turn the ball over.
“I know what everybody is concerned about – that I have this quick hook,” Jackson said. “Listen, I think DeShone gets it. I am very honest with DeShone. This is a performance-based business, and there are some things that at the quarterback position are kind of non-negotiable for me. He knows turning the ball over is something that we can’t do. It hurts not just him. It hurts our football team.
“I think he gets it. I don’t think he is going to go play this game worried about am I turning it over or not. I don’t think he has that personality or else I would not put him in that predicament. I think he understands he needs to play better that way and be ball protecting.
“Like I said, last week, he started off extremely well. He has to finish it that way. I would like to have a game where we have no turnovers, period. That is what we are chasing, and just see what happens after the game then and see where we are. That is the message that I give to the team and also to the quarterback room. We have to take care of the ball better. My decision in going into that, I still think he gives us the best chance to win, but he has to play better than what he has played, and he knows that.”
When they were rookies, some elite quarterbacks threw a lot of interceptions and were on bad teams. Jackson was asked about that as it relates to trying to win a game and having patience with a rookie quarterback.
His reply: “I have patience. I have had patience up until whatever game it was I first took him out. Like I said, I think everything is still the same. That is why I understand how you guys have written certain things about it. I get it, but at the same time there are lessons in this form, too.
“This is a different football team than maybe Peyton Manning was on or Troy Aikman or whoever those guys were you just mentioned. This is our situation and this is his situation. I truly believe that he can play better, and that is my goal. Whatever it takes to get him to play better while in the process of doing everything I can to win football games, which is my charge as the head coach of this football team – it is not, I will say it again, just developing the quarterback. That is a big piece of it, but we are also trying to win.
“That all goes into the thought process as we go through it, but do I want DeShone to get better? Yes. I hope to see a better DeShone this weekend, but also, I want to win the football game. We are trying to do both and sometimes those things clash. When they do, we will make the decision that we think is best for our football team and go from there.”
Finally, Jackson was asked if the questioning and criticism for taking Kizer out of last Sunday’s 12-9 overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans will impact his decision to play or site him.
Yikes! What a dumb question!
Here’s how Jackson answered it: “No. I could care less what anybody thinks. I think you guys know me that way. People are going to say what they say, but nobody knows what goes on in this building and the conversations that are had with our players. Unless a psychologist comes to tell me that DeShone is going to fall apart and jump off the building or do something goofy because I am taking him out, I don’t sense that because I am very honest with our players. I think they understand what we are trying to do.
“At the same time, he has a job. His job is to help this football team win. If you are doing things that don’t allow us to win, then it is my job to make a decision to help, whether that is to sit you down and put somebody else in or stick with you because I understand certain things that happen and there will be certain things that happen from an interception standpoint that is not his fault.
“When it does happen, I won’t put that on him, but at the same time, there are lessons for this for all involved, and we will grow from it.”
